Gerard Ryan, chief executive of International Personal Finance (IPF), said he was "very pleased" with the record profitability of the group last year. The personal loans group reported a 21 per cent rise in underlying pre-tax profit to £25.4m, which excludes an £11m currency headwind and £13m invested in new business.
Moreover, following a refinancing deal, IPF has increased the dividend payout ratio to 35 per cent from 25 per cent, and boosted the total dividend for 2014 by 29 per cent to 12p a share.
But Mr Ryan highlighted that sales in the final quarter slowed, and said he was "not happy with this". The biggest reason for the topline weakness was hot competition from online and payday lenders. Accordingly, IPF is taking action: launching new products, including its own digital platform, entering new markets and repositioning its marketing strategy.
