Underlying profit before tax increased by 127% to £121.2 million, from £53.4 million in 2013. Mortgage balances increased to £21.9 billion, up 11.8% against market growth of 1.4%, while net lending reached £2.3 billion.
Virgin also held mortgage arrears at low levels, with loans over three months in arrears of 0.31% compared with the latest industry average of 1.33%.
However the challenger bank made statutory profit before tax of just £34 million, due to "costs associated with the Initial Public Offering and payment of additional consideration for Northern Rock plc to HM Treasury following the successful listing on the London Stock Exchange."
Virgin Money listed on the stock market in November, with the bank valued at £1.25bn. The IPO is expected to raise total gross proceeds of approximately £312 million. A third of it will go to The Treasury relating to Virgin's purchase of Northern Rock during the financial crisis.
Jayne-Anne Gadhia, Chief Executive, said:
“I am delighted to report a 127% increase in underlying profit for 2014 which ended the year at £121.2 million.
“We have made great progress against our objectives to achieve strong growth, maintain our high quality balance sheet and deliver returns to shareholders. We set out to be a credible and effective challenger to the large incumbent banks and I believe we have laid an excellent foundation on which to realise our ambition. We now rank in the top six of all UK net mortgage lenders and are among the highest rated retail banks in the UK by Net Promoter Score.
“We aim always to live up to the consumer champion ethos of the Virgin brand and our conservative approach to risk and strong financial performance go hand in hand with our commitment to serve the needs of customers and communities.
“Following the progress made in 2014 I am pleased to report that we expect to be admitted to the FTSE 250 on 20 March 2015.
“Our staff are at the heart of Virgin Money and I would like to thank them for their hard work throughout what has been a landmark year for the business. I am pleased we are able to reward all eligible employees with a share in success bonus on top of their normal bonus awards, to add to the £1,000 of shares that all employees received on listing.”
