International Personal Finance posts record half-year

International Personal Finance posted a record half-year profit on the back of a strong increase in revenue and customer numbers.Pre-tax profit rose 11% to £47.1m in the six months ended June 30th as revenue jumped 17%. The home credit company achieved a 7% increase in customer numbers and credit issued growth of 13% to offset £4.8m of new market investment costs and £3.9m from weaker foreign exchange rates. Geographic expansion, product development and targeted easing of credit settings provided a boost to the results. "We are making good progress on our journey to grow the business and our strategy continued to deliver strong levels of growth and profit in the first half of the year," Chief Executive Gerard Ryan said. The interim dividend increased 10.5% to 4.2p per share. Looking ahead, the company said the "markets in which we operate remains encouraging as the economic recovery becomes established".RD Inter. Pers.