The chief executive of Virgin Money has said the firm has “good financial momentum”, following a positive first quarter.

In a Q1 trading update, the listed business reported profitable growth in customer lending, which was up by 0.7 per cent.

Mortgages grew by 0.4 per cent in the quarter to £58.4bn, as its strong pipeline drove completions, while business lending jumped by 2.4 per cent to £8.4bn.

BAU balances were 4 per cent higher as a result of “good quality growth” in the defensive specialist sectors.  

Overall deposits grew by 1.2 per cent in Q1 to £66.2bn.  

Elsewhere, the company finalised its new digital mortgage platform, with its digital investing and pensions platform ibn the final staffing of testing.

During the period the company also fully launched its buy now pay later product Slyce.

Chief executive David Duffy said: “We’ve had a positive first quarter with continued good progress on digitisation and growth in lending across the business as more customers choose Virgin Money.

“Arrears remain broadly stable but we’ve increased the support available to those who need it and remain prudently provisioned for an uncertain economic outlook. Looking ahead, we have good financial momentum and a number of exciting digital product launches to come which will support our continued growth.”