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Hitachi Capital lends for looks
Boom in cosmetic surgery improves loan business Eric Barkas City Editor IF cosmetic surgery is what you want, you're not alone. Research indicates 20 per cent of women would sooner improve their bodies than their homes.
Some 33 per cent would prefer a nose job instead of a holiday.
Come on down, Hitachi Capital. The lending company has branched out into cosmetic surgery after its laser eye treatment business took off.
Now, the company says, about half of laser eye surgery procedures are funded through loan schemes.
It's a short step from there to dental treatment – teeth whitening, implants, veneers.
Then there's hearing aids. Go private and pay with a loan and you could get a more efficient product.
It's only a short step for women to bigger breasts, liposuction to remove surplus fat from under the skin and laser hair removal.
The trend is clear enough. It's how you pay in order to play.
Hitachi, which runs three of its businesses out of Leeds, offers interest-free loans to people who want to improve themselves.
The company makes its money in this game courtesy of the healthcare providers who give it a cut of what their customers pay.
Hitachi says prices for cosmetic surgery range from 200 for Botox treatment to up to 6,000 for a complete facelift.
Its loans are available for surgery costing 500 to 50,000. Repayments vary from six months to 60 months.
For 50,000 you could probably get a range of surgery or treatments. Why not go for a complete body transplant?
Hitachi has been doing consumer finance for years. It saw a gap in the healthcare market and went for it. From a standing start in 2002, healthcare now accounts for 15 per cent of its consumer finance business.
Martin Cutbill, group business development director, says: "We're strong in this market. We have good relationships with healthcare providers."
Hitachi says the researchers Key Note found the cosmetic surgery market had double-digit growth from 2002 to 2004 and was forecast to grow by 46 per cent between 2004 and 2008.
Women are the main customers but Mr Cutbill believes the eight women to one man gap in 2002 has been cut to five or six to one today.
So what else does Hitachi Capital, an offshoot of Japan's conglomerate, do?
There's other finance to consumers, traditionally based around loans for furniture and electrical goods. Then there's finance to business, including loans to the farm and country sector.
You can also get loans for private cars, company cars and specialist commercial vehicles.
Half year results out yesterday for the West London-headquartered company showed taxable profits up 47 per cent to 7.5m from 5.1m, though the outcome was flattered by the absence of last time's one-off 1.5m charge. Consumer finance includes healthcare and is based in a new office in Leeds with insurance services and credit management. All these businesses raised profits.
Mr Cutbill said insurance services rode out the decision of a big customer, Bradford's Provident Financial, to close its Yes Car Credit operation. That was partly due to loans being spread over the lifetime of policies.
Business finance in Hounslow also grew, leading the combined finance and insurance services division to increase profits by 5 per cent to 2.7m.
The group result was driven by the Newbury and Trowbridge vehicle solutions division which raised profits by 48 per cent to 4.2m. Interim dividend is up to 3.25p per share from 3p.
eric.barkas@ypn.co.uk
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