24th Feb 2016 07:51
LONDON (Alliance News) - International Personal Finance PLC on Wednesday said its pretax profit was flat in 2015 as the group managed to increase its revenue despite a fall in customer and credit issued volumes and as it faces regulatory issues in some of its markets.
The FTSE 250-listed home credit lender said its pretax profit for the year to the end of December was flat at GBP100.2 million, as revenue rose to GBP783.2 million from GBP735.4 million. The profit was kept flat due to investments made in its digital business and adverse foreign exchange movements.
The group was also hit by new legislation imposed in Poland and Slovakia. In Poland, it has been forced to create alternative finance products to comply with new lending regulations and similar issues are set to face the business in Slovakia due to new rate-cap rules.
"New legislation in Poland and Slovakia will impact our profitability materially in 2016 and beyond, and we expect regulatory headwinds to continue," said Chief Executive Gerard Ryan.
Customer numbers for the group slipped to 2,640 from 2,813 and the volume of credit issued dipped to GBP1.02 billion from GBP1.04 billion.
Still, the group said it made significant progress on growing its business in Mexico and on its digital platform and it remains confident shifts in its strategy will help it cope within a changing consumer and regulatory environment.
IPF said it would pay a final dividend of 7.8 pence per share, flat year-on-year, meaning its total dividend will edge up to 12.4p from 12.0p.
"We delivered a robust financial performance in 2015, despite a number of significant regulatory matters impacting the business," Ryan added.
By Sam Unsted; [email protected]; @SamUAtAlliance
Copyright 2016 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
Related Shares:
Inter. Pers.