Secure Trust Bank (STB) has announced management’s decision to cease new lending in the Vehicle Finance (VF) business and to place the existing loan book into run-off. The decision is a very clear and decisive action to upgrade profitability to above the current target range, by a management team that has a strong track record on restructuring and cost reduction. On a pro forma basis, assuming full run-off and associated operating cost reductions, the decision would increase FY24 pre-tax profit to £56.6m from £39.1m and increase FY24 ROAE by some 800 basis points. We highlight below the key features of the announcement and will make forecast revisions at the time of the interim results on 14 August.