TOP NEWS: Virgin Money Annual Loss Narrows But Loan Book Slips

(Alliance News) - Virgin Money UK PLC on Wednesday reported a narrowed annual loss, after putting ...

Alliance News 25 November, 2020 | 9:23AM
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(Alliance News) - Virgin Money UK PLC on Wednesday reported a narrowed annual loss, after putting behind it the payment protection insurance remediation costs of a year before, but this was hampered by a jump in credit impairment charges, reflecting a "cautious approach to an uncertain economic environment".

Shares in the FTSE 250-listed lender were down 5.5% in London on Wednesday morning at 138.90 pence each.

For the financial year that ended September 30, Virgin Money's pretax loss narrowed to GBP168 million from GBP232 million the year before.

The lender's total impairment losses on credit exposures jumped to GBP501 million from GBP153 million the year before.

But this was offset by Virgin Money's legacy conduct costs dropping to GBP26 million from GBP433 million the year before. The sharp drop was due to the non-recurrence of significant one-off acquisition costs and legacy PPI conduct charges.

Net interest income dropped 15% to GBP1.28 billion from GBP1.51 billion. As total operating income fell 18% to GBP1.44 billion.

Chief Executive David Duffy said financial 2020 has been an "extraordinary year of disruption".

"While we are yet to see any material impacts of the pandemic on the credit quality of our loan book, our results reflect a cautious and conservative approach to the coming period as we refine our assessment of the uncertain economic outlook and the impact of the second lockdown. Although the vaccine news is a strong cause of hope for the future, the economic benefits are still some way off when considering the immediate reality of current restrictions and so have not yet been factored into our near-term forecasts," Duffy continued.

Customer loans were broadly flat year on year at GBP72.46 billion versus GBP72.98 billion, with Mortgages loans down 3.0% to GBP58.29 billion but Personal loans up 3.9% to GBP5.22 billion and Business loans up 14% to GBP8.95 billion.

Net interest margin slipped to 1.56% from 1.66% the year before.

Customer deposits rose 5.8% to GBP90.26 billion from GBP91.00 billion.

The lender's CET1 ratio ended September at 13.4%, slightly higher than 13.3% a year before. Virgin Money did not declare a dividend in financial 2020, helping to aid its capital buffers.

Looking ahead, Virgin Money said it remains "hard to predict" its future performance, so is unable to give "firm" medium-term guidance.

For financial 2021, net interest margin is expected broadly flat and non-interest income will "remain subdued". Underlying operating costs are guided to come under GBP875 million, which will include GBP10 million to GBP15 million of Covid costs. The lender also noted its cost of risk will be lower in the next year.

Duffy added: "Looking into 2021, we are well underway in rolling out our full suite of Virgin Money products and services across personal and business, underpinned by our unique brand proposition and leading digital capabilities. This progress, as well as the steps we have already taken to transform and simplify our business, mean we are well positioned to emerge from the pandemic as an agile, innovative and disruptive force in UK banking."

By Paul McGowan; paulmcgowan@alliancenews.com

Copyright 2020 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.

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Securities Mentioned in Article

Security Name Price Change (%) Morningstar
Rating
Virgin Money UK PLC 214.00 GBX 0.19

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