The U.K. financial sector was on the backfoot in midday trade on Wednesday, as a profit miss and soft guidance by Metro Bank PLC (LON:MTRO) spooked investors.
In its preliminary results for the full year to December, the British lender posted £50 million of pre-tax profits against consensus estimates of £59 million.
The bank also warned that its profit growth softened as the final quarter progressed.
Shares dropped around 30% by 6:40AM ET (11:40 GMT) in London to hit an all-time low.
The steep decline gave no respite to a U.K. banking sector already weakened by ongoing uncertainty over Brexit.
The FTSE 350 Banks index was down 0.6%, on track for its third straight day of losses.
-- Reuters contributed to this report
