CREDIT lender International Personal Finance (IPF) provided some much needed good news in the financial sector with better than expected profits and no sign of an increase in bad debts.
The Leeds company, which was spun out of Bradford-based credit lender Provident Financial last year, said pre-tax profits rose 39 per cent to £22.1m in the six months to June 30.
IPF, which offers small loans to consumers in central Europe, Romani
a and Mexico, has benefited from currency swings although underlying profits in its core central European business rose an impressive 16 per cent.
Chairman Christopher Rodrigues said the group is immune to the downturn in Britain as it is focused on countries that are faring much better.
"In central Europe, they're happy, smiling people," he said. "They have robust economies, high employment and no housing crash. We also have a strong business model based on lending small amounts of money."
In central Europe the group lends an average of £300-£350.
Like other credit lenders, IPF is turning down customers in an attempt to maintain credit quality and it is refusing 40-50 per cent of the customers who come through its call centre. Shares rose 17p to close the day at 299p.
Aanalysts at Numis said: "IPF is one of the very few UK listed financial services businesses that we see delivering more than 20 per cent underlying EPS growth."
The group expects to see a strong second-half performance in Europe, while Mexico is on track to report a profit for 2009.
Ukraine will be the next target followed by India and other potential markets include Brazil, Thailand and Vietnam.
IPF's credit quality has remained stable with annualised impairment at 21.9 per cent of revenue.
The full article contains 312 words and appears in n/a newspaper.
