Virgin Money bolsters profit

Virgin Money Holdings said full-year underlying pretax profit rose 53 percent, helped by growth in its core businesses.

London - British lender Virgin Money Holdings said full-year underlying pretax profit rose 53 percent, helped by growth in its core mortgages, savings and credit card businesses which outpaced the market.

The bank, which listed on London's main market in 2014, said it would increase credit card balances to at least 3 billion pounds ($4 billion) by the end of 2017, a year earlier than it anticipated.

Credit card balances rose 44 percent to 1.6 billion pounds in the year.

Underlying pretax profit rose to 160.3 million pounds for the year ended December 31 from 104.8 million pounds a year earlier. Underlying net interest margin increased to 165 basis points from 150 basis points in 2014.

Read also: Mortgage lending lifts Virgin Money

Virgin Money, which counts itself among the bigger “challenger” banks in Britain, said gross mortgage lending rose 29 percent to 7.5 billion pounds in the year. The British housing market had been buoyant in 2015.

Mortgage balances rose 16 percent to 25.5 billion pounds versus market growth of 1.8 percent, the company said.

REUTERS