28 July 2016 – interim results
When we last commented on IPF back in May, we had a speculative buy recommendation on the stock at 237.7p. Since then the share price has been up to almost 345p, although today’s announcement of the interim results has seen much of this gain given up. Pre-tax profits for the period before exceptional items have fallen back to £30.7m (2015: £43.3m) with earnings per share on the same basis dropping to 9.8p (2015: 13.7p). The fall in profits reflects the effects of the new price cap in Poland, the winding down of the business in Slovakia and a mixed performance in the home credit businesses. A poor performance was reported by the business in Mexico and although parts of Europe performed well increasing regulatory controls are a concern. The interim dividend was maintained at 4.6p but with competition in the group’s European business remaining intense we suggest readers TAKE PROFITS.