Zara McDermott proudly shared a video of her Strictly Come Dancing journey so far following her first live performance to the Cha Cha Cha on Saturday.

The former Love Islander, 26, has been busy rehearsing in the last few months preparing for the live shows with her partner Graziano Di Prima, 29.

And after scoring 19 points, Zara took to Instagram to document her Strictly process so far with clips and pictures of her and Graziano dancing.

She wrote: ‘How it started… vs how it went. I look at this video and realise how far I came from day 1. 

‘Having never danced in front of anyone before in my entire life (no exaggeration!), walking into that studio a few weeks ago with less than zero dance experience and no confidence whatsoever, using a broomstick as a prop to help me… to doing what I did last night. 

How it started: Zara McDermott proudly shared a video of her Strictly Come Dancing journey so far following her first live performance to the Cha Cha Cha on Saturday

How it went: The former Love Islander, 26, has been busy rehearsing in the last few months preparing for the live shows with her partner Graziano Di Prima, 29

‘I am so proud of myself. I am proud of myself for doing my absolute best, for going out there even though I know I have so much work to do, and being the most nervous I’ve ever been in my life. 

‘My mouth was so dry I could barely talk after, thank you all so much again for all your kind messages. 

‘I appreciate every single one of you and I am going to keep pushing myself week on week to get better and better.’

Former Islanders and Strictly stars congratulated Zara in the comments and praised her performance.

Love Island’s Chloe Burrows wrote: ‘SMASHED IT GIRL!!!!!!!!!’.

Former Strictly star and YouTuber Saffron Barker wrote: ‘Yesssss’.

Made In Chelsea‘s Tiffany Watson commented: ‘So amazing!!’, while fitness fanatic Courtney Black wrote: ‘Smashed it’.

Zara was supported from the sidelines by boyfriend Sam Thompson, 31, and his pal and former TOWIE star Pete Wicks, 35, who both donned quirky shirts with her face.

Reflecting: And after scoring 19 points, Zara took to Instagram to document her Strictly process so far with clips and pictures of her and Graziano dancing

Supportive: Former Islanders and Strictly stars congratulated Zara in the comments and praised her performance

It comes after Zara McDermott admitted years of trolling have left her feeling insecure.

The influencer found fame aged 21, on the 2018 series of the reality show Love Island, spending days being filmed wearing skimpy swimwear, while flirting with other singletons.

In a new interview, Zara has explained how she plans to ‘channel the confident bikini babe from Love Island’ when she’s on Strictly.

She confessed she ‘never had those feelings of lack of confidence’ when she was in the Love Island villa, but struggled in the aftermath with people commenting on how she looks.

Zara also admitted she’s trying to change little the voice inside her head from a worrying one to a confident, reassuring one.

Zara told The Sun: ‘I’m fighting for this — so I’ll channel the confident bikini babe from Love Island when I’m on the Strictly dancefloor.

‘I’m trying to live my 21-year-old, no-care attitude and channel the inner confidence I think is key for this show.

‘From being in this industry 100 per cent, all of a sudden lots of people are commenting on how you look and stuff like that.’

‘I didn’t give any thought to wearing a bikini in front of the nation when I was on Love Island, I was 21 and at that age you just do it. I never had those feelings of lack of confidence back then.’

She also added that her boyfriend, Made In Chelsea star Sam, has been ‘amazing’ throughout her Strictly training.

Strictly Come Dancing 2023: Who are the couples?

 Nigel Harman and Katya Jones

 Bobby Brazier and Diane Buswell

Annabel Croft and Johannes Radebe

 Zara McDermott and Graziano Di Prima

 Amanda Abbington and Giovanni Pernice

 Angela Rippon and Kai Widdrington

 Krishnan Guru-Murthy and Lauren Oakley

 Angela Scanlon and Carlos Gu

 Ellie Leach and Vito Coppola

 Adam Thomas and Luba Mushtuk

 Jody Cundy and Jowita Przystał

 Layton Williams and Nikita Kuzmin

Nikita Kanda and Gorka Marquez 

 Les Dennis and Nancy Xu

 Eddie Kadi and Karen Hauer

 

 

 

 

Kirsty Gallacher returned to social media on Wednesday to share her first post since brother-in-law Russell Brand was accused of rape, sexual assault and predatory behaviour.

