Orchard Funding continues to grow as it looks to new market segments

The AIM-traded firm said that on a like for like basis, an extra £3.24m of lending was made over the six months.

Group turnover increased 25.9% to £2.67m, while group profit before tax was £0.99m - a 22.2% improvement on the first half of the prior year.

The board once again recommended an interim dividend of 1p per share, in line with the interim distribution paid 12 months ago.

“Orchard continues to perform in a consistent and positive manner,” said chief executive Ravi Takhar.

“The leading players in our market continue to compete aggressively with our offering, but we are still standing firm and continuing to grow.”

Takhar said the company had a number of “exciting new initiatives”, including the launching of new product lines in the school fees market, property market and leisure market, which the board intended to launch in the coming year.

“Our bank licence application process is moving forward in a positive manner and we have appointed a new chairman, Gary Jennison, the former CEO of Secured Trust Bank, to add to the strength of our existing team.

“I am also delighted to confirm that we have created and implemented new state of the art IT, and this will further enhance our competitiveness going forward,” Takhar explained.

“We continue to offer outstanding and personal service to our clients and look forward to the continued and consistent growth of our business.”