Egg profits rise in UK business

Internet bank Egg today reported a rise in profits at its UK arm over the last quarter, although spending on its international business pushed the group into the red.

Pre-tax profits for the three months to September 30 in its UK business came in at £9.4m (€14.86m).

This compares with pre-tax profits of £4.6m (€7.27m) generated the previous quarter and £78.2m (€123.62m) losses the same quarter last year.

Customer numbers increased by 107,000 to more than 2.4 million.

Chief executive Paul Gratton said: “This has been another successful quarter for Egg.

“The UK business has delivered £9.4m (€14.86m) in profits in the third quarter whilst acquiring a further 107,000 net new customers and keeping tight control of costs.”

However, losses at the group’s international operations pushed it into overall pre-tax losses of £5.1m (€8.06m) for the quarter.

The group has been investing in launching its business in France, due next month.