OneSavings says it cannot judge coronavirus impact

OneSavings Bank posted a 14% increase in annual profit but the specialist property lender said the coronavirus pandemic meant it could not provide financial guidance for 2020.

Pretax profit for the year to the end of December rose to £209.1m from £182.8m a year earlier as net interest income increased to £344.7m from £286.3m. Both sets of numbers gained from the inclusion of the bank's acquisition of Charter Court from October.

The FTSE 250 bank's shares fell 22% to 164.20p after it said the outbreak of the COVID-19 virus meant it would not give guidance for the current year. OneSavings is exposed to UK buy-to-let landlords, whom the government has banned from evicting tenants for three months to protect renters from the financial impact of the virus.

Andy Golding, OneSavings' chief executive, said: "The UK and global economies are currently experiencing unprecedented uncertainty stemming from COVID-19. Whilst we entered the year with a robust pipeline, strong application levels in our core businesses and stable margins, it is too soon to say what the impact will be and we therefore consider it imprudent to provide forward guidance for 2020."

OneSavings said it had run stress tests against scenarios thrown up by the coronavirus pandemic to check its financial strength over three years.

The bank said: "The group’s capital, funding and operational capabilities support the board’s assessment that they have a reasonable expectation that the group will remain viable over the three-year horizon."