Group interim profits rise 17% to £25m

Results at Woodchester Investments for the six months to the end of June show that GE Capital is acquiring a company in fine …

Results at Woodchester Investments for the six months to the end of June show that GE Capital is acquiring a company in fine financial shape. Woodchester boosted its half-year profits by 17 per cent to £25.1 million, higher than the most optimistic forecasts from Dublin analysts. Given the likely takeover by GE Capital, no interim dividend is being paid; an interim dividend of 3.16p a share was paid in the first half of 1996.

Analysts said the half-year results were excellent, but saw no reason to increase full-year profit forecasts from the current £50 million to £51 million range with earnings per share of around 17p.

Chairman, Mr Craig McKinney said trading was good across all Woodchester's operations, with total new business written in the first half of the year standing at £785 million, a rise of 32 per cent on the same period last year. Most of the growth was organic but there was a small contribution from the Vendal acquisition in Portugal which came late in the period. Ireland, which is expected to contribute around 38 per cent of 1997 profits, continued to improve and, in the core motor finance business, Woodchester business volumes grew by 22 per cent compared to the 5 per cent increase in motor registrations.

Business in Northern Ireland was also ahead of target while the Woodchester Brokers subsidiary had a good six months in both life and non-life business.

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Advances in the British motor finance business were up 57 per cent on the same period last year while advances in the equipment finance business were up 10 per cent. In Denmark and Portugal, new business volumes were up a combined 28 per cent despite the strength of the pound against the krone and escudo.

Woodchester has completed the acquisition of Vendal SFAC and Vendal ALD, two finance companies in the Santogal Group in Portugal with finance portfolios of £55 million. Woodchester paid £12.5 million for Vendal which imports Honda, Alfa Romeo and Daewoo cars into Portugal and which retails Volkswagen, Audi, Mazda and Peugeot cars through 15 outlets.