Orchard Funding Group PLC, the finance company which specialises in insurance premium finance and the professions funding market, announces its audited full year results for the year ended 31 July 2018.
Highlights
- The group continues to be strongly cash generative, with revenues in the period increasing by 13.4% to £5.17 million for the 12 months to 31 July 2018 (31 July 2017 £4.56 million)
- The loan book grew by 8.8% year on year to £30.95m as we continue to apply our disciplined approach to lending, with impairments remaining relatively low against our peers
- Profit after tax rose from £1.34 million to £1.51 million – an increase of 12.7%
- Earnings Per Share (“EPS”) rose in the period by 13.1% to 7.08p (31 July 2017 6.26p)
- The group lent £68.73 million to clients in the 12 months to 31 July 2018 an increase of 8.5% (31 July 2017
- £63.35 million)
- We are proposing a full year dividend per share of 3.0 pence
- Barclays Bank has again renewed our facility at £15 million
- Conister Bank provided us with a new facility this year of £2 million, giving us additional liquidity
- Application was made to the PRA and FCA for a banking licence in July 2018
- We have strengthened the board with the appointment of Gary Jennison as Non-Executive Chairman in November 2017
Ravi Takhar, Chief Executive Officer of Orchard, said: “I am, again, very pleased with Orchard’s performance during the year. We are passionate about our business and continue to grow in a prudent and controlled manner. We will continue to focus on our core markets and as we have already demonstrated this will result in an increased share of those markets. Trading since the period end has continued to be robust and in line with management expectations.
We have a number of strategic avenues available to us to support the group’s growth and we look forward to the year ahead with cautious optimism.”
The board is pleased to propose a final dividend of 2 pence per share to be paid on 21 December 2018 to shareholders on the register on 14 December 2018, with an ex-dividend date of 13 December 2018. The final dividend is subject to shareholder approval at the company’s upcoming annual general meeting (“AGM”) to be held on 12 December 2018.
The AGM is to be held at the company’s registered office. The company’s annual report and Notice of the AGM will be sent out to shareholders in November 2018.
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