The Co-operative Bank has for the first time in five-years, returned an operating profit.
The bank edged in to the red with pre-tax losses of £140.7m for 2018, compared to £140.3m in 2017. Andrew Bester, chief executive said they have achieved a “key milestone” as the bank had £14m operating profit for 2018.
In 2017 the Co-operative Bank was bailed out by £700m in a rescue deal that saved the lender.
Bester said, “The backdrop of political uncertainty and intense competition has created an extremely challenging banking environment but, despite this, we have made sizeable progress in the bank’s transformation this year, reaching a key milestone by recording an operating profit for the first time since 2013.
“While our ongoing investment in transformation means continued losses overall, this is nevertheless an important step towards achieving our goal of sustainable profitability.”
