The bank’s Spanish owner Sabadell has announced a £29m restructuring plan that will involve axing both staff and branches.
The news came after TSB reported a statutory profit before tax of £237.2m for 2023, an increase of £53.7m (29.3%) from 2022 – increasing its proposed dividend to Sabadell to £120m.
Sabadell CEO Cesar Gonzalez-Bueno was questioned at a news conference after publication of the results. When asked if the restructuring plans would involve a reduction in bank staff and branches, he replied: “Yes, it will include both” – but he didn’t say how many.
Gonzalez-Bueno said details on planned cuts would be announced by TSB in due course.
Looking at TSB’s results, the main driver was higher income, which rose by £50.5m (4.6%) to £1,158.4m, primarily reflecting the impact of the higher-interest-rate environment, partially offset by lower mortgage margins in a highly competitive market. Net interest margin (NIM) was 2.75%, up 18 basis points from the previous year (2022 was 2.57%).
TSB said it remains focused on managing costs. Operating expenses decreased marginally by 1.9% to £852.9m in 2022 (2022 was £869.5m), though 2022 included the impact of the regulatory fine of £48.65m relating to the 2018 migration programme fiasco.
Robin Bulloch, TSB’s CEO, said: “We are reporting another year of sustained profitability, demonstrating the impact of both our continued focus on customers, delivering products and services that genuinely meet their needs, and the work to make TSB a simpler, more efficient, and resilient bank.
“Throughout the cost-of-living challenges, our Money Confidence purpose has resonated strongly with our customers – and I’d like to thank everyone at TSB for their continued hard work to step up to support them.”
