This year's financial performance is a record year despite the continued economic uncertainty. Profit before tax payable increased by £2.2 million to £5.2 million (2021: £3.0 million), a growth of over 70%. For the second year running, Conister Bank Limited set a new lending milestone of £231.4 million (2021: £212.6 million), an increase of 8.8%.

Whilst the cost of deposits increased in the second half of the year as the Bank of England increased interest rates to dampen inflationary pressures, the Group improved its Net Interest Margin by £6.4 million to £24.4 million (2021: £18.0 million). With other subsidiaries making a positive contribution, notably Conister Finance & Leasing Limited, MFX Limited and Payment Assist Limited, this resulted in Operating Income of £26.1 million (2021: £20.0 million), despite last year benefitting from a £0.7 million revaluation credit.

Operating Expenses, excluding provisions, increased by £4.3 million to £16.9 million (2021: £12.6 million), with £2.6 million relating to incremental personnel expenses, driven by acquisitions and further investment in UK headcount, in readiness of receiving our recently applied for UK Branch deposit taking licence.

Turning to the balance sheet, Total Assets increased by £70.5 million to £379.3 million (2021: £308.8 million), a growth of 22.8%. This was driven mostly by a £62.2 million increase in the firm’s loan book. As part of its prudent approach to maintaining the company’s balance sheet, it continues to value any government backed assets monthly on a mark-to-market basis so that their carrying value always reflects their true current market value.

A measure of the Company's financial wellbeing, its Debt to Asset ratio, which it measures on a conservative basis as being total debt as a percentage of total tangible assets (discounting goodwill and intangibles) remains robust at 91.7% (2021: 92.4%), meaning its liabilities are covered by assets 1.1 times (2021: 1.1 times).

Jim Mellon, Executive Chairman, commented: "The year's financial performance sets a record despite the continued economic uncertainty in the Isle of Man and the UK throughout 2022. Profit before tax payable increased by £2.2 million to £5.2 million, an increase of over 70%. As a result, we are well-positioned to support the growth in profitability for 2023."

Key Objectives

Whilst the drivers of economic uncertainty have shifted over the last four years, Manx’s key objective of safely growing shareholder value has remained unchanged. Thus, its strategic focus has continued to be as previously reported, namely to:

Provide the highest quality of service throughout its operations to all customers, ensuring that their treatment is both fair and appropriate;
Adopt a pro-active strategy to managing risk within a structured and compliant manner;
Concentrate on developing its core business by considered acquisitions, increasing prudential lending, and augmenting the range of financial services it offers;
Prudently progress the implementation of an enhanced and scalable IT infrastructure to better service the operational requirements of a growing Group without the requirement for a disproportionate increase in headcount and other associated operational costs;
Continue to develop its Treasury management to improve the return on the liability side of its balance sheet; and
Manage the balance sheet to exceed the regulatory requirements for capital adequacy.