25 October 2011 – interim management statement

Trading since 1 July has seen controlled growth across all the company’s markets with 10% growth in customers to 2.3m and 13% growth in credit issued to £214.2m.   After absorbing higher funding costs, the pre-tax profit increased by 11% to £27.0m on revenue 9% higher.  In the nine months to the end of September, pre-tax profits were 14% higher at £62.7m.  In the final quarter of the year, the group will continue to target further growth in customer numbers and credit issued although it has recently tightened its credit criteria to protect it against further economic weakness.  The shares remain a BUY.