Clydesdale Bank posts higher first-half net interest income

(Reuters) - Clydesdale Bank Plc (CYBGC.L) on Tuesday posted a 2.5 percent rise in first-half net interest income, helped by growth in mortgage lending and lower term deposit and wholesale funding costs.

The Glasgow-based lender, which made its London debut in February, reported a net interest income of 400 million pounds ($579.52 million) for the six months ended March 31, from 390 million pounds a year earlier.

Customer lending grew 2.8 percent while deposits were up 4.6 percent.

CYBG, whose brands include Clydesdale Bank and Yorkshire Bank, said it expects loan-to-deposit ratio to remain under 115 percent and Common Equity Tier 1 (CET1) to be in the range of 12 to 13 percent.

The bank reported a CET1 ratio of 13.2 percent.

CYBG, which was valued at about 1.62 billion pounds in its London debut, said underlying cost-to-income ratio fell to 72 percent in the six months, from 71 percent a year earlier.

New business lending to SMEs rose 10 percent to 1.03 billion pounds.

Clydesdale shares were flat in early trading on the London Stock Exchange. The stock has risen nearly 31 percent from its listing price of 180 pence.

(Reporting by Aastha Agnihotri and Noor Zainab Hussain in Bengaluru; Editing by Sunil Nair)