Egg makes first profit

Internet bank Egg reported a profit for November, keeping its promise that it would break-even by the end of the year.

The news helped push Egg's share price up 6p in early morning trading before falling back to its opening price of 154p by mid-morning.

Egg's performance was boosted by its credit card business, which has made a positive contribution since the beginning of October, the company said.

The Internet bank, created by the Prudential and floated in June 2000, reported that it had recruited 129,300 new customers since the beginning of October.

Its customer base now stands at 1.92 million.

In a trading statement issued today the company said: "This has been an important year in the development of Egg. We have taken the UK business into profitability and continued to grow the customer base strongly."

It maintains it is now well placed to sustain growth and profitability during 2002.

In Q3 this year it reported that operating income had doubled to £127 million, up from £61.2 million during the same quarter last year. Pre-tax losses fell by 29 per cent from £25.5 million in Q2 to £18.4 million in Q3. ®

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