Listed credit lender remains ‘resilient’ as lockdown eases
International Personal Finance (IPF), which is headquartered in Leeds, says its “return to office strategy” is underway as virus related restrictions start to be lifted.
The business, which provides unsecured consumer credit to customers, said it has been maintaining tighter credit settings to protect credit quality and manage cashflow.
IPF restricted Group credit issued to 30% of its original 2020 budget during April and May.
In a trading update today, the firm adds: “In the near-term, our focus for new lending will continue to be on our loyal customers who have strong credit quality characteristics.
“We expect volumes to increase moderately in June as lockdown restrictions are eased and our collections performance continues to improve.
“Group collections effectiveness improved to 80% of pre-Covid levels in May (April 2020: 76%), driven largely by European home credit where there was an increase in the proportion of agents visiting customers and alternative repayment options were implemented.
“We expect collections effectiveness to progressively improve in the coming months, due to the easing of lockdown restrictions in most of our markets.
“Improving collections, good cost reduction and effective management of sales volumes resulted in robust net cash flow generation in May of £43m (April 2020: £41m before £21m Eurobond coupon payment).
“Cash and headroom on undrawn debt facilities was £223m at 31 May 2020.”
Gerard Ryan, IPF’s CEO, said: “I am pleased with the progress we have made since our last trading update.
“We have adhered to our guiding principles of protecting our people, our customers and our business, and through the huge effort, dedication and response of our teams across the business, we have improved our collections effectiveness.
“We have a resilient business and as restrictions ease further, I am confident we will increase our volume of new lending and see a steady improvement in performance.
“It is clear that following the pandemic, the need for a principled and responsible institution that provides finance to underbanked and underserved consumers around the world will be more important than ever.”
