IPF trading towards full-year guidance as Poland challenges stabilise

International Personal Finance reported a strong third-quarter financial performance on Thursday, supporting its full-year profit before tax (PBT) guidance issued at its interim results.

The London-listed company said customer lending grew 7% year-on-year, with net receivables increasing 11%, both excluding Poland and at constant exchange rates, reflecting its focus on financial inclusion across nine markets.

It reported a continued improvement in credit quality, with the annualised impairment rate improving by 2.8 percentage points to 9.2%, well below its target range of 14% to 16%.

Customer repayment performance remained robust across all markets, further reinforcing IPF’s strong position heading into the fourth quarter.

Net receivables across the group stood at £842m at the end of the third quarter.

In Poland, where the group had faced challenges, receivables stabilised at £180m, and the Polish business achieved 4% year-on-year growth in customer lending by the end of the third quarter.

However, customer numbers in Poland declined 19%, while overall group customer numbers increased by 2%, excluding Poland.

IPF said its annualised revenue yield, excluding Poland, was within its target range at 57.6%, though its overall revenue yield dipped slightly to 55.1% due to lower yields in the Polish market.

The group’s cost-to-income ratio also increased to 55.1%, exceeding the target range of 49% to 51%, again driven by Poland’s performance.

IPF said it successfully completed a £15m share buyback programme, adding that its equity-to-receivables ratio stood at 53% at the end of the quarter, down from 56% in June, partly due to the depreciation of the Mexican peso.

The group said it had £151m in funding headroom.

Looking ahead, IPF said it remained confident in delivering full-year profits in line with its previous guidance, with excellent credit quality and strong financial performance continuing to support growth into the fourth quarter and beyond.

“Our financial performance in the third quarter continued to be strong, with good growth in customer lending and receivables, as we implement our Next Gen strategy,” said chief executive officer Gerard Ryan.

“The demand for our expanding portfolio of credit and insurance products is robust, and we continue to see very strong repayments and credit quality.

“With the progress we're making across our strategic priorities, we're confident in delivering full-year results in line with the guidance provided at our interim results as well as strong shareholder returns into the future.”

At 0952 BST, shares in International Personal Finance were down 4.61% at 134.49p.

Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.