Arrow Global boosts H1 profits but sees more regulation

28th Aug 2014 15:01

Debt manager and purchaser Arrow Global announced higher half-year profits, but said the industry was facing more regulation.Arrow had a strong first half as adjusted earnings rose 10.6% to £48m and it bought good quality loan portfolios worth £1,05bn for £99.3m.Nearly two thirds of those purchases were in Portugal and Arrow completed two of the Portguese portfolios earlier than planned and at a larger size."As a result, and as already announced, we now expect our full-year purchases to be ahead of our previous expectations, laying a strong foundation for earnings growth in future years," chief executive Tom Drury said.Arrow plans to keep focusing on targeted European expansion and has won an operating licence in the Netherlands, including completion of a €1m pilot portfolio investment.But Drury added that the industry's regulatory regime was set to get tougher and firms were merging to cope with the clampdown.Arrow is itself considering possible mergers and acquisitions in mainland European markets with good potential, as well as strong UK opportunities."With the regulatory environment set to tighten further, debt purchase markets are entering a period of increasing consolidation which we expect will see the emergence of a core group of industry leaders," Drury said.Underlying net income fell 1.5% to £13.4m against a year ago as the prior year comparative period included a portfolio write-up of £4.7m.The company unveiled a maiden half-year dividend of 1.7p per share.Shares fell 4.5p or 1.8% to 242.5p by 13:22 in London.PW