S & U PLC (LON:SUS), the car finance and bridging loan specialist, has been encouraged by improving trends in its business this year.
In a statement released ahead of its annual general meeting (AGM) today, the company said Advantage Finance, its motor finance business, continues to trade well while Aspen Finance, its relatively new property bridging loan arm, continues to make “impressive progress”.
WATCH: Surge of car finance customers underlines encouraging trends at S&U says chairman
Customer numbers at Advantage Finance now exceed 60,000 and the company is receiving a record number of loan applications a month, averaging more than 108,000.
Advantage’s focus on debt quality has led to the bad debt rate improving, while the rolling 12-month risk-adjusted yield has climbed to more than 25% from 24.6% at the end of January.
Aspen Finance’s loan book now stands at £22mln, compared to £18mln at the year-end, while the active deal pipeline has doubled since the end of January.
S & U’s borrowing since the end of January has risen to nearly £114mln from £108mln at the end of January, which is well within the group’s budgeted requirements.
#SUS I listened to the @GrahamNeary Interview with Anthony Coombes & it sounded as if they were a well managed business...this adds weight to that ????????#sussed ????
S & U PLC: AGM Statement and Trading Update https://t.co/ooL4sxE5eI
— Rhomboid1 (@rhomboid1MF) May 23, 2019
"Recent trends in our business are encouraging, particularly in transaction growth, debt and new customer quality,” said Anthony Coombs, S & U’s chairman.
“Together with our tried and tested traditional emphasis on continuous process refinements and improvements for our customers, these give us confidence of further steady and sustainable growth and a successful year ahead," he said.