Northern Rock sees 14% rise in pre-tax profits

British mortgage bank Northern Rock said pre-tax profit on a like-for-like basis rose 14.1 per cent to £200.3 million sterling in the six months to June 30th.

It said underlying income rose 9 per cent to £340.4 million and that assets under management rose 9.9 per cent.

The pre-tax profit failed to meet the expectations of Deutsche Bank and Cazenove, who had pencilled in £205 million and £206 million respectively.

"The house purchase market should continue to slow but remortgage activity will remain buoyant," said chief executive Mr Adam Applegarth.

Gross residential lending was up 22.5 per cent at £8.512 billion, and net residential lending was up 14.9 per cent at £4.367 billion.

AFP