"The combination of strong new mortgage lending and improved customer retention resulted in 17% growth in mortgage balances to £29.7bn"
In its full year results, the lender shows a 17% increase in mortgage balances to £29.7bn and a 20% rise in net mortgage lending to £4.3bn, a market share of 11%.
Underlying profit before tax increased by 33% to £213.3m, while statutory profit before tax increased to £194.4m, compared to £138m in 2015.
Jayne-Anne Gadhia, Chief Executive at Virgin Money, said: “I am delighted to report another very successful year for Virgin Money in 2016. 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 £213.3m.
“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 £29.7bn, significantly outpacing the market. Our savings franchise continues to perform with 12% growth in deposit balances to £28.1bn and we are pleased with the increasing contribution and momentum in our Financial Services business.
“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.”
