Close Invoice Finance Limited have released their financial results for the twelve months to 31 July 2003 showing a pre-tax profit of Ј6.57m, an increase of 4% compared to Ј6.32m for the similar period in 2002. Turnover rose to Ј18.98m, up 3% in the same period.
In the Chief Executive’s Statement, Leslie Bland said that due to the failure of the expected economic upturn, the UK small business sector continued to experience difficult trading conditions. This in turn led to a relatively high number of client insolvencies, in common with most of the receivables finance industry; “but strict underwriting and management controls have ensured low bad debt exposure.”
He continued: “The level of new business taken on at the start of the year was disappointing with our sales team facing stiff competition, in particular from the bank factors who were willing to sacrifice margins. However, in the second half, sales have significantly improved.”
