Virgin Money sees lending dip ahead of Nationwide mega-deal
The bank said it lent less to customers but saw stronger demand for savings in recent months.
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Virgin Money has said it lent less to customers in recent months but reported stronger demand for savings, as the bank prepares to be taken over by Nationwide by the end of the year.
Total lending to customers fell by 0.9% to £72 billion between April and June, compared with the first six half of its financial year.
Mortgages shrunk by 1.1% which the bank said was partly driven by the impact of more customers paying off their mortgage in full, as people took steps to avoid rolling on to deals with higher interest rates.
It also reflected more “disciplined” lending as the bank tried to protect its finances.
On the other hand, unsecured lending, including credit cards, grew by 1.3% in recent months.
And customer deposits jumped by 2.4% as more people opened ISA accounts at the start of the new tax year, it said.
Meanwhile, Virgin Money said it expects its business costs to be higher than previously expected after putting its restructuring plans on ice ahead of the proposed £2.9 billion takeover by Nationwide.
The restructuring formed part of wider cost-saving plans, which included job reductions and scaling back its branches, announced earlier in the year.
But the plans were paused after it reached a deal with Nationwide in March, with the acquisition expected to be completed by the end of the year.
Virgin Money also said it had incurred about £10 million worth of costs related to the deal so far, which it anticipates to be “significantly higher” during the rest of the year.
The UK’s competition watchdog cleared the deal last month after launching an inquiry to see if it had any concerns about the impact on banking customers.
The takeover still needs approval from the UK’s financial regulators.