Virgin Money highlights strong growth in mortgage sector

Virgin Money said it has delivered a strong trading performance for the third quarter of the year, with a substantial increase in mortgage lending being the key highlight.

The FTSE 250 listed bank posted its third quarter trading update to 30 September on Thursday.

It revealed gross mortgage lending was up 38% on the first nine months of 2014 to £5.5bn.

Net mortgage lending almost doubled in the same period to £2.6bn.

The ‘challenger’ bank also said it now had a 3.5% share of gross mortgage lending in the first eight months of the year.

Credit card balances increased 28% from 30 June to almost £1.4bn, nearly halfway to the company £3bn target for 2018.

Other income, including strong current account sales, grew in line with expectations.

The company said it is confident on delivering on its medium term targets.

“With re-mortgage volumes growing and helping to drive year on year growth in overall gross mortgage lending in the third quarter, Virgin Money expects front book asset spreads to remain broadly stable at current market rates for the rest of 2015 and into 2016,” it noted.

Chief executive Jayne-Anne Gadhia said she is delighted with the results to date, particularly with the mortgage business.

“Q3 has seen a continuation of delivery on our promises on all key metrics.

“In the same way, we have continued to build out our capabilities and we have made further and considerable progress towards our long-term strategic objectives."