In its Q3 trading update, Virgin Money also revealed that deposits had increased by £500m during the quarter to £30bn.

How did Virgin Money perform during Q3?

Net mortgage lending stood at £3.2bn to the end of Q3 – representing a market share of 10% – while mortgage balances grew £1.1bn during the quarter to £32.9bn, with a pipeline of £1.9bn at the end of Q3 2017.

The bank also reported that credit card balances increased by £100m during the quarter to £2.9bn with stable customer spending patterns and arrears levels.

Virgin Money said its profitability, earnings and underlying return on tangible equity were in line with expectations, as were its costs, with the cost:income ratio further improved.

Commentary

Jayne-Anne Gadhia, CEO of Virgin Money (pictured above, right), said the bank's low-risk business model and customer-focused strategy continued to deliver excellent results and she was delighted with the ongoing momentum of the business.

“The UK housing market continues to prove resilient and in a competitive mortgage market we remain focused on growing assets at the right price and quality.

“Our prime credit card business is developing as planned and – as a responsible lender – the strict and consistent application of underwriting standards supports a low and stable cost of risk as well as resilience in the future.”

Jayne said the bank's procedure of ensuring its customers were always at the heart of its strategy had seen its overall net promoter score improve to +40 in 2017, making it one of the best-rated retail banks in the UK for customer satisfaction.

“I am delighted that more customers than ever before would recommend us to their friends and family.

“The strength of our core business and our focus on doing the right thing for customers – combined with our exciting plans for the future – gives us real conviction in our longer-term prospects.”

Virgin Money will update its investors on its progress next month.