1PM (OPM) may be small, but it's growing at break-neck speed - as the asset finance specialist rushes to fill the funding gap left by mainstream lenders. Customer numbers grew 26.5 per cent to 2,380 in the year to end-May, while new business written rose 57 per cent to £7.8m.
The company provides leasing finance of between £1,000 and £50,000, so that small businesses - typically those who have struggled to borrow elsewhere - can lease equipment and, after repaying the loan, buy it for a nominal sum. But 1PM still maintains strict lending criteria and, despite the sharp rise in the loan book, defaults represent a mere 1.4 per cent of the lease portfolio. Moreover, the risk is well spread, with no single customer accounting for more than 0.53 per cent of the total portfolio value. As 1PM owns the equipment leased, it also avoids having to put aside regulatory reserves against transactions.
Business comes through referrals from a network of finance brokers which has increased steadily to over 70 in number. Moreover, £4.14m of new funding was raised during the year from commercial banks and individuals, while last month a share placing raised £1.5m from Henderson Global Investors - all of this funding will be used solely for writing new business.
Broker WH Ireland expects reported 2014 pre-tax profit of £1m and EPS of 0.018p.
| 1PM (OPM) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ORD PRICE: | 0.23p | MARKET VALUE: | £10.1m | |
| TOUCH: | 0.21-0.23p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 0.23p | LOW: 0.09p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | nil | PE RATIO: | 13 | |
| NET ASSET VALUE: | 0.1p | NET DEBT: | 22% | |
| Year to 31 May | Turnover (£m) | Pre-tax profit (£000) | Earnings per share (p) | Dividend per share (p) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | 1.36 | 3.09 | nil | nil |
| 2010 | 1.33 | -402 | nil | nil |
| 2011 | 1.91 | 202 | nil | nil |
| 2012 | 2.31 | 436 | 0.010 | nil |
| 2013 | 3.11 | 775 | 0.018 | nil |
| % change | +35 | +78 | +80 | - |
Ex-div: na Payment: na | ||||
