2nd Mar 2016 07:49
LONDON (Alliance News) - Virgin Money Holdings PLC on Wednesday said its pretax profit surged in 2015 as it performed ahead of the wider market on core mortgages, savings and credit card growth.
In it first set of full-year results since floating in late 2014, the FTSE 250 lender said its pretax profit for the year to the end of December increased to GBP138.0 million from GBP34.0 million a year earlier, helped by higher income and one-off costs it booked the year prior on its listing in London and the acquisition of mortgage lender Northern Rock.
Total income for Virgin Money hit GBP454.8 million in 2015, up from GBP367.3 million in 2014, accompanied by higher interest income but lower costs. Net interest income rose 25% to GBP456.1 million from GBP366.1 million, as its underlying net interest margin rose to 165 basis points from 150 point in 2014.
Retail deposit balances rose 12% in the year, ahead of the 7.0% growth seen in the market, while its credit card balances rose 44%, significantly higher than the 4.0% market growth. Mortgage balances rose 16%, ahead of market growth of 1.8%, while gross mortgage lending hit GBP7.5 billion, a 3.4% market share.
Virgin Money will pay a final dividend of 3.1 pence per share, taking its total dividend payout to 4.5p.
"Growth in our mortgage book outpaced the market as we continued to support demand for housing in the UK. Our savings franchise continued to flourish and deposit balances are now higher than at any point in our history," said Chief Executive Jayne-Anne Gadhia.
Gadhia added the substantial growth in the credit card business meant Virgin Money had brought forward its target of hitting GBP3.0 billion in balances to 2017, a year earlier than initially planned.
Virgin Money said its CET 1 ratio was 17.5% on December 31, while its total capital ratio was 20.2%.
By Sam Unsted; [email protected]; @SamUAtAlliance
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