Buy-to-let completions at Paragon rose 82.5 per cent to £656.6m for the year to the end of 30 September 2014.
Today (25 November), Paragon reported a lending total of £500,000 by Paragon Bank for the 12 months to the end of September, which commenced its buy-to-let operations during September 2014.
The indexed loan-to-value of the overall buy-to-let portfolio stood at 71.7 per cent at 30 September 2014 compared with 78.4 per cent at the end of 2013.
Annualised redemption rate on the total buy-to-let portfolio was 4.1 per cent in 2014 compared to 2.5 per cent in 2013, reflecting increased housing market activity.
Paragon Mortgages maintains a significant presence for the group in this growing sector of the UK mortgage market, contributing £80.5m to underlying group profit, a 14.5 per cent increase.
The aggregate new business pipeline stood at £414.8m at the year-end, 78.9 per cent above the level at 30 September 2013, underpinning strong growth rates into the new financial year.
Nigel Terrington, chief executive of Paragon, said: “The past year has seen considerable progress in the group’s strategic plans and in the performance of its businesses. Significant progress has also been achieved in diversifying further the group’s funding sources.
“In particular, the formation of Paragon Bank has provided us with the opportunity to diversify further both income streams and funding and we expect it to play an important role in the group’s future plans.
“The group benefits from a strong capital position and I am pleased to announce a 25 per cent increase in the dividend, as well as an initial £50m share buy-back programme, as we seek to complement strong and sustainable growth with improving shareholder returns.”
emma.hughes@ft.com
