A CHALLENGER bank has hailed its untapped potential after homeowners’ ambitions to climb the property ladder and shoppers’ retail cravings remained undimmed by the Brexit vote.

Virgin Money says there are no limits on what it can achieve after greater mortgage and credit card demand bolstered profits.

The Newcastle-based lender added its everyday product range has also provided a route to swerve EU turbulence, revealing services are luring 50,000 new customers every month.

However, the business, which employs more than 2,000 staff in the North-East, has deferred unsecured and small business lending plans as it targets greater digital progress.

It also amended its net interest margin forecast, a measure of profitability that highlights the difference between what it pays to savers and charges lenders, ahead of a potential interest rate cut.

According to its latest results for the six months to June 30, the firm saw underlying pre-tax profits increase 53 per cent to £101.8m compared to a year ago.

That figure was helped by higher mortgage balances of £27.7bn and credit card balances of £2.1bn.

The latter figure puts Virgin, which paid the government £747m in 2011 for the so-called ‘good bank’ element of Northern Rock, on course to meet a £3bn target by the end of 2017.

Jayne-Anne Gadhia, chief executive, told The Northern Echo the company was in a strong position to continue chipping away at the big four of Barclays, Lloyds, HSBC and Royal Bank of Scotland.

Ms Gadhia pointed to Virgin’s mortgage service, which she says is now able to turn around customer requirements in 12 days compared to 30 days when it first took on Northern Rock’s assets.

She also said its mortgage division has benefited from a lack of exposure to commercial property amid the Brexit vote fall-out.

Companies including Aviva and Standard Life were previously forced to halt trading in their property funds as investors scrambled to pull money out of UK holdings.

However, Virgin’s mortgage book is made up of 82 per cent residential and 18 per cent buy-to-let mortgages.

Ms Gadhia said: “It has been an excellent first half and we have continued to grow strongly as a result of our increased share of the mortgage market and success of credit cards.

“Part of the reason for our success is that we have got great people in Gosforth who have been working their socks off.

“Our mortgage success really is an exciting achievement and we have made a big increase in efficiency, which has really helped.

“We have worked really hard with it.

“We are not in small business or commercial property, we are in the products that people need and want to live their lives; that is important.

“I do not see any limitations on what we can achieve; it is about us doing things consistently and the key is keeping the quality going.”

Ms Gadhia, who previously told The Northern Echo she believed Brexiteers were “living in cloud cuckoo land” over claims the UK would be better off outside the EU, said Virgin’s size meant it was nimble enough to avoid referendum issues and banking conduct hangovers.

She added: “Our scale helps and we have a really solid base.

“Since the vote, we have experienced strong customer demand and no evidence of changes in customer behaviour.

“We are in a strong position to deal with a period of uncertainty as a low-risk retail bank with a high-quality asset base and unburdened by legacy conduct issues.

“We look to the future with confidence.

“We are growing and the main thing is to never lose sight of the next opportunity in front of you.

“I’m delighted for everyone, particularly the staff at Newcastle, who have worked so hard.”