Banking group makes ‘strong progress’

Challenger bank Paragon “continues to make strong progress”, it has told the stock market, weeks after completing a major acquisition.

Earlier this month Paragon Banking Group revealed it had bought residential development finance provider Titlestone and a £226m portfolio of development finance loans for £274m as part of its strategy to diversify into specialist lending markets.

The Solihull-based business increased its commercial lending by 58%, to £449m, in the nine months to June while mortgage lending rose by 7% to £1.13bn.

Paragon’s chief executive Nigel Terrington said the business is “on track” to achieve its 2018 targets and is “well-placed to make further strong progress in 2019”.

He added: “The group continues to make strong progress towards its objective of being a leading specialist bank.

“The core buy-to-let business continues to see strong demand from professional landlords and the addition of Titlestone is expected to accelerate the growth of our commercial lending arm.”