(Bloomberg) -- ClearBank Ltd. reported its first annual profit as the British firm eyes expansion in Europe and the US as well as more embedded banking services.  

The nine-year-old bank said Thursday it made a pretax profit of £18.4 million ($23.1 million) for 2023, compared to a loss of £7.1 million in 2022. Total income nearly doubled to £111.3 million, while it spent more on staff and IT costs. 

Charles McManus, chief executive officer of ClearBank, said in an interview the firm has applied for a Netherlands banking license to spearhead expansion into Europe, with an eye on a US launch by 2026, potentially via an acquisition. 

The firm is currently “not in need of going to capital markets” for funding, according to McManus, with an initial public offering more likely once ClearBank is in a position to expand eastwards, for example in the UAE and Asia Pacific, he added. 

ClearBank doubled its deposits last year to £6.1 billion, meaning it benefited from higher interest rates, while it also grew revenue from services such as payments processing it provides to other banks. The firm does not lend from its deposit book, but instead makes money in processing fees.

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