Bad-debts fears fade at Cattles

DESPITE souring economic conditions, the much-feared explosion in bad debts has not come about at Cattles, the door-to-door financier that lends money for a week at a time.

The company said its consumer loans book grew by 40% to £988m in 2001 as the number of branches increased by 58 to 477. But bad-debt provisions remained at about 8% of the portfolio, generating a £78m charge.

Pre-tax profits were 18% higher at £75.8m. Chief executive Sean Mahon said average weekly and monthly loans remained at £175 and £3,000 respectively. However, the bigger branch network led to a net rise in customers of 34,000, taking the total to 715,000.

Mahon said Cattles wanted to increase its total customers rather than the amounts they were borrowing, partly because this strategy posed a lesser threat to its bad-debt provisions. It aims to have 550 branches by the end of this year.

The year's dividend is lifted by 12.5% to 9p a share.