London-listed Arbuthnot Banking Group has given an update on third quarter performance together with an outlook statement for the remaining months of 2008.

Its private banking operation, Arbuthnot Latham, was profitable during the third quarter. Its balance sheet remains strong as its lending activities are financed exclusively from customer deposits, which are significantly greater than the loan book.  

The group’s Secure Trust Bank’s third quarter performance showed an improvement over the same period last year, continuing the trend of year-on-year improvement which was achieved in the first half.

Arbuthnot Securities saw a sharp decline in corporate transactions, and continued pressure on the value of trading book positions and was loss-making in the third quarter.