International Personal Finance: Leeds-based consumer credit provider posts higher than expected profits

Leeds-based consumer credit provider, International Personal Finance (IPF), has announced that its profits for last year were higher than expected, as the firm posted record numbers for overseas.

The company reported pre-tax profits of £85.2m, up from previous guidance of £78m to £82m. This was also a lift from last year's pre-tax profits of £83.9m.

IPF said it had seen “record profit” from its Mexican and Australian operations, as well as record lending volumes in Hungary.

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This led the firm to raise final dividends by 11.1 per cent to eight pence per share.

Leeds-based International Personal Finance has announced that its profits for last year were higher than expected. Picture By Yorkshire Post Photographer,  James Hardisty. Date: 26th March 2024.placeholder image
Leeds-based International Personal Finance has announced that its profits for last year were higher than expected. Picture By Yorkshire Post Photographer, James Hardisty. Date: 26th March 2024.

The firm also announced its intention to launch a share buyback programme of up to £15m.

Gerard Ryan, chief executive officer at IPF, said: “Beyond these strong financial results, we served our 15 millionth customer in September, a great sign of our ability and commitment to supporting underserved communities.

“With good growth momentum and a strong balance sheet, we enter 2025 in an excellent position to accelerate both growth and the pace of change across the group.”

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Early last year, IPF launched its new Next Gen strategy, through which it is aiming to increase its geographic footprint and product range, growing the number of channels through which customers can access the firm’s offers.

Mr Ryan added: “I am very pleased to report significant progress across our Group in 2024. The ongoing execution of our Next Gen strategy has delivered good growth, and we provided over £1bn of credit to those who find it difficult to get finance from banks.”

The company said it expects to receive full payment institution licensing in Poland during the fourth quarter of 2025, and that this would “accelerate growth” in the country.

The firm now has over 200,000 credit cards issued in Poland.

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It added that its Mexican home credit arm is also “primed for stronger growth” following actions taken in two previously underperforming regions and a “significant upgrade” to its IT infrastructure.

IPF saw nine per cent year-on-year customer lending growth, driven by what it described as “robust demand” for its product range.

The group said that at the end of the year, it had “significant headroom” on undrawn funding facilities, and non-operational cash balances of £138m to fund its plans through to the end of 2025.

The company also secured nearly £400m of funding in 2024.

A statement from the firm added: “The Group is very well-capitalised, with a strong balance sheet recently bolstered by the successful refinancing of our €341m (£283m) Eurobond in June.

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“This, along with additional £103m of bank funding secured during the year, resulted in significant headroom of £138m on our debt facilities as at 31 December 2024.

“Our robust funding position and headroom supports our ambitious growth plans through to the end of 2025.”

IPF now holds 1.7 million customers across nine countries, and has announced its aim to grow the figure to 2.5 million.

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