Ann: Half-year Report, page-7

Not at all a shabby result considering the challenging business environment, what with Brexit uncertainty and all that.  

And the NIM held up very well considering the pressure on funding costs.

But I think the most telling slide - with synergies being revised upwards from 120m pounds to 150m pounds, at a reduced implementation cost (270m pounds, compared to 300m pounds expected before) - is:  




One of the possible niggles that some might have is the rising "cost of risk" (i.e. provision for laon impairmentst) which, on a gross basis, has been trending as follows:

1H17:  0.19%
2H17:  0.23%
1H18:  0.19%
2H18: 0.22%
1H19: 0.26%

But while this metric has ticked up, it is still at a very low absolute level, and in addition it was commented that half of the increase in this metric was due to the adopting of an accounting standard (IFRS9) which has the effect of accelerating impairments.

If you read this result without knowing anything the UK economy, you would never be able to guess that  the backdrop of business conditions was extremely challenging.  

Every time I see the operating and financial results of the company and every time I hear the company's management report on those results, the more impressed I am with them as good old-fashioned, prudent and savvy bankers.

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