Virus fails to lay Provident low despite deficit in H1

Sub -prime lender Provident Financial has tumbled to a first-half loss amid falling doorstep lending customer numbers, but said the hit from the pandemic was not as bad as first feared.

T h e g r o u p s a i d i t p e r - formed better than expected, despite swinging to an u n d e r l y i n g p r e - t a x l o s s o f £ 3 2 .6 m i l l i o n f o r t h e first six months of 2020, against profits of £80.4m a year ago.

Its doorstep lending arm took the hardest hit, with losses more than doubling to £37.6m, though its Vanquis Bank and Moneybarn businesses remained profitable.

Customer numbers in its doorstep lending consume r c r e d i t b u s i n e s s t u m - bled around 29 per cent to 379,000 as knockdown hit its abilit y to take on new borrowers.

Provident booked impairment charges of £240.3m for the first half, but it said losses were better than it had internally braced for at the start of the coronavirus lockdown. On a reported basis, it sunk to a pre-tax l o s s o f £ 2 8 m c o m p a r e d with profits of £43.1m.