British challenger bank Virgin Money today reported a strong credit performance and better-than-expected deposit growth from savers, as a string of business-boosting initiatives started to bear fruit.
Reaffirming its full year outlook, the bank said gross mortgage lending was £1.4 billion for the first quarter ended March 31.
While this was in line with earlier guidance, the figure was down from the £2 billion reported a year earlier.
Mortgage balances rose 10.4% to £33.9 billion, while deposits grew to £31.1 billion - up 7.4% since March 31 2017.
"We are focused on growing assets at the right price and quality in a competitive mortgage market and are pleased to report 10.4% year-on-year growth in our mortgage book," the lender's chief executive Jayne-Anne Gadhia said.
The bank said it had seen "a stronger than expected" customer response to the launch of its Virgin Atlantic frequent flyer credit cards.
It also said that a new distribution partnership with Aberdeen Standard Investments was likely to increase its 13% core capital ratio by around 40 basis points.
