24th May 2005 12:08
Provident Financial PLC24 May 2005 AGM Statement The early months of 2005 have seen a reassuringly solid performance from our UKhome credit business. Although market conditions remain competitive andcustomer numbers continue to reduce, we have managed the impact of this byselectively increasing the amount of credit issued to lower risk customers. Asa result we have seen a modest growth in credit issued. Costs remain undertight control and credit quality is stable. Vanquis Bank has successfully expanded its credit card operations and increasedits direct mail volumes during the early months of this year. Customer numbersare growing well and the business is developing to plan. Yes Car Credit is trading at a loss. It continues to face tough marketconditions with lower sales volumes than in the buoyant early months of 2004 andcollections performance is worse than planned, leading to a higher than expectedIFRS impairment charge. We continue to work hard to improve the business; inparticular, to strengthen the quality and depth of management and to reducecosts. Provident Insurance is performing well. Policyholder numbers have stabilised ataround 500,000 and the benign development of claims costs that benefited lastyear's results has continued. The strong growth of customer numbers and credit issued in our internationaldivision has continued. Credit quality is satisfactory with the exception ofPoland where, at this early stage of the year, we have seen a lower thanexpected collections performance and a higher IFRS impairment charge. In Mexicothe expansion of the branch network in the Puebla-Veracruz region is progressingwell and the business is developing as planned. Overall, internationalcontinues to grow well and has excellent prospects. Enquiries: David Stevenson, Head of Communications Tel: 01274 731111 This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
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