The presenter, 47, has maintained a stoic silence following a joint investigation by The Sunday Times, The Times and Channel 4 Dispatches into the comedian’s conduct around women at the height of his mainstream TV fame.

But she returned to Instagram on Wednesday with a 46th birthday message for Sky Sports colleague and close friend Natalie Pinkham. 

Sharing a photo of the pair at the Ultimate Luxury Travel Related Awards, an event they co-hosted in 2018, she wrote: ‘Happy birthday to this special woman, how lucky I am to have you in my life.’

Pinkham later reposted the tribute on her own Instagram account, adding: ‘Love you too KG.’ 

Back online: Kirsty Gallacher returned to social media on Wednesday to share her first post since brother-in-law Russell Brand was accused of rape and sexual assault

Gallacher’s return to social media comes after a week long absence as Brand, who is married to the presenter’s younger sister Laura, battles to save his career following an in depth exposé into his actions while working in mainstream TV and radio. 

On September 16, shortly before the Dispatchers report aired on Channel 4, she appeared to support her brother-in-law after he took to social media to ‘absolutely deny’ a string of ‘very serious criminal allegations made against him’.

The Smooth Radio presenter shared the comedian’s two-minute YouTube video, accompanying it with a large red love heart in an Instagram story that she has since deleted.

Brand has since been accused of rape, sexual assault and emotional abuse by four women during the peak of his fame, according to a joint investigation by The Sunday Times and Channel 4.

The allegations claim to have taken place between 2006 and 2013. One of the alleged victims is alleged to be a 16-year-old schoolgirl. 

Klarna is ready to press the button on a stock market listing once the economic backdrop improves as the buy now, pay later giant posted its first monthly profit in three years.

Sebastian Siemiatkowski, who heads the Swedish company, said Klarna now met the three requirements it needed – having a sustainable business model, a clear growth strategy and strong presence in the US.

He said: ‘Now, it’s more market conditions, a question of us getting ready. We don’t have any official date; we haven’t announced anything.’

Klarna, which allows shoppers to defer and split the cost of items, said revenues in the second quarter rose 17 per cent to £400million, while it cut losses to £56million from £83million last year. 

The total value of payments using Klarna products climbed 13 per cent in the first six months of the year to £32billion.

Listing: Klarna, advertised by Paris Hilton (pictured), said revenues in the second quarter rose 17% to £400m, while it cut losses to £56m

Although the company last made a full-year profit in 2018, and its last quarterly profit in the second quarter of 2019, it made a small profit in May.

But Klarna has had a bumpy ride after it had to slash its valuation by 85 per cent to £5.3billion in a funding round last summer.

The business – once Europe’s most valuable fintech firm – has been battered by inflation and war in Ukraine.

It has axed more than 10 per cent of staff and shifted its focus to profitability.

Siemiatkowski said: ‘Some claimed Klarna would face difficulties in the tough macro-economic climate with high interest rates but having led it through the 2008 financial crisis I knew we had a strong and resilient business model to see us through. 

Despite the volatile environment, we have done exactly what we set out to do.’

Fellow buy now, pay later firm Zilch has revealed it was on track for profitability as it continues discussions with more than 15 banks in preparation for an eventual float, though the firm is yet to decide on a location or date, Bloomberg reported.

Philip Belamant, the boss of the platform, hinted that he may consider a listing in London. He added: ‘The market is just starting to thaw.

‘There are a few floats coming down the track that we’re watching. We’ll make that decision at the right time’.

The internet is moving past ‘quiet quitting’ – when someone does only the bare minimum at work, putting in only the effort required to get the job done.

Gallup’s latest worker poll found nearly six in 10 adults in America are quiet quitting after the pandemic caused people to prioritize their ‘me time’.

