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Specialist lender Paragon Banking booked an 81% jump in full-year profit, as lending and deposit volumes rose, margins expanded and credit quality improved.
Pre-tax profit for the year through December increased to £213.7 million, up from £118.4 million year-on-year.
Paragon Banking declared a full-year dividend of 26.1p per share, up from 14.4p year-on-year.
It said its impairment coverage reduced to 49 basis points, reflecting strong credit performance, while its net interest margin expanded to 239 basis points, up from 224 basis points in 2020.
The company also announced a 2022 share buyback of up to £50 million, in addition to a remaining £2.2 million from its 2021 buyback.
Mortgage Lending advances rose 29% to £1.63 billion, commercial lending advances up 23% to £0.97 billion and retail detail deposits grew 18% to £9.3 billion.
'These results validate our longstanding strategy to concentrate on specialist lending markets where we add value for our customers with complex requirements,' chief executive Nigel Terrington said.
'We enter 2022 with strong pipelines at near record levels, improved margins and the capital to continue to invest in and grow our business, as well as deliver additional returns for shareholders via a new buyback programme and materially increasing our full-year dividend.'
'We remain confident in our outlook and are on track with our plans to become the UK's leading technology-enabled specialist bank.'