Mortgages remained broadly stable in Q3 at £57.5 billion, in a subdued market, business lending was up 1.6% in Q3 to £8.7bn, driven by 2.6% growth in BAU balances and unsecured lending increased 2.4% in Q3 to £6.3bn, driven by 3.9% growth in card balances.

The bank also revealed that deposits were 0.4% higher in Q3 at £67.3bn, with further growth in term deposits at competitive rates. Virgin Money also saw further growth in total active relationship customer accounts (+51k during Q3) to 3.7 million.

Virgin money continues to expect cost:income of 51-52% in FY23, with broadly stable costs in H2 vs. H1.

Overall credit quality remains broadly stable, supported by consistent underwriting criteria. Credit card arrears continue to gradually increase from low levels, in line with expectations at H1. Provisions increased to £547m (Q2: £526m), driven mainly by higher modelled ECL in cards; coverage now 75bps (Q2: 72bps).

David Duffy, CEO of Virgin Money, said: “We have delivered another quarter of good progress against our strategy, with growth in both deposits and our target lending segments. Given our strong capital position, we anticipate a total of c.£175m of buybacks for FY23 with more to follow as we normalise our surplus capital position by the end of next year.

“Our overall credit quality remains stable and we are fully committed to doing the right thing by our customers, through competitive rates, innovative products and proactive communication, as well as supporting government initiatives to help people through the current challenging environment.”