But a new trend that piggybacks on this premise has emerged – the ‘lazy girl’ job. The term went viral thanks to a TikTok video with millions of views.

These are the 25 most sought-after lazy girl jobs

TikTok videos about the phenomenon have gone viral. The premise piggybacks on the idea of ‘soft quitting’

The premise of a lazy girl job is simple: Low stress, low effort, with lots of flexibility and freedom.

These jobs are remote, require no overtime, are physically safe, and there’s minimum to no supervision.

TikTokker @gabrielle_judge defined them as jobs with laid-back bosses and comfortable salaries that pay the bills but don’t require a chaotic work schedule. It’s the antithesis of the ‘girl boss’ movement or ‘leaning in’ — constant hustling and long hours to climb to the top.

What kind of jobs are we talking about, exactly?

Searches for ‘lazy girl jobs’ are up 1,267% over the past month, according to Workamajig. 

Gen Zers, especially, are interested. It’s even popular enough that it’s got a Wikipedia page.

Workamajig crunched the numbers (TikTok search volume) to find the 25 most popular lazy girl roles. Together, #lazygirljob and #lazygirljobs have a combined 25 million-plus views.

Using KeywordTool, we analyzed various roles aligned with the ‘lazy girl jobs’ trend, according to TikTok and Reddit users, to find the most searched on TikTok. Data was pulled by searching different jobs—like ‘Community Moderator job’ —and ranked based on the number of TikTok searches they’ve had on the app in the U.S. as of August 10 to determine TikTok’s most popular ‘lazy girl jobs.’ Search data is correct as of August 10, 2023, and analyzed over the preceding year. 

Maybe it’s the branding

Many complaints about the term come from those who say it paints a bad picture. Social media strategist Michael Durwin told the Wall Street Journal the movement makes sense, but the name is all wrong. ‘I think younger women are using it almost in a way that they don’t understand the damage it can do,’ he says.

But would the term have gone so viral with a more acceptable term like ‘work-life balance?’ Probably not.

The FTSE 100 will is up 0.1 per cent in afternoon trading. Among the companies with reports and trading updates today are NatWest, IAG, AstraZeneca, Rightmove, Standard Chartered and YouGov. Read the Friday 28 July Business Live blog below.

> If you are using our app or a third-party site click here to read Business Live

Rightmove warns buyers spending less time browsing for homes

Rightmove achieved its highest first-half revenue since 2018 after estate agents agreed to pay more to advertise their properties amid a slowing housing market.

The online property portal said its membership base had remained stable, up by just 1 per cent on last year, but it secured ‘core membership price increases’ when estate agents renewed their contracts.

Agents spent on average £1,341 a month to advertise on Rightmove in the first half, or £79 more than a year ago, with 36 per cent of them going for the website’s premium package, up from 34 per cent last year.

Rightmove warns buyers spending less time browsing for homes

Rightmove achieved its highest first-half revenue since 2018 after estate agents agreed to pay more to advertise their properties amid a slowing housing market.

The online property portal said its membership base had remained stable, up by just 1 per cent on last year, but it secured ‘core membership price increases’ when estate agents renewed their contracts.

Agents spent on average £1,341 a month to advertise on Rightmove in the first half, or £79 more than a year ago, with 36 per cent of them going for the website’s premium package, up from 34 per cent last year.

Liontrust extends offer period for £96m GAM takeover amid opposition

Liontrust has delayed the offer period deadline for GAM investors for a second time this week, as the London-listed fund manager battles to get the deal over the line.

The FTSE 250 company’s intended takeover of the Swiss fund manager would create a business holding £53billion of assets under management, while boost its fund range and asset class offering.

What is Worldcoin? ChatGPT founder’s project scans EYEBALLS for crypto

Sam Altman, the founder of AI software ChatGPT, launched a new project on Monday which gives users cryptocurrency in exchange for scanning their eyeballs.

He says the aim of Worldcoin, which was founded in 2020, is to create a new ‘identity and financial network owned by everyone’.

