Provident Financial (LSE:PFG) PLC said it is confident of meeting full-year expectations as it continues its move to lower-risk customers.
The receivables book grew by approximately 5% during the third quarter, the ‘near prime’ lender said, while impairment trends remained “stable and consistent”.
Since September, customers of Vanquis Bank and its thimbl credit-builder card have been able to add their cards to Google Wallet, which the group said was “an important milestone” and that the “early results from this development are encouraging”.
Credit card receivables were up 5% and motor finance receivables advanced 3%.
The personal loans business topped £50mln of receivables for the first time at the end of September, helped by new offers of loans at different price points during the quarter.
Work is continuing to transition the Vanquis branded loans business onto the new Gateway IT platform, “a key enabler of expanding the product and service offering to customers in the future”.
Chief executive Malcolm Le May said: “The prevailing macroeconomic conditions during the period were challenging, with the effects of high inflation and an increased cost of living being experienced by everyone, but the group's asset quality remained high across all products.”
He emphasised that PFG had a “strong focus” on risk management, with its underwriting processes “rigorous” and the strategic repositioning over the past two years leaving it “well placed to navigate market conditions, whilst supporting our customers by providing them with a valuable source of credit”.
Broker Peel Hunt said: “This is a reassuring update but the future impact of what happens as cost of living pressures bite deeper will continue to moderate share price upside, in our view.”
However, the shares fell 5.5% to 156.24p on Wednesday morning.