Virgin Money warns of buy-to-let slowdown and EU referendum uncertainty

Virgin Money’s shares dropped on Wednesday after the lender warned of a slowdown in the buy-to-let market and of uncertainty ahead of the European Union referendum.

The British bank reported a record 30% jump in gross mortgage lending to £2.1bn in the first quarter compared to the same period a year ago, accounting for a 3.4% share of the market.

Net mortgage lending grew 59% on Q1 2015 to £1.1bn.

The increase in mortgages was driven by strong growth in residential gross mortgages and buy-to-let lending which rose 35% and 17%, respectively.

However, following the introduction of extra stamp duty on buy-to-let properties on 1 April, Virgin expects the demand for such mortgages to ease in coming months.

“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,” said Virgin.

The company also cautioned on the potential impact of Britain’s referendum on its EU membership on 23 June. Virgin said the EU referendum remains the “largest source of domestic uncertainty”.

“Irrespective of the outcome of the EU referendum, Virgin Money will continue to focus on growing the business by supporting customers with good value products and services and delivering strong shareholder returns.”

Virgin’s credit card business, which was launched a year ago, gained 77% to £1.8bn. The lender expects the credit card business will “grow strongly” towards its target of £3bn of outstanding balances by the end of 2017. Deposit balances rose 18% to £26.3bn.

Shares fell 1.54% to 348.95p at 1012 BST.