 dropped over 5 percent on Tuesday, despite reporting strong results with a positive outlook going forward.){kind=link}
Shares in retail bank Virgin Money Holdings (LON:VM) dropped over 5 percent on Tuesday, despite reporting strong results with a positive outlook going forward.
Underlying pre-tax profit rose by 15 per cent to £128.6 million in the first half of the year, with statutory profit before tax up 23 per cent, from £100.7 million to £123.8 million.
The challenger bank said retail deposit balances went up five per cent to hit £29.6 billion, while mortgage balances increased seven per cent to £31.8 billion and credit card balances went up 13 per cent to £2.8 billion.
The bank had a largely positive outlook going forward, but a warning that the UK economic outlook remained “uncertain” damaged investor confidence. It also added that whilst the housing market is expected to remain strong, “in the near term there may be some areas of weakness to be navigated”.
Jayne-Anne Gadhia, Chief Executive, commented:
“Our deposit franchise is flourishing, we have maintained our stringent focus on the prime segment of the credit card market, and continue to deliver high-quality mortgage lending growth.
“We are delighted to announce our new partnership with Virgin Atlantic which will offer an exceptional experience for Flying Club members. With our shared brand and closely aligned values, we expect this to create a valuable strategic partnership for the business.
“The development of our digital banking platform, in collaboration with 10x Future Technologies, is progressing to time and budget and we believe will be transformational for the business.
“We will continue to drive growth, quality and returns, put customers at the heart of everything we do, and we remain on track to sustain a solid double-digit return on tangible equity (RoTE) in 2017.”
Shares in Virgin Money Holdings are currently trading down 5.58 percent at 289.40 (1216GMT).