Interest rate hikes not the only driver of rising business insolvencies

John Cullen, business recovery partner at Menzies:

‘It is highly concerning to see that the number of corporate insolvencies in Q2 was the highest in 14 years – 9% higher than last quarter, and 13% than the same period last year.

‘Whilst interest rates and inflation are a seemingly obvious cause, the need to repay pandemic-related bounce back loans, recent moves by HMRC to issue winding up petitions on outstanding debts quicker and the price of goods and materials generally, have also had an impact.

‘And it’s not just about financial pressures – businesses are grappling with many other changes simultaneously. It takes longer to source goods; longer to find staff; longer to recover debtors. There is only so much pressure businesses can take.

‘Businesses will be hoping that they don’t have to wait too much longer for interest rates to start to fall, particularly as the latest inflation data was more upbeat than expected. This will help by reducing the cost of borrowing. However, the underlying trend is going to require businesses to adjust to a more challenging environment and there will inevitably be a cost attached.

‘Businesses feeling the strain should take advice. They should talk to their stakeholders or even their competitors. Businesses should maintain a dialogue and be prepared to share their experiences as we are all in this together. Above all, it’s important to look after your cash and make sure everything is well costed. It seems likely that there’s a rocky 12 months ahead.’

Business insolvencies hit highest level since 2009

England and Wales saw the most company insolvencies since 2009 during the second quarter of this year, with further business failures likely risks amid rising interest rates.

On a seasonally adjusted basis, 6,342 companies were registered as insolvent in the three months to the end of June, 13 per cent more than a year earlier and the highest since the second quarter of 2009, the official Insolvency Service agency said.

Ian Meakins to take over as chair at Unilever

Unilever has said Ian Meakins will replace Nils Andersen as chair of the company.

Meakins, currently chair of Compass Group, will join the board in September and will succeed Andersen as chairman in December.

Andersen is stepping down after nine years on the board of Unilever, the last four as chair.

I am delighted to welcome Ian to the Board following a thorough global search process. Ian has a strong track record of success in executive and non-executive roles across a range of industries. I am sure Unilever will greatly benefit from his extensive experience and I am confident that he will provide the Board with strong and effective leadership.

Adidas plans more Yeezy stock sales in August

Adidas will sell more of its stocked up Yeezy products in August and donate a sizeable amount to organisations fighting discrimination and hate, the sportswear giant has confirmed.

The group ended its collaboration with rapper Y, formerly Kanye West, following a spate of ant-semitic comments.

‘As with the release in May 2023, the second release will feature products which were initiated in 2022,” it said in a statement.

Unexpectedly strong sales of Yeezy shoes left over from the Ye collaboration will likely help reduce the company’s operating losses this year.

AstraZeneca buys Pfizer gene therapy portfolio for $1bn as profits soar

AstraZeneca’s rare disease division has agreed to buy an early-stage gene therapy portfolio from drugmaking rival Pfizer for up to $1billion.

The deal’s announcement came as the group’s first-half operating profit jumped more than threefold to $5billion on the back of higher sales margins, lower sales costs and modest growth in research development expenses.

Under the deal, expected to close in the third quarter, Alexion Pharmaceuticals will gain access to novel adeno-associated virus (AAV) capsids that are shown to be vital tools in gene therapy and gene editing.

AstraZeneca set for Chinese sales boost

Mark Crouch, analyst at eToro:

‘On the surface AstraZeneca’s high-level sales figures look fairly uninspiring, with sales virtually flat in the second quarter and down slightly year-on-year in the first half of the year.

‘However, strip out its shrinking Covid-19 medicine sales, and total revenue increased by a far more respectable 16% year-on-year, with oncology sales contributing significantly to that growth.

‘A major positive is that revenue from China is expected to grow faster-than-expected, which will help the full-year bottom line.

‘But while growth remains decent, it’s clear that Astra’s sales are growing at a slower pace than they were a year ago. That has contributed to its stuttering share price over the past six months or so.’

Rightmove posts higher profit and revenues

Rightmove clocked up its highest first-half revenue since 2018, despite a troubled mortgage market putting pressure on house prices.

