Consumer credit provider International Personal Finance’s profit was more than expected in 2024 as it continues to look towards future growth.
The firm, which is headquartered in Leeds, earned £85.2m in profit before tax, ahead of analysts’ expected range of £78m-£82m.
International Personal Finance’s full-year financial report revealed record profits from its operations in Mexico and Australia and record lending volumes in Hungary.
“Building on the strong first-half performance, the group has delivered a step-up in growth in the second half,while overall financial results were ahead of previous guidance given exemplary credit quality across the receivables book,” said Peel Hunt analysts.
International Personal Finance’s balance sheet remained strong, with Peel Hunt analysts describing it as a “key underpinning of future growth.”
At the end of 2024, the group had £138m of headroom on funding facilities, thanks to securing £103m of bank funding during the year.
As a result, the board increased the firm’s final dividend by 11.1 per cent to eight pence, with plans to kick off a £15m share buyback programme.
“The ongoing execution of our Next Gen strategy has delivered good growth, and we provided over £1bn of credit to those who find it difficult to get finance from banks,” said International Personal Finance CEO Gerard Ryan.
“Beyond these strong financial results, we served our 15 millionth customer in September, a great sign of our ability and commitment to supporting underserved communities.”
The stock is currently trading on around six times its 2025 forecast earnings, which Peel Hunt said “does not reflect the strong performance being delivered and the return to both loan book and earnings growth”.
“With a yield of close to 10 per cent and another £15m buyback, we see clear upside in the shares,” the analysts added.