Provident Financial plc Interim results for the six months ended 30 June 2012
Provident Financial plc is the market-leading provider of home credit in the UK and Ireland, with a successful, growing credit card business. Its operations consist of the Consumer Credit Division and Vanquis Bank.
Highlights
Strong group performance and further dividend increase
- First half pre-tax profit up 17.0% to £72.9m (2011: £62.3m).
- Basic earnings per share up 19.8% to 41.1p (2011: 34.3p).
- Interim dividend per share up 7.9% to 28.8p (2011: 26.7p).
Very robust funding and capital position
- Group fully funded into 2015.
- Modest reduction in gearing to 3.1 times (2011: 3.3 times).
Stable Consumer Credit Division performance in challenging market conditions
- Pre-tax profit similar to last year at £50.4m (2011: £50.2m).
Year-on-year receivables flat and trading result underpinned by stable collections performance, continued application of tight credit standards and effective cost control.
- Strong growth and returns in Vanquis Bank
- Pre-tax profit up by 60.2% to £28.2m (2011: £17.6m).
- Customer and average receivables growth of 27.4% and 34.8% respectively from continuing investment in customer acquisition programme.
- Risk-adjusted margin of 34.9% (2011: 34.7%) versus minimum target of 30% with delinquency continuing to run at an all-time low for the business.
- Polish business infrastructure successfully established and first credit cards issued in June.
