Virgin Money, the Edinburgh-based bank, has announced its profits experienced a boost after its mortgage lending grew significantly.
There was considerable growth in mortgage lending for the company, of 44 per cent, up to £23.6bn. Its first half figures showed that its underlying pre-tax profits had risen 37 per cent, to £82m.
Although these were strong increases, they did not rise as sharply as its statutory profits, which rose from £6m to £55m.
Depositors account for 88 per cent of lending, after retail deposits rose 3 per cent to £22.8bn.
However, Virgin Money has been affected by George Osborne’s 2015 Budget, after a bank surcharge was announced, resulting in its earnings’ target being postponed.
“Gross mortgage lending increased by 44 per cent to £3.6 billion in the first half of the year, representing a 3.8 per cent market share of gross lending and a 20.5 per cent share of net lending to the end of May,” said Virgin Money’s Chief Executive Officer, Jayne-Anne Gadhia.
“We remain focused not only on delivering growth but also generating sustainable returns to shareholders.”
Virgin Money is one of a number of smaller challenger banks, competing against the larger banks such as Barclays and HSBC.
