Virgin Money’s first half gross mortgage lending results handed it a leaping market share of 3.8% with plans to lend more in H2 but said greater competition between mortgage lenders will hold back further market share gains this year.
The challenger bank, which listed on the stock market in November 2014, increased its mortgage balances 8% since year-end last year to £23.6bn. However, it said its market share may fall to under 3.5% later in the year as lenders battle it out for volume.
Underlying profit before tax increased by 37% to £81.8m, from £59.7m in H1 2014.
The bank also reported continued growth in mortgage, credit card and retail deposit balances, with credit card balances standing at £1.1bn after the migration of 675,000 accounts in March 2015.
Virgin also successfully issued £300m medium-term notes and £750m of Residential Mortgage Backed Securities.
Jayne-Anne Gadhia, chief executive officer, said: “We continued to increase our share of the mortgage market while protecting the quality of our book. Gross mortgage lending increased by 44% to £3.6bn in the first half of the year, representing a 3.8% market share of gross lending and a 20.5% share of net lending to the end of May.”
She added that strong mortgage performance will become ‘compressed’ in H2 given the headwind from greater lending competition later in the year.
Virgin continues to distribute 90% of its mortgages through intermediaries and strengthened mortgage adviser relationships this year with a 10-working day promise with £100 to customers in case of failure, a no dual pricing promise and previously installed higher procuration fees.
Victoria Hartley is contributing editor at Mortgage Solutions, Specialist Lending Solutions, Your Money and Your Mortgage at London-based publishing company AE3 Media.
She has an MA in Radio from Goldsmiths after gaining a 2:1 in a Comparative American Studies BA at Warwick University. She also holds a TEFL qualification and taught overseas in Mexico and Japan from 1994 to 1997.
Her role includes editorial oversight of the news, analysis and features, event content management and strategic and editorial consultancy for the AE3 Media group. She is an experienced video, broadcast and live-event host and regularly chairs web and podcast debates and interviews.
Multiple award nominations have resulted in two wins: Santander Media Awards, trade journalist of the year and Headlinemoney Awards, mortgage journalist of the year (B2B). Here is one of the award-winning pieces: https://www.mortgagesolutions.co.uk/news/2011/07/21/exclusive-tale-bailey-fraud-witness/
Previous roles include editorships of Mortgage Solutions, consumer title What Mortgage and trade title Credit Today as well as a stint freelancing for a variety of outlets including The Guardian and Which? Money.
