Virgin Money resurrects stock market listing bid

VIRGIN Money’s plans for a stock market listing have been revived less than a month after they were put on ice due to turbulent conditions.

Virgin Money: Stock market bid. Picture: PA

The lender, which has a major base in Edinburgh employing about 200 people, hopes that its shares will be trading on the London Stock Exchange before the end of this month. The company is selling about a quarter of itself in a move expected to value it at nearly £2bn.

As well as more stable market conditions, the firm has been boosted by new standards on financial health set by the Bank of England on Friday.

It said it was operating above the recommended requirements of the central bank’s proposed leverage ratio, which defines how much capital banks hold as a proportion of their loans.

The lender, which is owned by Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Group, Wall Street billionaire Wilbur Ross and an Abu Dhabi investment fund, employs more than 2,500 staff, with 1,700 based in Gosforth, Newcastle. It provides mortgages, savings and credit cards to 2.8 million people.

Chief executive Jayne-Anne Gadhia said: “Access to the public capital markets has been a long-term strategic objective for Virgin Money and we are now ready to take this important step forward for our business.”

Virgin intends to use the £150 million it plans to raise on boosting its share of the UK mortgage lending market to more than 3%, as well as lifting its credit card lending from £1bn to £3bn by 2018.

Last month, the firm said the shares sale would happen “as soon as constructive market conditions allow” after a collapse in confidence caused the FTSE 100 Index to slump by more than 9% from early September.