ABSTRACT Subdwarf B (sdB) stars are core helium-burning stars with stratified atmospheres. Their atmospheres are dominated by hydrogen (H) while the helium (He) and metal abundances are shaped by an interplay of gravitational settling and radiative levitation. However, a small fraction of these show spectra dominated by He i absorption lines. In between these groups of He-deficient and extreme He-rich sdBs, some are found to have intermediate surface He abundances. These objects are proposed to be young ‘normal’ (He-deficient) sdBs for which the dynamical stratification of the atmosphere is still ongoing. We present an analysis of the optical spectrum of such an intermediate He-rich sdB, namely CPD−20°1123, by means of non-local thermodynamic equilibrium (NLTE) stellar atmosphere models. It has a He-to-H number ratio of He/H = 0.13 ± 0.05 and its effective temperature of $\mbox{$T_\mathrm{eff}$} = 25\, 500 ± 1000 \, \mathrm{K}$ together with a surface gravity of $\log \, (g$ / cm s−2) = 5.3 ± 0.3 places the star close to the high-temperature edge until which it may be justified to use LTE model atmospheres. This work states a test of the Tübingen NLTE Model Atmosphere Package for this temperature regime. We present the first application of revised, elaborated model atoms of low ionization stages of light metals usable with this atmosphere code.