Key facts
- FirstRand has classified Aldermore Bank and MotoNovo Finance as held for sale.
- A £547.8 million pre-tax charge was taken for motor finance redress and associated costs.
- The charge includes an additional £518.4 million provision for customer redress.
- FirstRand's balance sheet provision for motor finance redress stood at approximately £749 million as of June 30, 2026.
- The group is exiting the UK market due to regulatory uncertainty and the cost of historic motor finance liabilities.
- Prospective bidders are expected to submit non-binding offers by the end of September.
FirstRand has formally classified its UK operations, including Aldermore Bank and its subsidiary MotoNovo Finance, as held for sale. This decision follows a significant £547.8 million pre-tax charge related to motor finance redress and associated costs.
The South African banking group is accelerating its exit from the UK market, citing increasing uncertainty surrounding historic motor finance liabilities. FirstRand's latest financial results reveal an additional £518.4 million provision for customer redress stemming from the Financial Conduct Authority's (FCA) motor finance review, along with £29.4 million in related expenses.
FirstRand acquired Aldermore in 2017 for approximately £1.1 billion. The UK business is now being treated as a discontinued operation. A formal sale process is underway, with non-binding offers anticipated by the end of September and binding offers by the end of December. FirstRand aims to complete the transaction within 12 months.
The company stated that the potential cost of historic motor finance redress had become disproportionate to the returns generated by its UK motor finance operations. FirstRand also noted an increasingly uncertain UK operating environment for consumer finance and what it considers an unacceptable level of regulatory "look-back risk". The group concluded that deploying further capital into its UK businesses would no longer meet its risk appetite or required investment returns.