Amigo readies winding-down plan

AMIGO, the sub-prime lender, has hired crisis experts from PJT Partners to prepare contingency plans for winding down if it cannot resume lending, according to City sources.

Amigo has suspended most new lending since March 2020.

Like its peers, Provident Financial and Non-standard Finance, Amigo has been hit by a historical mis-selling scandal over high interest loans. In May, a High Court judge rejected the company’s plan to cap compensation payments – a strategy that it said would allow all claimants to receive partial redress rather than only a proportion of customers securing full recompense.

Last week, the company was forced to delay the publication of its financial accounts after receiving a letter from the Financial Conduct Authority that “raised some issues which could impact on forward-looking statements”.

It now has a deadline of Sept 2 to get a sign-off from auditor KPMG. The lender is also working with insolvency experts from PWC.

Amigo owes bondholders more than £200m and its market value is just £42m.

Amigo declined to comment.