Operational review
Group
Group customer numbers
(’000s)
Group customer numbers increased by 4.7% in the year and now stand at over 2 million. The growth in customer numbers came from the developing markets of Romania and Mexico.
Profit before tax £70.3 million
+40.3%
Earnings per share 19.73 pence
+44.5%
This has been another successful year, with good progress made towards our strategic objectives: We passed our £95 million profit target for Central Europe a year ahead of schedule and Mexico remains on track to report a profit for 2009 and Romania for 2010. We also succeeded in extending our core bank facilities through to October 2011.
Looking forward we have a strong balance sheet and a resilient business model. We are well placed to weather the downturn, and to respond rapidly and grow when conditions improve.
Certain comparative information presented in this document is stated on a pro forma basis including the adjustments required to present the results as if International Personal Finance plc (‘IPF’ or the ‘Group’) had operated as a stand-alone entity throughout the year ended 31 December 2007. The statutory profit before tax for the year ended 31 December 2007 was £47.0 million and the statutory EPS was 12.64 pence. Further information on the pro forma adjustments including a reconciliation between the statutory and pro forma profit after tax is included in notes 31 and 32 of the financial statements.
Percentage change figures for all performance measures, other than profit or loss before taxation and earnings per share, unless otherwise stated, are quoted after restating prior year figures at a constant exchange rate (‘CER’) for 2008 in order to present the underlying performance variance.
Summary
Profit before taxation for the year ended 31 December 2008 increased by 40.3% to £70.3 million and earnings per share increased by 44.5% to 19.73 pence.
Group income statement
| Profit before taxation | 2008 £m |
Pro forma 2007 £m |
Change £m |
Change % |
Change at CER % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Customer numbers (000s) | 2,029 | 1,937 | 92 | 4.7 | 4.7 |
| Credit issued | 791.0 | 621.1 | 169.9 | 27.4 | 4.5 |
| Average net receivables | 504.9 | 362.1 | 142.8 | 39.4 | 13.9 |
| Revenue | 557.1 | 409.8 | 147.3 | 35.9 | 11.4 |
| Impairment | (127.2) | (83.2) | (44.0) | (52.9) | (27.1) |
| Revenue less impairment | 429.9 | 326.6 | 103.3 | 31.6 | 7.5 |
| Finance costs | (29.5) | (19.2) | (10.3) | (53.6) | (25.5) |
| Operating and administration costs | (330.1) | (257.3) | (72.8) | (28.3) | (6.9) |
| (359.6) | (276.5) | (83.1) | (30.1) | (8.2) | |
| Profit before taxation | 70.3 | 50.1 | 20.2 | 40.3 | 4.3 |
Group customer numbers increased by 4.7% in the year and now stand at over 2 million. The growth in customer numbers came from the developing markets of Romania and Mexico with customer numbers in Central Europe reducing slightly as a result of the impact of the credit tightening. Credit issued increased by 4.5% to £791.0 million.