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Aug 11 (Reuters) - Provident Financial reported a
bigger first-half loss due to costs relating to the wind-down of
its doorstep lending business, but earnings excluding those
charges increased multi-fold as market conditions improved from
a crisis-hit 2020.
The results are the first after London-listed Provident
announced plans to exit the home credit market, partly due to
increased regulatory scrutiny, while the pandemic has also
driven up costs and hammered volumes.
"The first six months of 2021 showed a marked contrast to
the extremely difficult conditions seen throughout 2020," Chief
Executive Malcolm Le May said.
"Underlying customer trends and macroeconomic conditions
have improved year-on-year, allowing us to focus on the core
businesses, which is reflected in our results."
The company, which placed the doorstep lending unit into a
managed run-off since May after a surge in complaints against
it, said statutory pretax loss came in at 44.2 million pounds
for the six months to June, compared to 28.1 million pounds a
year earlier.
Provident took 46.3 million pounds in exceptional costs
related to the wind-down.
Excluding the charges, the company said its adjusted profit
rose to 63.5 million pounds from 4.9 million pounds a year
earlier, with earnings in its credit card business, Vanquis
Bank, jumping 384% to 57.1 million pounds due to lower
impairments.
(Reporting by Muvija M in Bengaluru; editing by Carolyn Cohn)