Customer numbers climb to 3.7m at Virgin Money UK
Financial services group, Virgin Money UK, says it achieved solid financial results in the third quarter of 2023, including stable mortgage balances of £57.5bn in the face of a subdued markets backdrop.
Unsecured lending increased 2.4% in the quarter, driven mainly by credit card growth, as the group benefited from resilient demand from existing customers and business lending was up 1.6% to £8.7bn.
There was also further growth in total active relationship customer accounts (+51,000 during the quarter) to 3.7m.
David Duffy, chief executive officer, said: “We have delivered another quarter of good progress against our strategy, with growth in both deposits and our target lending segments.
“Given our strong capital position, we anticipate a total of c.£175m of buybacks for FY23 with more to follow as we normalise our surplus capital position by the end of next year.
“Our overall credit quality remains stable and we are fully committed to doing the right thing by our customers, through competitive rates, innovative products and proactive communication, as well as supporting Government initiatives to help people through the current challenging environment.”
Virgin Money says it is providing support for customers dealing with rising living costs, including the Mortgage Charter package of measures agreed with the Government and other “tailored solutions”.
The group adds that while overall arrears, excluding Government guaranteed loans, remained modest during the period, it continues to see a gradual increase in credit card arrears – as expected – from the low pandemic levels and which it says reflects the credit cycle.
Also today, Virgin Money has confirmed a share buyback to repurchase up to £50m in aggregate between its ordinary shares of £0.10 each listed on the London Stock Exchange and CHESS Depositary Interests, (CDIs) each representing one share, listed on the Australian Securities Exchange.
Subject to trading liquidity and any arrangements put in place to manage compliance with legal requirements, Virgin Money intends to repurchase shares and CDIs in approximately equal proportions.
The buyback is expected to start today – 2 August – and will end no later than 22 November 2023.
The purpose of the buyback is to reduce Virgin Money’s issued share capital by returning surplus capital to shareholders.
