Retailer N Brown PLC (LON:BWNG) has joined some of the UK’s major lenders in announcing the impact of a last-minute surge in claims for mis-sold payment protection insurance (PPI).
The company, which provides credit to customers for making purchases, said it would need to set aside an additional provision of £20mln to £30mln for PPI claims after a rush of complaints in the final days leading up to the Financial Conduct Authority’s 29 August deadline.
“As a result, our full year net debt guidance is anticipated to increase from £440mln-£460mln to £460mln-£490mln,” it said.
In reaction, shares fell 5.5% to 104.4p in morning trading.
N Brown received 110,000 PPI complaints last month including more than 40,000 in the final week before the deadline. That was more than 10 times the average volume of claims the company received in previous months.
So far the group has paid out £108mln in financial redress, including an extra provision of £22.6mln made in the second half of last year.
The firm said it will continue to work through PPI claims received and will provide an update on the size of the provision at its half-year results on 10 October.
In the past week a number of lenders have announced a big hit from PPI claims including Lloyds Banking Group PLC (LON:RBS), Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC (LON:RBS), CYBG PLC (LON:CYBG) and Barclays PLC (LON:BARC).