Shawbrook Group reported a 16% rise in underlying profit before tax to £195.5 million for the six months ended 30 June 2026, compared with £168.6 million a year earlier. The FTSE 250 specialist lender remains on track to pay its maiden ordinary dividend in 2027 in respect of FY 2026 earnings. Its loan book, including originate-to-distribute assets, reached £20.1 billion, while return on tangible equity was 18.1% and net interest margin rose to 4.38%.
The cost-to-income ratio fell to 36.4% from 40.0% a year earlier, placing Shawbrook within its medium-term guidance range of the mid-30s. Chief executive Marcelino Castrillo attributed the improvement to organisational design, estate footprint and technology decisions. AI is being deployed across the lending cycle, with real estate underwriting workflows targeting up to 50% less preparation time.
The CET1 ratio rose approximately 60 basis points to 13.0%, while a £250 million Additional Tier 1 issuance and tender of an existing £124 million instrument lifted total capital to 16.4%. The liquidity coverage ratio increased to 165.9%. Impairment losses rose to £50.7 million because of further provisioning against a small legacy development finance cohort, while arrears remained stable at 1.7%.
Customer deposits reached £18.8 billion and the loan-to-deposit ratio tightened to 93.9%, giving Shawbrook flexibility to moderate deposit growth. The group completed two originate-to-distribute (OTD) transactions totalling £1.3 billion and signed a contract to sell the Blue Motor Finance loan portfolio, classified as assets held for sale at £276.9 million. Full-year guidance calls for a loan book of approximately £21 billion and a CET1 ratio above 13.2% on a pre-Basel 3.1 basis.