In drawing attention to Virgin Money (VMUK) shares, we expect nothing less than raised eyebrows. We’ll freely admit to our own considerable doubts about the bull case for the banking sector, within which the 2018 merger of the downtrodden Clydesdale & Yorkshire Bank (CYBG) and the over-egged cache of the Virgin brand isn’t exactly a renowned world-beater. After all, the fruits of that combination – struck when CYBG and Virgin shares changed hands at 306p and 371p, respectively – proved underwhelming long before this year’s events threw all economic and business projections wildly off course.
Merger synergies
Bottoming net interest margin
Quality loan book
Cheap vs peers (trailing earnings)
Pivot to SMEs
Weak RoE
Credit risks from bad Brexit