Steady ship at S&U as motor finance business continues to impress

SOLIHULL-based credit provider S&U says it is trading in line with expectations.

In a trading update for the six months to July 31 the firm, which specialises in motor finance and home credit, said it is benefitting from a slight improvement in economic sentiment.

It said its home credit business continues to trade satisfactorily and to generate cash. 

“Customer caution and anticipated changes in the State benefit system has seen trading at slightly lower levels than last year. However, strict credit control has restricted any increase in impairment and maintained debt quality,” it said.

Recent innovations, including new products such as the Advantage4U pre-paid debit card have been encouraging and the prospects are good for the second half of the year, it added.

Advantage Finance, S&U’s motor finance business, continues to maintain record progress, the firm reports.

“Our advances are up nearly 50% on last year as both the product range and broker network expand.  Collecting quality is a record which reflects Advantage’s unmatched underwriting expertise.”
 
It says this performance fully justifies the additional investment it is making in Advantage, currently £9m ahead of last year.
 
S&U says its accelerated investment in Advantage has seen greater use of its long-term funding extended earlier this year. 

“We continue to maintain headroom within our total facilities and gearing, although slightly increased year on year from 33% to around 38%, remains low,” it said.
 
Anthony Coombs, S&U chairman, said: “A slight improvement in economic sentiment and our constant focus on refining our products and improving the experience of our customers give us great confidence in the future.”