Profitable first quarter for Virgin Money UK

Virgin Money UK says it has returned to a statutory profit and is continuing to perform resiliently, in its first quarter 2021 trading update – issued today.

The business which owns Yorkshire and Clydesdale Bank, says customer deposits increased in quarter one by 0.9% to £68.1bn, as further Covid-19 restrictions drove lower personal customer spending and businesses continued to maintain high levels of liquidity.

Over the same period, mortgages reduced 0.2% to £58.2bn as the Group focused on margin management and prudent underwriting standards given the uncertain macroeconomic outlook.

Business lending was 0.1% higher at £8.9bn while personal lending reduced 2% to £5.1bn as the impact of Covid-related restrictions resulted in lower retail card spending and declining demand for personal loans.

David Duffy, chief executive officer, said: “Virgin Money had a profitable and positive first quarter and continued to prioritise our customers and colleagues through this uncertain external environment including through payment holidays and Government lending schemes.

“We have made a good start to the year with the launch of new customer propositions, further roll-out of our rebrand programme and a return to statutory profit, while maintaining a disciplined approach.

“The Group remains strongly capitalised and we have good momentum as we look out into the remainder of the year.

“Given the current UK-wide restrictions and ongoing uncertainty, we maintain the cautious economic outlook we outlined in November and our full year guidance remains broadly unchanged.

“Looking ahead, the vaccine roll-out and EU trade deal are encouraging for the UK’s economic recovery and we remain focused on disrupting the market through a variety of innovative new products and propositions with a customer and brand experience that is the best in the market.“