Virgin Money has reported a 33% rise in pre-tax profits for 2016 to £213.3 million, from £160.7 million in 2015.
Net mortgage lending grew by 20% to £4.3 billion, a market share of 11%.
For 2016, retail deposit balances increased by 12% to £28.1 billion, while credit card balances increased to £2.4 billion, up 55%, a 3.5% market share.
Jayne-Anne Gadhia, chief executive at Virgin Money, said: “I am delighted to report another very successful year for Virgin Money in 2016. Our customer-focused strategy of growth, quality and returns continues to achieve and maintain outstanding customer approval ratings, excellent asset quality and strong financial performance. We recorded market-beating growth in our core mortgages, savings and credit card businesses to deliver a 33% increase in underlying profit before tax to £213.3 million and strengthen our underlying return on tangible equity from 10.9% to 12.4%.
“We continue to target high quality lending growth and the combination of strong new mortgage lending and improved customer retention resulted in 17% growth in mortgage balances to £29.7 billion, significantly outpacing the market. Our credit card business continues to flourish and 55% growth in prime credit card balances to £2.4 billion means we remain well-placed to reach our target of £3 billion high-quality credit card balances at the end of 2017. The performance of our Essential Current Account was particularly strong and customer balances increased more than fivefold over the year. Our savings franchise continues to perform with 12% growth in deposit balances to £28.1 billion and we are pleased with the increasing contribution and momentum in our Financial Services business.
“We increased our overall customer base by 15% to 3.3 million, supported by growth in customer numbers across every product category. Our continued focus on delivering excellent customer service led to new highs in customer advocacy with our overall Net Promoter Score improving to +29, making us one of the best-rated retail banks in the UK.
“We are confident of sustaining strong asset growth and maintaining our excellent asset quality. We are excited about the strategic opportunities ahead of us including the build of our digital bank, which will be transformational for the business, and our partnership with Virgin Red, which will give our customers access to great deals from across the broader Virgin Group of companies. We will continue to put customers at the heart of everything we do and remain on track to sustain a solid double-digit return on equity in 2017.”
