virgin money uk plc reported thursday a rise in pretax profit for the first half of fiscal 2022 and upgraded its net interest margin for the full year given the strong growth it has achieved in unsecured lending amid a rising interestrate environment the financialservices company posted a pretax profit for the six months ended march 31 of 315 million pounds 398 million compared with gbp72 million for the same period a year earlier total underlying operating income rose to gbp965 million from gbp743 million it added virgin money uks common equity tier 1 ratioa key measure of balancesheet strengthstood at 147 up from 144 a year earlier it said adding that its net interest margin expanded further to 183 from 156 for the first half of fiscal 2021 looking ahead while the macroeconomic outlook is uncertain and there are increased cost pressures on consumers we remain prudently provisioned and are confident in the quality of our loan portfolio chief executive david duffy said regarding its outlook the company said that it expects a fullyear net interest margin in between 180 and 185 basis points based on current rate views