Arbuthnot Banking Group, the UK-listed firm which includes a private banking business, said it has made a “satisfactory” start to this year with profitable trading at its banking operations and is optimistic about its performance for the rest of this year.

“The Group has made a satisfactory start to 2009. Both of our banking businesses, Arbuthnot Latham and Secure Trust Bank, are trading profitably, remain highly liquid and are well capitalised,” Henry Angest, chairman and group chief executive, said in a statement coinciding with the firm’s annual general meeting today.

“Both banks are seeing good lending opportunities and are continuing to attract deposits. Arbuthnot Securities traded satisfactorily considering the exceptionally difficult conditions in the first quarter,” Mr Angest continued.

“We are pleased to note that all three of our businesses continue to trade ahead of the corresponding period in 2008. We therefore remain cautiously optimistic for the remainder of 2009,” he added.

In late April, Mike Bussey, the chief executive of Arbuthnot Latham, the private banking arm of the Arbuthnot Banking Group, said that while many UK private banks and wealth managers are scaling back on their growth plans and reigning back on regional expansion, Arbuthnot Latham is still looking to grow regionally in the UK.