Europe boosts IPF's profits

2nd Mar 2011 16:41

Profits at emerging markets lender International Personal Finance (IPF) surged by 50% in 2010, helped by growth in its core market Central Europe.Pre-tax profits from continuing operations grew by 49.3% from £61.7m to £92.1m after lower impairments and tighter cost control, the group said. The figure excluded an exceptional charge of £3.9m, primarily from the cost of closing out interest rate swaps upon refinancing."The strong recovery of our Hungarian business, which rapidly returned to profitability following the losses reported in 2009, was a key driver of this improvement with the businesses in Poland and Czech-Slovakia also reporting increased profits," the statement said.Revenue for the 12 months ended 31 December jumped 10.6% to £608.7m, from £550.2m."I am pleased to report that IPF has delivered a record profit in 2010. This reflects a continued strong recovery from the global recession and accelerated growth in the final months of the year," said chief executive officer John Harnett.IPF increased the final dividend by 10% to 3.74p, bringing the full year dividend to 6.27p, compared with 5.7p in 2009. The group said this is consistent with its progressive dividend policy and intention to move to a pay-out ratio of 25% of post-tax profit.Entry to new countries still remains a key element of the group's strategy, and is said to be eyeing the markets of Ukraine and Bulgaria.