Paragon Group reports strong Q1 results

Paragon’s Q1 operating profits reached £23.7m for the period 1st October to 31st December 2012, up from £20.3m for Q1 2012.

During the quarter £45.6m of new buy-to-let loans were made, up 17.9% on the same period last year.

As of December 31st the pipeline of new buy-to-let business totalled £102.7m.

Arrears levels across Paragon’s buy-to-let book remained low with the three month arrears figure for the period just 0.44% compared to 0.64% in Q1 2012.

John Heron, director of mortgages, said: “The first quarter was a successful one for the Group. Following the increase in our funding capacity with the additional warehouse from Lloyds and the extension of our existing Macquarie facility, we are actively growing our buy-to-let business.

“In January we announced the launch of a range of limited edition products through our Mortgage Trust brand and the increase in our lending activities over the last few weeks will be reflected in the second quarter. We are delighted with the excellent quality of the business we continue to receive.”