Shares fall as car finance inquiry launched
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PREMIER League strugglers West Ham have scored on one front – workers’ pay.
The Hammers yesterday became just the third top-flight club, along with Chelsea and Everton, to be accredited by the Living Wage Foundation.
The commitment will see everyone at West Ham United – direct employees or third party contracted staff – receive a minimum hourly rate of £10.20, much higher than the Government’s living wage for over-25s of £7.50 per hour. DOORSTEP lenders Provident Financial have been plunged into fresh chaos after the City watchdog launched a probe into their car finance arm. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) are investigating how the firm’s sub-prime Moneybarn offshoot assessed the affordability of borrowers. The move comes amid concerns about a wider surge in car finance. It marks the second inquiry by the FCA into Provident. The regulators are already looking at the sale of a product through another of their businesses, Vanquis Bank. Shares in Bradford-based Provident slumped another 10 per cent yesterday and have crashed 75 per cent since the bungled shake- up of its doorstep lending arm.
To add totheir problems, they are also without a chairman and chief executive after the recent death of executive chairman Manjit Wolstenholme.
One analyst said: “For some companies, it never just rains but pours and this seems to be the case for Provident at present.”
The company insisted: “Provident Financial Group aim to act responsibly in all relationships, and to play a positive role in the communities they serve.
“We will work collaboratively with the FCA to investigate the remaining concerns and resolve any outstanding related issues as soon as practicable.”
The FCA only handed Moneybarn a consumer credit licence in 2016. They specialise in customers who struggle to get finance, and charge a typical interest rate of 32.9 per cent. Moneybarn only account for about 50,000 of Provident’s more than two customers. Neil Wilson, analyst at ETX Capital, said: “It adds to the woes for the embattled lender and is another headache for management at the worst time.” He added: “With a healthy cash pile, new management and a turnaround strategy in place, Provident can weather regulatory storms such as these. “The real question is whether they can get their core doorstep lending business back in shape. On that front, the outlook is very uncertain.”
slump in the value of Provident’s shares yesterday
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