Media Contact: Caroline Wright SNL Financial 7 Birchin Lane , EC3V 9BW +44 (0)20 7398 1326 direct [email protected] www.snl.com

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

SNL Financial Ranks the 10 Largest and Building Societies in the UK

Announced today, SNL Financial has released a new report exploring the state of the UK's banking system, with analysis charting market performance of the largest UK banks.

London, UK. (27 May 2015) – SNL Financial has released a new report exploring the state of the U.K’s banking system. Using the latest financial data, the report contains a ranking of the U.K’s 10 largest banks and building societies, an economic and industry overview, risk profile of the sector, branch network information, profiles of the major banks, M&A, regulation and a summary of common stock offerings.

*Santander UK Plc was not included in SNL’s 2013 world ranking because it was based on the ultimate parent institution. Only one institution per corporate structure was included. SA was ranked at number 18.

Highlights:

• Among the top four U.K. banks, HSBC’s 7.46% ROAE, 1.83% net interest margin and 64.16% cost-to-income ratio put it in the leading position in 2014.

• Among the big four, had the lowest gross impaired loans ratio at 2.93% in 2014 while its Core Tier 1 ratio of 12.80% was the strongest.

• At the other end of the spectrum, Royal of Scotland Group had the highest proportion of gross impaired loans at 8.04% and was the only bank among the four to report a loss for 2014. The company also reported the worst net interest margin and cost-to-income ratio at 0.94% and 88.03%, respectively.

• The U.K. banking sector held £7.927 trillion of assets as of June 30, 2014, down 14.7% since June 30, 2010.

• U.K. banks have far fewer branches than their peers in other parts of Europe. In 2012, the U.K. had 1.8 branches per 10,000 residents, compared to between 4.5 and 7.2 branches per 10,000 residents in , , Germany and Italy in 2013.

• From Jan. 1, 2013, to March 18, 2015, U.K.-based banks have completed 22 common stock offerings worth more than £13 billion, according to SNL data.

To read the full report, visit: http://go.snl.com/rs/snlfinanciallc/images/UKBankingReport.pdf. We kindly request that you do not reproduce the report in its entirety.

Notes: SNL Financial is publishing a number of similar analyses for other key economies across the globe. To request data on other regions, please email [email protected]

About SNL Financial SNL Financial is a leading provider of financial information on more than 6,500 public companies and 50,000 private companies in business sectors critical to the global economy: Banking, Financial Services, Insurance, Real Estate, Energy, Metals & Mining, and Media & Communications. The SNL information service integrates breaking news, comprehensive data and expert analysis into an electronic database available online and updated around the clock.

For businesses and organizations interested in additional information or to receive a free trial of SNL’s global banking product, please email [email protected], or phone +44 (0)20 7398 0873 (Europe, & Africa), +852 5808 1882 (Asia-Pacific), or +1 (866)296-3743 (America).

For more details on SNL’s banking coverage please visit: www.snl.com

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