Bradford-based non-standard finance lender, Vanquis Bank, says its turnaround strategy is on track with the business moving into a “profitable growth phase”, as it issues results for the year ended 31 December 2024.
It has reported a statutory pre-tax loss of £136.3m (2023 £12m loss), with net interest income decreasing 5% to £420m, leading to total income dropping 6% to £458.5m, driven largely by higher cost of funds.
Vanquis says it delivered £64.3m of transformation cost savings by the end of 2024, and is on course for an additional £15m of committed savings by the end of 2025.
Ian McLaughlin, chief executive officer, said: “2024 was a pivotal year in the turnaround of Vanquis. We have made good progress implementing the changes required to position the business for sustainable future growth, despite substantial headwinds.
“We addressed underlying structural issues, simplified our operating model, refreshed our strategy, expanded our product range, and are on track to deliver our technology enhancements.
“Significant progress has been made on our cost saving commitments across the year, with over £64m of savings achieved by the end of 2024, exceeding our £60m target.
“We are set to deliver an additional commitment of £15m by the end of 2025. Our technology transformation programme, Gateway, is due to complete by mid-2026, providing us with a scalable, digital-first platform to support growth and delivering an additional £23m-28m in cost efficiencies.”
Vanquis says its underlying credit quality has improved and it has achieved greater clarity on cost of risk across portfolios.
With this backdrop, the group returned to gross customer interest earning balance growth in quarter four 2024.
