Instant Finance triples profit on debenture exit, swipes at guarantee
Personal finance lender Instant Finance tripled its net profit last year as it wound down its retail deposits, and accused the government’s guarantee of distorting the market.
Tuesday, July 6th 2010, 9:19PM
by Paul McBeth
The lender reported a profit of $3.3 million in the year ended March 31, triple the $1.1 million profit a year earlier, as it rejigged its business and closed down its deposit book.
Instant Finance paid off the remaining $11.1 million of secured debentures by August last year, with chief executive Richard de Lautour saying "it was in the best interests of both investors and the company that all remaining debenture holders were repaid early."
"As funding conditions and investor confidence in the industry continued to decline and the Treasury guarantees further distorted the debenture market in late 2008, it was no longer appropriate to be the company's or our investors' long term future on debenture funding," he said.
Through the 2008 financial year Instant Finance paid off some $23.7 million of debentures.
Having completed the repayments, the lender ended its $60 million securitisation programme over its loans in favour of sourcing direct wholesale lines from Fortress Credit, which will fund its operations entirely.
The firm, which has attracted increased interest with its promotion featuring former Warrior Stacey Jones, boosted net loan receivables 17% to $64.9 million in the financial year, and as at March 31, had 18,756 active loans with gross instalments receivable of $89.2 million.
Instant Finance opened its first South Island branch this week, taking its total number of outlets to 18 nationwide, as part of its growth strategy.
The lender, which has more than 26,000 customers, offers loans for personal and motor vehicle finance.
Paul is a staff writer for Good Returns based in Wellington.
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