Paragon Banking Group PLC (LSE:PAG) delivered another upbeat trading statement, sending shares in the specialist mortgage lender up by 1.5% to 774p.
Buy-to-let has been an area of uncertainty even with the previous government, but FTSE 250 constituent Paragon said it had not seen any impact.
New lending across the business for the quarter to 31 December 2024 totalled £677 million or up 11% with buy-to-let lending at £423 million, up from £336 million a year ago.
The pipeline is almost 24% higher than this time in 2024, though it is down from three months ago, which broker Peel Hunt said was down to it not chasing business.
Arrears performance also improved said the lender.
Nigel Terrington, chief executive, added: "The first quarter of our new financial year has continued to see good progress with encouraging new business flows and margins running above expectations."
Peel Hunt noted management reiterated its full-year guidance for new business volumes (£2.8-3.2bn), NIM (3% area), opex (c.£185m) and underlying return on equity (mid 15-20% range).
“As such, we leave our forecasts unchanged, albeit with the better-than-expected first-quarter net interest margin (NIM) increasing our confidence in delivery.”
'Buy' with a target of 900p is the rating.