• Swindon & Wiltshire Economy
• Thursday November 20 2025

Virgin Money takeover leads to 46 per cent income boost for Nationwide

Swindon-headquartered building society Nationwide has reported a 46 per cent rise in income for the first half of the year following its takeover of Virgin Money.

The customer-owned lender reported total underlying income of £3.1 billion for the six months to September 30, up from £2.1 billion in the same period last year.

Meanwhile, its mortgage lending totalled £4.7 billion, while retail deposit balances grew to £5.3 billion.

However, its statutory profit before tax fell to £486 million from £568 million the year before after it paid out £400 million pounds to members in May via its Fairer Share Payment.

CEO Dame Debbie Crosbie DBE said: “Once again, Nationwide is number one for growth in mortgages and retail deposits.

“We’re also number one for customer satisfaction, our lead is growing, and more people switched their current accounts to us than to any other brand.

“All of this, combined with the benefits of our acquisition of Virgin Money, has led to an increase in underlying profit before tax, while delivering £1.2 billion of value to our members.”

Last week the company extended its pledge to keep all branches open until at least 2030.