Virgin Money plans further 'customer- centric' product launches in second half of year

David Duffy, the chief executive, said: “More people are choosing to bank with Virgin Money. While the past six months have seen turbulence in the economy and in the financial system, we have continued to focus on our target areas, growing customer numbers and deposits thanks to our new and existing digital products. Further customer-centric product launches are coming in the second half of the year.”

“We have a strong capital position and we’ve significantly grown pre-provision profit, while continuing our prudent approach. As the UK economy stabilises in the months ahead, we have a high degree of confidence in our long-term plans.”

In his statement, Mr Duffy said the overall statutory profit of £236m was lower than the £315m figure recorded a year ago, primarily due to a higher impairment charge. The higher rate environment and positive momentum from the bank’s digital strategy drove an improvement in income to £933m, which is an increase of 10 per cent compared with a year ago, Virgin Money said.

The statement added: “The group is now halfway through the purpose-led, digital strategy set out alongside the FY21 (full year 2021) results, and we are making good progress in executing our strategic priorities.

"Over the course of the last eighteen months, we’ve delivered innovative digital propositions that have driven strong growth in relationship customer numbers.

"Our capital ratios and funding position have continued to improve, with

strengthening capital generation also supporting a growing level of distributions to investors.

"Our recent work to improve customer service leaves us well placed to digitise the bank further and support profitable growth. The continued diversification of both sides of our balance sheet, combined with the rising rate environment, has driven a reduction in our cost: income ratio, although there remains more work to do here.

"As we look out to FY24 (full year 2024) , we are well placed to deliver on our financial targets. There is still a significant amount to do during the second half of our three-year digital strategy, but I remain confident it is the right strategy despite the changing environment, and as we execute, this will increasingly translate into stronger financial performance.”

In February, Virgin Money revealed it had bolstered its call centre teams and temporarily paused some restructuring efforts amid a surge in customer inquiries due to soaring interest rates and cost pressures.

A Virgin Money spokesman said today: “We expect to have stores for as long as customers need them. We are led by changing customer behaviour and will continue to review transaction levels, commercial performance, lease details and general customer usage.”