LONDON (ShareCast) - (Sharecast News) - Financial services firm International Personal Finance said on Thursday that "good momentum" from the first half had continued through the third quarter, with the group now expecting to perform ahead of internal plans.
International Personal Finance said it had seen "strong" demand for its financial products, resulting in customer lending increasing by 11% in the year-to-date, excluding Poland.

Closing customer receivables of £875.0m marked an increase of 4% year-on-year at constant exchange rates, or 15% excluding Poland. Customer repayment performance remained "robust" and impairment rates continued to track in line with internal expectations.

IPF also noted that it had a strong balance sheet, with headroom on undrawn facilities and non-operational cash balances of £100.0m as of 30 September, an increase of £16.0m since the half. It also said it had successfully secured £44.0m of debt facilities during the third quarter and, more recently, priced £14.0m of bonds in the Polish debt capital market.

Chief executive Gerard Ryan said: "I am very pleased to report that the group is trading well and ahead of our internal plans. Demand for our product range is strong and all our markets continue to deliver good growth in customer lending and receivables, the only exception being Poland where, as expected, lending has moderated as we adapt to serving our customers under the new pricing and affordability regulations there."

As of 1200 BST, IPF shares were up 0.78% at 129.0p.

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com

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