Paragon Group reports increased profits |
|
|
Published
:
Wed, 23 Nov 2005 17:05
|
LONDON: Britain's mortgage lender The Paragon Group of Companies has reported a 10.5 per cent increase in its operating profit at 72.7 million pounds for the year ended 30 September. Its buy-to-let loans went up 24 per cent at 5.03 billion pounds.
The company specialises in mortgages for people renting out property. It said its profits indicated an increase in demand for rented property, which meant the fundamentals of that sector are strong.
Its buy-to-let sales were higher in the second half of the fiscal, up 64 per cent compared with the first half.
The results come as a fillip to the housing market which has just started showing signs of a pick-up. Nationwide, another mortgage lender, had reported a 14 per cent increase in its half-year profit and said it hoped to have gross sales to remain flat in 2006.
While Nationwide dealt with credit card and personal-loan markets, Paragon has reduced its exposure to personal finance and does not offer unsecured personal loans. It has maintained that credit quality in its buy-to-let books remained strong though bad debt provisions rose to 16 million pounds from 11 million in the previous financial year.
The company has recommended a full-year dividend of 12.6 pence a share, up 31 per cent.
The company's chairman Jonathan Perry said landlords are continuing to take a long-term view of their property investments and he expected activity levels to improve as landlords take advantage of the increased rental demand by expanding their portfolios.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Stock
Quotes * |
|
NASDAQ
|
|
1445.56 |
-46.82 (
-3.19 %)
|
| SYMBOL (
2008-12-05 ) |
| LAST |
CHANGE
|
|
RIO TINTO
(
3:22am )
|
|
1125.00 |
+38.00 (
3.46 %)
|
| SYMBOL (
2008-12-04 )
|
| LAST |
CHANGE
|
|
DUPONT
(
4:01pm ) |
|
23.69 |
+0.08 (
0.36 %)
|
| SYMBOL (
2008-12-04 )
|
| LAST |
CHANGE
|
|
|
Print this Story
Invest pension in property and get a tax break with SIPPS 