1st Dec 2015 08:43
LONDON (Alliance News) - Private & Commercial Finance Group PLC on Tuesday reported a leap in first-half pretax profit, as new business volumes grew by 13%, and it said it expects results for the year as a whole to be ahead of market expectations.
Shares in Private & Commercial Finance, a vehicle finance provider to consumers and smaller businesses, rose 10% at 23.97 pence Tuesday morning, as the company said it has completed the steps necessary for a return to paying dividends at the "appropriate" time.
Pretax profit rose to GBP1.5 million in the six months ended September 30, compared with GBP848,000 the corresponding half the prior year, as revenue grew and administration expenses fell.
New business levels were buoyant, the company said, with a 13% increase in originations in the period to GBP32.1 million.
"As always, there is a competitive environment in both the consumer and business finance markets, however, healthy progress in the UK economy has supported UK car sales and the demand from businesses for business-critical assets," Chairman David Anthony said in a statement.
"The outlook for both our markets is positive with increases in real incomes and corporate profits expected to support sustained growth in our origination levels," Anthony said.
Separately, Private & Commercial Finance named Mark Brown, executive chairman of Westhouse Securities Ltd, and Andrew Brook, a non-executive director at majority shareholder Bermuda Commercial Bank, as non-executive directors on its board.
Their appointments follow that of David Bull, formerly of Hampshire Trust Bank PLC and the Bank of England, as its finance director in August.
By Samuel Agini; [email protected]; @samuelagini
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