S&U PLC (LSE:SUS) said growth continues to rebound and it is "trading strongly".
The specialist motor finance and property bridging lender said its motor finance arm is “rebounding vigorously” in profitability and in new business wins and growth is “accelerating” in both its businesses.
This was despite a relative lack of used car supply and a quieter housing transaction market over the past quarter.
“Credit quality has returned to pre-pandemic highs and remains under close scrutiny. As a result, S&U has laid the trading and financial foundations for a return to its historical levels of significant, sustainable and profitable growth,” the company said in a trading statement covering 1 August to 8 December.
The Advantage Finance motor finance business surpassed the record £38.3mln of basic live collections in the second quarter with £39.1mln in the third.
Despite the dearth of supply in the used car market, new business transactions increased more than 30%, with Advantage anticipated to increase net loan advances above £140mln in the year to 31 January 2022 from £102.6mln last time.
S&U said Advantage is gearing up for further growth by making a significant investment in digital marketing and refining customer service and underwriting capabilities.
The Aspen bridging finance arm, five years after being created, topped £60mln with its receivables book, which is more than double last year.
Aspen had generated an “excellent” profit increase in the period versus the same period last year, the company said.
The current paid pipeline of deals has doubled to a record level, helped by a new ‘Bridge to Let’ product, while levels of default were said to remain low.