Vanquis Bank trading in line

Consumer finance company Vanquis Banking Group said it was trading in line with expectations despite the cost-of-living crisis squeezing household finances.

Formerly known as Provident Financial, Vanquis said new customer acquisition rates increased year-on-year, with no change to underwriting standards. Delinquency trends remained consistent with those reported over the last 12 months, and customer behavioural traits were in keeping with previously seen seasonal trends regarding spend and repayment rates.

Receivables at the end of the quarter were broadly flat versus 31 December 2022 but increased by approximately 18% year-on-year.

Personal loans receivables grew 40% compared with the last three months of 2022, given higher-than-expected new customer acquisition volumes and total active customer numbers over the period, it said.

The group's vehicle finance business continued to see strong levels of new business and receivables growth during the first quarter of the year.

New business volumes in March represented the highest monthly result ever and, reflecting the repositioning towards lower risk customers in recent years, the arrears rate continued to improve during the period. As a result, receivables at the end of the quarter were approximately 8% higher versus 31 December 2022.

The group added that it has made no material changes to its underwriting criteria so far as it looks for signs of customer distress given the macroeconomic backdrop but that it will consider tightening criteria at the margins if required.

"For the remainder of 2023, we will focus on growing our businesses and continuing to deploy the capital at our disposal to generate attractive and sustainable returns for our shareholders over the medium term," Chief Executive Malcolm Le May said.

Reporting by Frank Prenesti for Sharecast.com