S&U maintains 'faith and confidence'

(Sharecast News) - Motor and property finance business S&U said on Tuesday that it was optimistic about the new trading year, although it also acknowledged that challenges remain.

S&U said its Advantage Finance unit, which provides car finance, has seen transaction volumes start to improve after a tough period. It also noted that restrictions imposed by a regulatory investigation into alleged misselling had now eased, with new deals rising to more than 900 in January.

Loan collections hit 87% in the year ended 31 January, up from a cumulative 85% in the prior year.

S&U also stated that while certain challenges remained, including outstanding non-paying customer cases, it was working on digital improvements and stronger customer outreach to get operations back on track.

S&U added that Aspen Bridging, its property finance division, delivered a record-breaking year, with net receivables growing 17% to �152.0m and loan repayments and recoveries jumping 25% year-on-year. Transaction volumes were 16% higher, with an average deal size of more than �900,000.

Chairman Anthony Coombs said: "Over the past year, macroeconomic and regulatory pressures on the business have severely tested S&U's historic experience, expertise and resilience. Despite these, we maintain our faith and confidence in the service we are proud to give to our loyal customers.

"As a more pro-growth national agenda develops and the regulatory frenzy eases, then this provides a solid base for a return to more normal levels of profitability, growth and returns for our shareholders."

As of 0955 GMT, S&U shares were down 3.70% at 1,569.75p.

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com