Intl Personal Finance profits soar

19th Oct 2010 08:58

International Personal Finance, the Central Europe focused lender, grew profits by 36% during the third quarter following improvements across the board.The company made £24.4m before tax in the three months ended to 30 September on revenue up 10% to £145.6m. Underlying profit, which includes £3m of restructuring costs in Hungary, were up 16%. "In Quarter 3, our strategy of focusing on good credit quality, collections and costs has resulted in strong profit growth and good credit quality across all markets," chief executive John Harnett said. "Economic conditions continue to improve across the majority of our markets and we are now seeking stronger growth in the peak sales period in the final quarter of the year."The firm said credit quality and collections performance at the end of September was good in all markets and the number of customers eligible for the offer of a further loan was 15% higher than last year. "This coupled with a progressive emphasis on growth gives us a good platform for improved growth in the fourth quarter, our seasonal peak sales period, and for delivering a strong result for the year," the group said.But there will be an increase in the company's cost base in 2011 of about £15m due to the EU Consumer Credit Directive (CCD) implementation and rise in the firm's costs of borrowing to around 7.5% of revenue. A further trading update will be published in mid-December.