The loan book, including originate-to-distribute (OTD) assets, grew to £20.1 billion from £19.2 billion at the end of FY 2025, representing roughly 10% annualised growth. Underlying return on tangible equity came in at 18.1%, marginally below the 18.3% reported in H1 2025 but ahead of the c.17% full-year guidance. Net interest margin expanded to 4.38% from 4.35% year-on-year, even excluding a £25.8 million gain on the sale of retained notes from the Lanebrook 2024-1 securitisation.

The standout operational metric is the cost-to-income ratio, which fell to 36.4% from 40.0% a year earlier, putting Shawbrook well inside its medium-term guidance range of mid-30s. Chief executive Marcelino Castrillo attributed the improvement to deliberate choices across organisational design, estate footprint and the technology stack. He pointed to AI as an increasingly material contributor, with the bank deploying it across each stage of the lending cycle. In real estate underwriting specifically, Shawbrook said AI-assisted workflows are targeting a reduction in preparation time of up to 50%.

The cost-to-average-principal-employed efficiency ratio also improved, moving to 1.59% from 1.74% in H1 2025, a 15 basis point gain that reflects income growing materially faster than costs.

8% at year-end 2025. 9%, providing significant headroom.

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