Metro crashes to record low as pressure mounts on boss

METRO Bank is facing fresh doubts over its future as it gears up to raise £350m from investors following an accounting error which sent shares tumbling.

Senior market analysts, investors and advice groups have all hit out at the lender’s performance and the leadership of its flamboyant chairman Vernon Hill ( pictured).

Metro’s share price has crashed 83pc in the past year, and it is now being aggressively targeted by short sellers betting that the stock will fall further. Last night it fell another 8.3pc, or 49p, to close at a record low of 541p.

The bank will tap up shareholders for the extra cash within weeks, after admitting in January that it had made a mistake in how it calculated the riskiness of some loans.

Lloyd Harris, a fund manager at Merian Global Investors, which owns Metro debt, said: ‘New leadership would certainly help, from an investor perspective.’

Meanwhile, another senior bank debt investor who wanted to stay anonymous, claimed Metro will struggle to raise the necessary cash. He said: ‘Metro is a very challenged credit. I’m not sure they have market access at this point. There is a lot of investor distrust.’

It came as advice group ISS urged shareholders to vote against Metro on directors’ pay at its annual meeting later this month. Despite Metro’s woes it is paying chief finance officer David Arden a £288,000 bonus.