Triodos Bank posts annual profits of £9 million

Bristol-based ethical bank Triodos made profits of £9.2 million in the last year, according to its latest set of financial results.

The bank said profits had increased from £7.8 on the previous year to yield a 4.8 per cent return on equity.

The UK arm of the Dutch bank continued to grow, with customers numbers up 3.5 per cent to 87,896, and customer deposits increasing by 2.1 per cent to £1.642 million.

The bank made new loans of £131 million, which was down on the £183 million it lent in 2021. Its total loans and advances contracted slightly to £1.121 million (2021: £1.132 million) due to challenging economic conditions slowing customer investment plans, affecting some of the bank’s core sectors, and the sharply rising interest rates that prompted higher levels of early repayment.

Bevis Watts, CEO of Triodos Bank UK: “We have achieved a sound financial performance given the external challenges in 2022, particularly in the UK economy.

"As the UK’s leading sustainable bank, we have focused on supporting our community through difficult times, with rising inflation and the energy crisis coming straight off the back of the pandemic years.

"However we continue to pursue our mission to support impactful projects – for example affordable homes and community renewable energy and education providers, small businesses and charities. We also explored new impactful sectors, such as our first loan to a rewilding project.

“In these tumultuous times, long-standing global and societal issues, like climate change and inequality, can often feel like they are being side-lined.

"However, as we rebuild our economy, if we are to avoid future crises then we cannot simply follow the status quo. Triodos continues to be about challenging the existing narrative and championing a new way to do finance that’s good for people and planet.”