Strong performance by listed lender, despite ‘real test’ of lockdown
Leeds-based lender Hitachi Capital (UK) has announced its latest set of financial results, showing growth for the eleventh year running.
Pre-tax profits grew in FY19/20 by 5.1% to £129.4m. The Hitachi Capital Consumer Finance team, which operates from Leeds with 620 employees, recorded strong profits of £76m, despite a difficult retail and personal lending landscape.
The company’s direct personal loans business – Hitachi Personal Finance – grew by 11% to more than £1bn, its 11th successive year of growth.
In total, Hitachi Capital Consumer Finance lent more than £2.61bn to more than 1.4 million customers in the last year.
Vincent Reboul, managing director, said: “Over the last 12 months, we have revolutionised our on-boarding platforms, focusing on digital channels to transform retailer relationships and create even better, frictionless experiences for consumers and partners.
“The success of this investment is shown in the strength of our results, which remain robust amid a tough retail and consumer lending landscape.
“The last quarter of the financial year was a real test for us as a business, especially as the retail market was one of the hardest hit as a result of the lockdown.
“During this time we continued to support both our retail partners and our customers dealing with a significant increase in customer contact and still retain a high customer satisfaction rating.”
Robert Gordon
Robert Gordon, CEO of Hitachi Capital (UK), said: “I’m proud of our colleagues who have worked extremely hard to deliver consistent growth in a period of unprecedented challenges.
“This is a reflection of the agility, adaptability and dedication to customer service that is engrained in the culture of our business.
“The last quarter of the financial year was a real test for the Group. Lockdown required us to rapidly move from five operational centres to over 1,500 home offices, whilst experiencing an unprecedented demand for our services.
“During this time we haven’t furloughed a single employee or sought Government support.
“Instead we were one of the first non-banks to be accredited by the British Business Bank to provide CBILS facilities for our customers, financing over £41m to UK businesses since the year end.
“There’s no doubt the next 12 months will be hard and the pandemic has undoubtedly checked our growth in the last few months.
“But looking ahead I am confident the improvements we’ve made will strengthen the business and help us generate sustainable profitable growth in the post-COVID-19 economic landscape.”
