Co-op Bank still on hunt for acquisition as it swings to profit

CO-OP BANK has reiterated its takeover ambitions fresh from being snubbed by rival TSB as it prepares for its first annual profit in a decade.

Nick Slape, the chief executive, said a takeover was still high on the agenda for Co-op Bank despite its bid for TSB being publicly rebuffed by its Spanish parent Banco de Sabadell last month.

Mr Slape said: “Nobody wants to be acquired and sit on the other side of the table, we’d much rather play the consolidator. It makes perfect sense to consolidate and bulk up.”

It came as the lender revealed it made a £28.5m profit for the nine months to September, up from a £68.1m loss for the same period a year ago, putting it on track to make its first annual profit in a decade.

Mr Slape said: “Unless something horrible goes wrong, £28.5m will be a bigger number by the end of this year.”

Takeover interest for challenger banks has grown in recent weeks. Shares in Metro Bank soared on Thursday after it emerged that a US private equity giant had made a takeover offer.

Mr Slape said that Co-op Bank would not just chase an acquisition “for the sake of it” and did not have its eye on any other lenders, including Metro Bank.

He said: “We’re not looking at anything else – we’ve done our homework, looked at what would be a complementary and commercial fit for us, the most sensible was the TSB one.”

Co-op Bank first attempted to snap up TSB eight years ago but instead almost collapsed after staff found a £1.5bn black hole in its accounts.

It has been in recovery mode ever since and after years of losses has now reported its third straight quarter of profit.