4th May 2016 07:08
LONDON (Alliance News) - Virgin Money Holdings (UK) PLC on Wednesday said it had a record start to 2016 for mortgage lending, while its savings franchise was boosted as customers poured money into cash individual savings accounts, with profitability, earnings and underlying return on tangible equity in line with expectations during the quarter.
Gross mortgage lending was up 30% to GBP2.1 billion in the three months ended March 31, Virgin Money said, from GBP1.6 billion the corresponding quarter a year earlier. Virgin Money said it had a 3.4% share of gross mortgage lending in the first quarter.
Residential gross mortgage lending increased by 35%, while buy-to-let gross lending was up 17%. It is likely that the volume of buy-to-let lending will reduce in the second quarter compared to the volume written in the first quarter, Virgin Money said, and continues to expect overall gross lending volumes to increase year-on-year in 2016.
Credit card balances increased 77% on the same period to GBP1.8 billion, and Chief Executive Officer Jayne-Anne Gadhia said the credit card business continues to exceed expectations one year since it was introduced to the public. The credit cards book is moving towards a targeted GBP3 billion of outstandings by the end of 2017.
Virgin Money said it managed the cost and volume of retail deposits in the quarter, with deposits up 18% from a year earlier to GBP26.3 billion, and from GBP25.1 billion at the end of the fourth quarter of 2015.
The lender's market share of cash ISA balances increased to 4.2% from 3.1% in the first quarter of 2015.
Shares in Virgin Money were down 0.5% at 352.65 pence shortly after the market open.
By Samuel Agini; [email protected]; @samuelagini
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