Virgin Money has reported growth in its main sectors but said it had increased support for its customers as concerns increase over the UK economy.
The bank - which has its major offices in Newcastle, Glasgow and Leeds - reported increased activity in business lending, mortgages, unsecured lending and overall deposits in the first quarter of its financial year. The company said it was seeing good uptake of its buy-now-pay-later service Slyce, but insisted it was rolling out the product responsibly.
And it said that business lending had increased despite the winding down of Government loan schemes linked to the pandemic.
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Chief executive officer David Duffy said: “We’ve had a positive first quarter with continued good progress on digitisation and growth in lending across the business as more customers choose Virgin Money.
“Arrears remain broadly stable but we’ve increased the support available to those who need it and remain prudently provisioned for an uncertain economic outlook. Looking ahead, we have good financial momentum and a number of exciting digital product launches to come which will support our continued growth.”
Virgin Money said customer lending had grown 0.7% in the quarter while mortgages rose 0.4%. Business lending was up 2.4% to £8.4bn, with balances 4% higher and including growth in specialist sectors, offsetting the end of Government Covid loan schemes. Overall, the bank said it had grown its customer base by 34,000 over the period.-
Virgin Money said it had paused a long-term restructuring project to protect services, but expected the programme to continue in the second half of its financial year. The company’s trading update said it was “pleased with our progress in the quarter as we continue to deliver on our strategy, despite the uncertain economic backdrop.”
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