International Personal Finance reports lower H1 profit

(Sharecast News) - International Personal Finance reported lower first-half profit on Wednesday as investment in growth and higher impairment charges offset strong lending and customer growth. Pre-exceptional profit before tax fell 5% to £47.4m, while statutory profit before tax declined 14.2% to £42.8m after £4.6m of exceptional costs.

Customer lending rose 18.5% at constant exchange rates to £781.7m, closing net receivables increased 17.4% to £1.17bn and customer numbers grew 5.4% to 1.74m.

Pre-exceptional earnings per share fell to 13.3p from 14.2p, while the impairment rate increased to 10% from 8.3%.

"We have delivered a good first half performance, with continued strong growth in customer numbers, lending and receivables, supported by robust demand for our products, disciplined execution and stable credit quality," said chief executive Gerard Ryan.

IPF said its recommended acquisition by IPF Parent Holdings had received the required regulatory approvals, with the scheme expected to become effective on 4 August subject to court sanction on 31 July.

The group declared a special dividend of 15p per share conditional on the deal receiving court approval, while no interim dividend was declared because of the impending acquisition.

At 1120 BST, shares in International Personal Finance were up 0.18% at 249.44p.

Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.

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