LONDON (ShareCast) - (Sharecast News) - Sub-prime lender Provident Financial reported flat first-half pre-tax profits on Tuesday, in line with internal expectations.
Provident, which has been working hard to patch up its battered home credit business, turned in an unchanged adjusted pre-tax profit of £74.9m for the six months ended June 30.

However, the FTSE 250-listed group claimed it would've reported higher earnings if not for the £23.6m in costs related to fending off a hostile takeover attempt from smaller rival Non-Standard Finance.

Revenues for the period dropped 8.57% to £523m.

Although Provident saw earnings per share drop 17.3% to 8.1p, the group's board proposed reinstating an interim dividend of 9.0p per share.

Chief executive Malcolm Le May said: "Despite the distraction of the unsolicited bid from February to June this year, I am pleased with the group's operational and financial performance during the first half of the year.

"We have delivered strong new business volumes whilst maintaining stable delinquency trends and our first-half results are in line with our internal plans."

Elsewhere, Provident revealed that chief financial officer Simon Thomas had notified the board of his intention to step down following the group's 2019 preliminary results in March 2020 for personal health reasons

"Whilst we are saddened by Simon's decision to depart, we respect it, and would like to thank him for his significant contribution to the group," said Provident.

As of 0920 BST, Provident shares had picked up 1.93% to 423.50p.

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