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Virgin Money continues mortgage momentum post-Brexit

Virgin Money has maintained its 2016 mortgage-lending momentum, revealing a continued strong performance in the wake of Brexit uncertainty.

Announcing a trading update for Quarter 3 this morning, the Newcastle-based bank has built on success from earlier in the year when it reported a 70% pretax profit increase to £94m.

Gross mortgage lending was up 19 per cent on the first nine months of 2015 to £6.5bn, resulting in a 3.6 per cent market share of gross mortgage lending to the end of Q3 2016.

Moreover, Net mortgage lending was up 33 per cent on the first nine months of 2015 to £3.5 billion, with £1.3bn of net mortgage lending in Q3 2016

As well as this, Virgin Money Lounges welcomed over 50,000 customers per month in Q3, leading CEO Jayne-Anne Gadhia to look back at the quarter with delight.

Jayne explained: “We delivered a record start to the year for mortgages and we have maintained that momentum following the outcome of the EU referendum.

“Our savings franchise is thriving and our credit card business continues to go from strength to strength. We remain on track to meet our target of £3 billion of high-quality card balances by the end of 2017.

“I am delighted to be working with 10x Future Technologies, founded by former Barclays CEO Antony Jenkins, to transform our digital offering over the course of the next few years.

“We are particularly pleased that customers continue to build personal relationships with Virgin Money as over 50,000 visitors per month enjoy our seven Lounges.

“We have been encouraged by the relative strength of the UK economy immediately following the EU referendum result although we continue to look forward with caution.

“We are well placed to manage potential economic headwinds and remain confident of achieving a solid double-digit return on tangible equity for 2017.”

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