5th May 2016 06:23
LONDON (Alliance News) - Sub-prime lender Provident Financial PLC on Thursday said it made a good start to the year across its divisions, with good growth in its Vanquis credit-card arm and in its consumer credit unit.
The FTSE 100-listed group said receivables for Vanquis grew 13% year-on-year in the first quarter to the end of March, with profit slightly ahead of expectations thanks to robust margins and lower funding costs.
Delinquency levels remained solid in the quarter, Provident said, while internet bookings grew but direct mail bookings fell due to the phasing of marketing spending to the second half.
In the consumer credit arm, home credit performed well in the quarter, with good margins and lower costs offsetting lower year-on-year receivables. Customer numbers closed the quarter at 850,000, around 5% lower than the start of 2016, in line with an expected seasonal reduction, the company said.
Satsuma, the online instalment lending arm within the consumer credit division, had a good quarter, helped by the tightening of credit standards in the fourth quarter of 2015.
Moneybarn, Provident's motor finance arm, saw good new business volume flows in the quarter, with customer numbers and consumer receivables up 40% year-on-year.
Provident said it expects another good performance for the full year in 2016, with trading in line or ahead of internal expectations thus far and credit quality sound across the business.
By Samuel Agini; [email protected]; @samuelagini
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