S&U takes ‘Margaret Thatcher’ approach as profit swells
Specialist lender S&U recorded a major bump to profit in the last year as the bank said it was following the teachings of former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.
The London-listed bank – which was founded in 1938 and once known as Sports and Utilities – posted a pre-tax profit of £31.8m in the year ending 5 February 2026, up from £24m for the period prior.
This came despite revenue taking a dip to £107.4m from last year’s £115.6m. But the bank’s bottom line was handed a boost after impairment charges were slashed to £13m, marking nearly a third of the previous years’ £35.6m.
Anthony Coombs, chairman of S&U, said: “Just over 50 years ago, the then Leader of the Opposition, Margaret Thatcher, assured the nation that “the way to recovery is through profits.”
“In recent times, British Governments of all colours, obsessed as they are with income distribution over wealth creation, have forgotten this. At S&U, we have not.”
S&U chair calls for bigger regulatory boosts
The firm, which specialises in motor finance and property lending, has faced a torrid few years following the regulator’s investigation into the car finance market.
Advantage – the group’s motor finance arm – suffered an over £12m blow to profit last year, reducing it to £16.5m. It came as S&U’s impairment charges rose to £35.6m, reflecting a near £10m increase in motor finance arrears.
The bank’s motor finance arm was slapped with a mandated review from the Financial Conduct Authority, which required it to produce a report by a so-called skilled person that was tied to the regulator’s Consumer Duty regime and sector-wide Borrowers in Financial Difficulty review.
It came as the motor finance market came under scrutiny over the use of discretionary commission arrangements – secret commission deals with lenders and brokers that left consumers in the dark – that often had outsized commission rates.
But S&U said last December, after restrictions were lifted the arm was able to beat third-quarter profit targets following being “freed from the shackles of regulatory intervention”.
Advantage’s profit for the year ending February 2026 came in at £23.4m.
“That’s the area of potential growth because obviously we want to get Advantage back to the profitability levels that it was doing three or four years ago, before Covid and before this regulatory intervention… there’s a lot of potential there,” Coombs told City PM.
He said the government should now turn to the recommendations in the House of Lords report and see “how many of those they can introduce in the short term”.
“With welcome stability from our political leaders and regulators, rewards will surely follow,” he added.