(Reuters) -Provident Financial reported a bigger first-half loss due to costs relating to the wind-down of its doorstep lending business, but earnings excluding those charges increased multi-fold as market conditions improved from a crisis-hit 2020.
The results are the first after London-listed Provident announced plans to exit the home credit market, partly due to increased regulatory scrutiny, while the pandemic has also driven up costs and hammered volumes.
"The first six months of 2021 showed a marked contrast to the extremely difficult conditions seen throughout 2020," Chief Executive Malcolm Le May said.
"Underlying customer trends and macroeconomic conditions have improved year-on-year, allowing us to focus on the core businesses, which is reflected in our results."
The company, which placed the doorstep lending unit into a managed run-off since May after a surge in complaints against it, said statutory pretax loss came in at 44.2 million pounds for the six months to June, compared to 28.1 million pounds a year earlier.
Provident took 46.3 million pounds in exceptional costs related to the wind-down.
Excluding the charges, the company said its adjusted profit rose to 63.5 million pounds from 4.9 million pounds a year earlier, with earnings in its credit card business, Vanquis Bank, jumping 384% to 57.1 million pounds due to lower impairments.