HTB closes AF division

Hampshire Trust Bank plc (“HTB”) has officially announced the closure of its Asset Finance division, which includes vehicle stocking, to new business. This happens with immediate effect.

HTB says that the company’s rapid growth has steadily reduced its pool of surplus regulatory capital and the bank has now reached a point where it had to choose between slowing the profitable development of its other businesses or the closure of its less profitable Asset Finance division.

HTB adds, “This is by no means a reflection on the Asset Finance staff who have consistently delivered a market leading service, but the bank has made a strategic decision to deploy its capital into other specialist areas of the business.”

The bank will continue to fund and support new and existing asset finance lenders via its block discounting and wholesale speciality finance division.

Matthew Wyles, Group Chief Executive said, “It is HTB’s hugely successful business model which has resulted in this decision and we owe it to our people and our shareholders to do what is right for HTB as a whole. We will now concentrate all our available resources on continued growth in our core markets of specialist mortgages, development finance, bridging, block discounting and wholesale specialty finance. We have a robust capital base which secures the future of these core businesses for the foreseeable future and will soundly underpin our ongoing growth.”

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