Boost for Provvy rival

THE high-cost lender seeking to buy rival Provident Financial has unveiled a surge in business.

Non-Standard Finance – which has launched a hostile takeover of the Provvy – said its total loan book grew by 29pc to £310.3m last year.

The firm is run by the Provvy’s former boss John Van Kuffeler, who is seeking to take advantage of problems at his former firm to seize control.

If his bid is successful, NSF will split off its doorstep lender arm, Loans At Home, to keep competition watchdogs happy. NSF set aside a total of £42.7m to cover the costs of losing money where customers fail to pay back what they have borrowed.

This is equivalent to 26pc of NSF’s overall revenues, down from 27pc in 2017 – suggesting that a similar proportion of borrowers are repaying on time.

NSF lost £1.6m last year, largely because of costs linked to the acquisition of guarantor firm George Banco in 2017. The annual dividend rose by 18pc to 2.6p per share. NSF shares fell 0.7pc, or 0.4p, to 59p and Provvy fell 3.5pc, or 20p, to 555.2p.