Sub-prime lender Provident Financial (PFG) grew underlying pre-tax profit by 10 per cent in 2013 to £196.1m and boosted its dividend by the same percentage to 85p a share.
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Admittedly, the group's home collected credit unit did see adjusted pre-tax profit fall 17 per cent to £102.5m - reflecting already well-flagged issues such as pressures on household incomes and poor consumer sentiment. But £10m of costs saving were delivered here in the second half and, significantly, the Vanquis credit card unit continued to bound ahead - pre-tax profit there soared nearly 60 per cent £113.7m.
