Companies: PCF   

Private & Commercial Finance Group (PCF) has achieved half its £15 million two-year funding target in six months.

Scott Maybury, newly installed as chief executive of the AIM quoted company, says it has raised £7.5 million since April from the likes of Hitachi Capital and Siemens Finance. London-based PCF, which recently forecast a sdsys15 per cent first-half profits increase, does not expect to repeat last year’s 40 per cent portfolio growth and sees 7 to 8 per cent as more realistic in today’s markets, though with higher margins.

PCF, which has 20,000 outstanding loan agreements worth an average £6,500 each and provides equipment funding for smaller companies and car finance for individuals, is now operating in a market where demand exceeds supply, says Maybury. Companies and private individuals alike are trying to reduce their borrowing, but rival lenders are also pulling out, leaving PCF with ‘a larger share of a smaller market’.

PCF shares have halved since last year to 12.5p, which analysts argue is less than a third of net asset value. They could offer defensive qualities.

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Private and Commercial	AIM	£3.29m	11.50p	-1.00p
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