The bank has allocated a whopping £501m impairment charge in anticipation of bad COVID-19 debts which Virgin Money said was a reflection of its ‘cautious approach to an uncertain economic environment’.

Virgin Money also reported a statutory loss after tax of £141m.

David Duffy, the bank’s chief executive officer, said he was proud of how the bank had adapted throughout this ‘extraordinary year of disruption’.

He said: “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.”

Looking ahead to 2021, he added: “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.”

The bank’s results revealed that it had granted around 67,000 mortgage payment holidays to date and an estimated 58,000 personal payment holidays.

Virgin Money has also provided 30,000 businesses across the UK with lending support through the Government’s COVID-19 schemes.

Last month, Virgin Money announced that 400 jobs would be cut at three of its head offices, including Glasgow. The cuts are part of the bank’s three year-plan to integrate its operations following the £1.7 billion takeover by CYBG in April 2018.