Buoyant market carries S&U through to year-end

Motor finance and specialist lender S&U issued its preliminary results for the year ended 31 January on Tuesday, reporting a 32% uptick in revenues to £79.8m.

The London-listed company said its profit before taxation rose 20% to £30.2m, with its basic earnings per share up 19% to 203.8p.

The board proposed final dividend of 45p, an increase of 6p over the prior year, taking the total dividend for the year 15% higher at 105p.

Looking at the balance sheet, S&U said its net receivables increased 35% to £262.1m.

The board reported that its investment in motor finance and in the launch of Aspen Bridging increased its year-end net borrowings to £105.0m from £49.2m.

Committed funding facilities increased to £135m since year-end, which S&U said gave the firm good headroom.

In Advantage Motor Finance, S&U reported its 18th successive year of record pre-tax profits, which rose to £30.2m from £25.2m a year earlier.

Annual collections were up 26%, with live customers also up 26% on the prior year, while annual advances were up 25% this year in what the board called a “buoyant but competitive” used car finance market.

A record 860,000 applications were received by Advantage during the year, of which less than 3% were written.

“As our founder, Clifford Coombs, used to say ‘success breeds success’ and I am delighted to report on another year of strong profit growth for S&U,” said chairman Anthony Coombs.

“Whatever the wider political or economic headwinds, the markets in which we operate remain strong.”

Coombs pointed to recent data from the Finance and Leasing Association, which showed used car sales had increased 6% in number and 12% in value in 2017, while the UK property market remained “robust”.

“This combination of healthy market conditions, a strong demand for our products and our focus on quality, lead us to look ahead with quiet but real confidence.”