26 September 2019 – interim results

The Isle of Man based financial group has announced its interim results covering the six months to 30 June showing that it continues to make solid progress.  Operating income at the group rose to £8.0m (2018: £6.3m) with pre-tax profit rising to £1.42m (2018: £1.37m).  Diluted earnings per share rose to 0.77p (2018: 0.76p) and there is no interim dividend.  These are very solid results and the group continues to strengthen its balance sheet and it has now eliminated the deficit on its retained earnings for the first time in many years.  The group is moving away from sub-prime lending as it looks to improve the quality of its loan book whilst it is also diversifying its revenue streams.  This includes geographic expansion with further investment seen in the UK operations focused on the office in Newbury.  With signs of improvement now being seen the shares are a BUY.