CEO of Provident Financial to take leave of absence for heart surgery

Mr Le May is expected to return to his position in November. During this interim period, Patrick Snowball, the group chairman, will assume the role of executive chairman.

In a trading update, issued in May, Provident Financial said tighter underwriting rules led to a drop in business volumes in April, although it saw signs of a modest recovery in May.

The Bradford-based firm, which provides credit to people who do not meet mainstream banks’ lending criteria, said loans to existing consumer credit division customers are one third of the expected volumes.

Provident hopes to return its consumer credit division to profitability, after successfully fending off a hostile takeover bid from rival Non-Standard Finance last year.

However, the Covid-19 pandemic halted face-to-face visits due to the Government lockdown, forcing the company to withdraw its 2020 targets.

Speaking in May, Mr Le May,said: “Despite 2020 being a difficult and unprecedented year, the combination of our customer offering, together with our robust balance sheet, mean that I remain confident in the group’s ability to become a broader banking group for the financially underserved population, whilst generating attractive returns for our shareholders over the medium-term.”

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