The property webiste said revenue was up 10 per cent to £179.5million in the six months to the end of June, while pre-tax profit rose 7.5 per cent to £130million.

And it forecast that its annual average revenue per advertiser (ARPA) will be at the top-end of its outlook of between £95-£105 for the full-year.

The group told shareholders:

The strength and resilience of Rightmove’s business has remained apparent throughout the first half of 2023.

Agents and developers have continued to use our products to win new mandates and to drive their businesses forward, and home-movers have continued to trust our sites to allow them to see the whole of the property market, helping them to make informed decisions.

This has allowed us to deliver strong results, despite the backdrop of higher mortgage rates and the increased cost of living.

NatWest rewards investors as profits beat expectations

NatWest profits surged by nearly £1billion in the first half of 2023 as the crisis-hit bank was boosted by interest rate hikes.

Earnings surged 37 per cent to £3.6billion in the six months to the end of June, beating analyst expectations of £3.3billion.

NatWest’s latest profit boost has enabled it to announce another investor returns, including a fresh £500million share buyback and an increase to the interim dividend to 5.5p. During the first half, the bank returned some £2.5billion to investors.

Britain sees 6,000 shops shut in five years

Six thousand shops have closed down across Britain in the last five years, according to the British Retail Consortium.

‘Crippling’ business rates and the fallout from Covid lockdowns were driving forces behind the closures and are prompting many retailers to ‘think twice’ about new openings, Helen Dickinson, chief executive of the BRC, said.

In the second quarter of this year, the overall shop vacancy rate increased to 13.9 per cent, fractionally worse than in the first quarter, but slightly better than the same period last year.

Market open: FTSE 100 up 0.1%, FTSE 250 off 0.3%

The FTSE 100 has ticked higher in early trading thanks to strong gains in the pharmaceutical sector, driven by upbeat quarterly results from AstraZeneca, offseting concerns about the impact of higher interest rates on economic growth.

The pharmaceutical sector is up 1.9 per cent after AstraZeneca beat expectations for its second-quarter profit, with its shares climbing 3 per cent.

Rate-sensitive real estate stocks are off 0.9 per cent as UK 10-year gilt yield rose to 4.392 per cent, its highest since 18 July in early trade, after Bank of Japan tweaked its yield control policy during its monetary policy review.

Standard Chartered is up 5 per cent after the Asia-focussed lender upgraded its annual profit forecast and set a new $1billion share buyback after a strong first-half performance.

British Airways operator IAG has gained 2 per cent as its quarterly profit beat analyst forecasts by 40 per cent and it said it was encouraged by the outlook for the summer.

Soaring rents help estate agent Foxtons

Soaring rents have offset a slump in house sales at Foxtons.

The London estate agency posted profits of £6.1m for the first six months of the year, up 41 per cent on the same period of 2022.

Foxtons said it was seeing demand among tenants looking for houses to rent outstrip supply, pushing up those rents.

AstraZeneca makes $1bn drug swoop

AstraZeneca’s Alexion unit has agreed to buy Pfizer’s early-stage rare disease gene therapy portfolio for up to $1billion, plus royalties on sales.

Alexion, which AZN bought in in 2021, focuses on rare diseases and plans to close the deal in the third quarter.

The deal will bring a number of novel adeno-associated virus (AAV) capsids to Alexion and help build on Alexion and AstraZeneca’s capabilities in genomic medicine, it said.

It comes as AZN delivered better-than-expected profits and sales in the second quarter as a strong performance of its blockbuster cancer drugs helped offset the loss of Covid-19 vaccine sales.

The Anglo-Swedish drugmaker posted an adjusted profit of $2.15 per share, up 25 per cent and exceeding the $1.98 per share expected in company-compiled consensus estimates.

Aston Martin names major shareholder as board member

Aston Martin has appointed the chief executive of its third largest shareholder Geely’s to its board.

Geely International in May made a £234million investment in the British firm, giving it the right to one board seat.

