Tesco Bank’s interim results showed that mortgage lending enjoyed a boost in the six months to 31 August 2015, where it totalled £1,490m up from £1,027m recorded in the first half of 2014. According to its preliminary results displaying the year ending 28 February 2015, mortgage lending at Tesco Bank reached 1,198m.
Mortgage balances at the lender reached £1.5bn in the first half of 2015, up from £1.2bn in February, an increase of 25%.
The news is in contrast with the firm’s announcement that underlying profits for its retail branch fell drastically in the first half of its financial year, plummeting 55% compared to the same period in 2014, to £354m.
Earlier this year Tesco’s lending arm launched a 95% loan-to-value (LTV) fixed-rate product range, putting its products in the ranks of some of the UK’s most competitive mortgage deals for borrowers with small deposits.
Rumours circulated in February this year that Tesco was preparing to launch into the intermediary market, with plans to enter the market early in 2016.
