Provident Financial 1H Pretax Profit Up 1.7% At GBP54M

27th Jul 2010 07:23

By Patricia Kowsmann Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES LONDON (Dow Jones)--U.K. lender Provident Financial PLC (PFG.LN) said Tuesday that its first-half of 2010 pretax profit rose 1.7% on a growing customer base. Pretax profit for the six months ended June 30 rose to GBP54 million from GBP53.1 million, the provider of home credit in the U.K. and Ireland said in a statement. The lender said customer numbers grew 7.3% to 2.3 million in the period, while average receivables rose 3.7% to GBP1.03 billion. "Whilst home credit customers remain cautious, I am encouraged by the growth in customer numbers of over 5% which will underpin the medium-term growth of the business when market conditions improve," Chief Executive Officer Peter Crook said. "The group's balance sheet and liquidity are strong and our plans to deliver good quality growth in 2010 remain on track," he added. -By Patricia Kowsmann, Dow Jones Newswires. Tel +44(0)207-842-9295, [email protected] (END) Dow Jones Newswires July 27, 2010 02:23 ET (06:23 GMT)