‘IAG is trading well…but there is potential turbulence ahead’

John Moore, senior investment manager at RBC Brewin Dolphin:

‘IAG is trading well, as the post-Covid holiday boom continues. The airline group has been relatively unaffected by the circumstances that have impacted some of its peers, and the return of more long-haul travel – particularly China’s reopening – has been a major boost to the likes of British Airways and Iberia.

‘IAG’s share price remains two-thirds below where it was pre-pandemic – today’s results could be a much-needed boost.

‘But there is potential turbulence ahead in terms of weaker demand and industrial action, which may continue to weigh on sentiment towards the sector in general.’

Aviva Investors boss: The Government must invest more in Britain

The Government must be prepared to ramp-up investment in Britain if the private sector is to back the country and the economy is to thrive, the chief executive of Aviva Investors has told This is Money in an exclusive interview.

Mark Versey, who has led the insurer’s £223billion asset management unit since 2021, also highlighted the importance of rebuilding market confidence in certainty of UK policy after a volatile few years, particularly if the country is to successfully transition to net zero by 2050.

BA-owner smashes forecasts

IAG’s quarterly profit beat analyst forecasts by 40 per cent and the British Airways-owner has said it was encouraged by the outlook for the summer as demand for leisure travel remains strong.

The airline group posted an operating profit before exceptional items of €1.25billion (£1.1billion), compared to the €895 million euros analysts were on average expecting.

Luis Gallego, International Airlines Group’s CEO, said:

‘Our strong profits since the start of the year are helping to fund investment for our customers, and to improve our balance sheet by reducing debt.  We are aiming to be back to pre-pandemic capacity at the end of this year.

‘These results are thanks to a strong performance from all companies across the Group, and we would like to thank our teams for their hard work during the year so far.

‘Customer demand remains strong across the Group, particularly for leisure travel, with around 80% of passenger revenue for the third quarter already booked. And our airlines have put in place plans to support operations during the busy summer period.’

ECB hikes rates to a record high – but hints they have peaked

The European Central Bank (ECB) raised interest rates to a joint record high – but hinted borrowing costs in the eurozone may now have peaked.

As it continued its fight against inflation, the Frankfurt-based bank pushed rates up by 0.25 percentage points to 3.75 per cent.

That was the joint highest level on record, and on a par with the rate hit in 2001 when it was trying to boost the value of the newly launched euro. The move followed a rise by the Federal Reserve in the US on Wednesday, with the Bank of England set to follow suit next week.

NatWest posts £3.6bn profit

NatWest has posted a pre-tax profit of £3.6billion for the first half of 2023 as the embattled bank, which is currently embroiled in crisis amid the row over Nigel Farage’s Coutts account, benefited from interest rate hikes.

This compared to £2.6billion at the same time last year and beat forecasts of £3.3billion.

NatWest also announced an interim dividend of 5.5p per share and a share buyback of up to £500million for the second half of 2023.

Facebook has ‘banned’ a women’s hygiene company from using the words period, vulva and clitoris in its anti-stigma campaign.

Bodyform, one of the UK’s leading sanitary towel makers, posted a video on the social media platform last week showing members of the public being quizzed on the meaning of terms related to women’s health.

But Facebook said ads on its site must not promote ‘sexual and reproductive health products or services’, which Bodyform claimed amounted to being told that the video is ‘too sexual’.

Facebook said Bodyform’s ad campaign, which mentioned words related to women’s health that are usually censored online, was ‘targeted to people aged 18 and older’. 

Twitter also banned the content but it was successfully posted on both TikTok and YouTube. 

Bodyform — one of the UK’s leading period product brands — posted a video on the social media platform last week that showed members of the public being quizzed on the meaning of terms related to women’s health

Bodyform tried to post the 98-second clip to Facebook last week which featured words such as clitoris and vulva.

The campaign aimed to ‘reclaim censored words’ to normalise language around women’s health. 

Research conducted by Bodyform found that over half of British women don’t feel comfortable saying these words to their doctors, and eight in ten feel uncomfortable using terms relating to their health on social media. 

