S&U PLC (LSE:SUS), the specialist motor and property finance lender, has reported record group capital receivables of £616 million, a 20% increase on the £512 million recorded a year earlier.
Growth was led by Advantage Finance, the group's motor finance arm, where year-to-date deal numbers rose 50% and advances climbed to £105 million for the half year.
That came against a 3% year-on-year decline in the wider UK car finance market. Advantage capital receivables now stand at £408 million.
S&U said its securitisation project, a funding structure that packages loans into tradeable securities, is nearing completion and will be unveiled alongside half-year results on 29 September.
The expansion has required more than £100 million of additional investment over the past year, with group borrowings at 5 August of £285 million against facilities of £330 million.
The company said its prospects require greater, more flexible and competitively priced funding.
Debt quality strengthened, with up-to-date receivables at Advantage at 73% of the book against 69% last year.
Collections against amounts due reached 92% in the year to date, up from 90%, while bad debt and written-off accounts fell by nearly a fifth.
Advantage said targeted use of artificial intelligence had lifted productivity in its customer relations department by 50%, work driven partly by complaints it attributed to opportunistic claims management companies.
The Financial Conduct Authority's motor finance redress scheme for broker commissions is subject to judicial review, though S&U said the future financial impact on Advantage would be minimal.
Aspen Bridging, the group's property lending business, saw slower growth in a subdued housing market.
Its capital receivables of £208 million were almost a third higher than a year earlier, but the figure reflects slower repayments in a weaker sales market and a shift towards longer loan terms for more experienced borrowers.
S&U said that had weighed on short-term profitability, particularly against a large recovery booked in July 2025.
Late and beyond-term customers at Aspen accounted for 7% of the book, unchanged on last year.
Anthony Coombs, chairman, said the group's performance reflected the strength of the business through varied economic conditions, adding that S&U remained cautiously optimistic a pro-growth approach would prevail and would prosper regardless.
