CPP GROUP, the York-based finance group that has had so many problems that observers could be forgiven for thinking “troubled” was part of its name, has announced healthy first-half figures.
It has been described as “a new beginning” for CPP, which was fined £10.5m by the Financial Conduct Authority in 2012 and paid out £65.8m in compensation to customers for mis-selling. Last year the group closed two UK offices and four overseas offices, removed its chief executive, found £20m of cost savings and raised £20m in equity funding.
A new management team, led by chairman Roger Canham who joined in May, and chief executive Stephen Callaghan, whose April appointment was made permanent last month, has been able to report a £20m improvement in profitability, after CPP generated unaudited post-tax profits of £17.1m for the six months to June 30. This was achieved despite a 23% fall in revenues to £45.2m.
“The business has been focused on resolving legacy issues which have been so damaging to our reputation. The conduct and practices that led to these issues in the past are entirely inconsistent with the values we hold ourselves to today,” said Mr Callaghan.
“CPP is a business that has endured a number of challenging years, particularly in the UK. It is clear to me that the Group has many strengths and my role is to build upon these whilst eliminating activities and behaviours that detract from our core purpose.
“For CPP to succeed – to become the ‘international assistance business of choice’ – then it must do so as a committed, trusted organisation that provides a valuable service to its customers.”
The group has set out three short term priorities – revenue generation, business transformation, and cost reduction – while it works on setting “a clear strategic direction” and boosting its management team, which will see Michael Corcoran join as finance director on September 1 and other appointments, in the areas of technology and marketing, to follow.
