Provident Financial PLC (LON:PFG) saw first half profits battered as a switch to an in-house loan team backfired.
Profits tumbled 46% to £90mln, but the company maintained the interim dividend and said volumes at Vanquis, Satsuma and Moneybarn, the three businesses outside of the core home credit arm, were at record levels.
READ: Satsuma Loans owner Provident Financial hit by flood of downgrades after shock profit warning
The Bank of England has recently started to warn consumer credit providers about the quality of their loan books.
Peter Crook, Provident’s chief executive, said: “It had continued to exercise strong discipline around credit and not observed changes in customer behaviour in relation to either demand for credit or credit performance”.
He added the home credit performance was disappointing and the focus would be on on customer service, embedding the new model and improving collections through the third quarter of the year.
Shares fell 4.68 to 2,188p.