But 30 minutes after attempting to upload the video, both Facebook and Twitter had rejected it.

Facebook doubled down by saying that if Bodyform’s ads breach their advertising standards again, it may result in the account being disabled or restricted.

An automated notification sent to Bodyform said: ‘Ads must not promote the sale or use of adult products or services.

‘Ads promoting sexual and reproductive health products or services, such as contraception and family planning, must be targeted to people aged 18 and older, and must not focus on sexual pleasure.’

After half an hour of posting the video, it was removed by Facebook for violating its advertising policies 

The feminine hygiene company had to upload their video to Youtube instead and link it in a post. The post could not include words like ‘vagina’ so Bodyform had to get creative

However, Bodyform successfully uploaded it after a second attempt and spelling the words creatively in its caption with symbols, so they read ‘V@g!na’, ‘Vul\/a’ and ‘Cl!t0r!s’.

Twitter removed the post also without giving any reason. 

Bodyform has reached out to the social media platform to ask why. 

However, TikTok featured the company’s video and it has since racked up more than 340,000 views. It is also on YouTube, where it has had around 1,000 views.

A spokesman for Essity, the manufacturer of Bodyform, said language around women’s health and bodies ‘shouldn’t be censored’. 

They added: ‘It makes important subjects that some already consider taboo almost impossible to talk about.

‘Periods are a natural part of day-to-day life for women of all ages. Anatomically or medically correct words shouldn’t be censored and certainly shouldn’t be labelled as an adult product or service by social media platforms.’

MailOnline has approached Facebook, owner Meta and Twitter for a comment. 

Bodyform’s campaigns have previously triggered controversy. It’s 2022 TV campaign featuring a bloody sanitary towel was the most complained about ad of 2022, according to the The Advertising Standards Authority. 

Paragon Bank shares were the FTSE 250 Index’s top riser after the lender reported record half-year earnings and announced a further share buyback scheme.

The Solihull-based company revealed operating profits expanded by 22.2 per cent to £128.9million for the six months ending March on the back of interest rate hikes and higher lending volumes.

New home loans to customers climbed by 19.1 per cent to over £1billion during the period despite greater market volatility after last autumn’s controversial mini-budget sent mortgage rates soaring.

Performance: Paragon has revealed record half-year operating profits of £128.9million on the back of interest rate hikes and higher lending volumes

Paragon attributed the result to its continued reliance on specialist landlords in the buy-to-let sector, which is benefiting from a growing demand in Britain for rental properties and a supply shortfall.

Meanwhile, its net interest margin – the difference between what it earns in interest payments and the amount handed to customers – tipped up to 2.95 per cent.

It has now raised its full-year guidance for mortgage lending from at least £1.6billion to a range of £1.75billion to £1.9billion, alongside an increase in its net interest margin outlook to about 300 basis points.

Reflecting the positive result, the FTSE 250 business has declared an additional £50million share repurchase scheme for the second half of the financial year. 

Paragon Bank shares rose 9.4 per cent to £5.51 on Tuesday, although their value remains lower than at the start of January.

Paragon also declared its half-year profits before tax slumped by over two-thirds to £46.4million because of the unwinding of some gains made the previous year on interest rate swaps. 

Nigel Terrington, chief executive of Paragon, said: ‘We are delighted to deliver another strong financial and operational performance, achieving record interim operating profits, alongside robust growth in our loan book.’

He added: ‘We are well placed to continue to support our customers and deliver strong returns for our shareholders as we look to capitalise on the opportunities that the environment will inevitably produce.’

The Bank of England has hiked the UK’s base rate on 12 successive occasions since December 2021 in response to inflation jumping due to skyrocketing energy prices in the aftermath of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Many of Britain’s banks and building societies have subsequently raised the rate on home loans much faster than the interest on savings accounts, providing them with a significant windfall but causing some public controversy as well. 

Further interest rate increases are predicted to happen given that the UK Consumer Prices Index currently stands at 8.7 per cent, far above the BoE’s 2 per cent target.