Paragon reports £39.5m pre-tax profit
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The Paragon Group of Companies has announced a £39.5m pre-tax profit for the six months ended March 31 2011.
The profit is 34.8% up on the £29.3m reported on the same period last year.
Underlying profit before tax also increased by 29.3% to £38.4m, up from £29.7m in the same period last year.
The group says it has had a successful re-launch and expects strong growth in completions in second half of the year, £50.2m buy-to-let loans have been advanced to date since returning to new lending, with £94.7m in the pipeline.
Buy-to-let arrears have fallen to 0.75%, compared to 1.17% in H1 2010.
And the group has strong operational cash generation and £179.7m in free cash, up from £128.1m in the same period last year.
It has also reported further portfolio investment, with approximately 50,000 additional third party loans to be serviced and further opportunities under discussion.
Nigel Terrington, chief executive of Paragon, says: “The group’s performance continues to be strong, with excellent profit growth, credit performance and cash generation during the first half of the financial year.
“New lending has progressed well, with a strong application flow building to a meaningful pipeline of business. Strong growth in lending is expected in the second half of the year.
” Further progress has been achieved in servicing and investing in loan portfolios, and additional opportunities are under review which seek to take advantage of the group’s recognised expertise in these areas.
“We look forward to building on the success of the group’s return to new lending as the foundation for future growth and to returning to the securitisation market.”
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