Despite fears of a deepening credit crunch and a tail off in the growth of house prices, bosses at Bradford & Bingley say they are well placed to "take advantage of new opportunities in our market".

The news comes as the finance group updated its shareholders on progress during tumultuous summer trading in which it said it expected to return profits in line with the market consensus.

Its forecast came against a backdrop of reports claiming UK house prices saw their biggest fall in 12 years last month and the Bank of England announcing the number of mortgage approvals had fallen to a near three-year low.

Despite the doom and gloom surrounding UK banking since the near collapse of Northern Rock in the summer, B&B said recent events would favour its business and remained bullish about its prospects.

Chief executive Steven Crawshaw said: "Bradford & Bingley has been resilient and resourceful through the current market turmoil. We have successfully funded the bank in tough conditions and completed the disposal of our non-retail loan portfolios in line with our strategic focus. We are now better placed to take advantage of opportunities in our market."

He said competition in the mortgage market had decreased in recent months and lenders such as Bradford & Bingley, who have broader funding bases, would be favoured by the change.

The news follows a desperate few months in the banking trade in which banks have been reluctant to lend money to each other as troubles in the American market were felt worldwide.

Analysts have had a mixed reaction to B&B's attempts to reassure the market.

James Hamilton, of Numis Securities, said: "Given the recent £4.2 billion disposals, the group's liquidity and capital positions are sound."

But Citigroup analyst Tom Rayner said B&B's 2008 profits were "vulnerable to downgrades" from the loss of income on its loan disposals as well as further investment writedowns, a reduction in the value of assets which are overpriced.

Bradford & Bingley will formerly announce its profits for 2007 on February 13. Its share price on the FTSE 250 closed today at 303p.