Nelson scents victory

One financier who seems cheerfully untroubled by the credit crunch is Tony Nelson, chief executive of AIM-quoted finance house Private & Commercial Finance. ‘We are benefiting from the present contraction,’ he argues. ‘Lots of rivals have pulled out and we have been tightening our lending terms since the first half of last year.

‘There has been a sea change and the boot is now on the lender’s foot,’ he enthuses. Private & Commercial, which finances vehicles, plant and equipment for smaller companies, and cars for private individuals, lifted pre-tax profits from £389,000 to £934,200 last year, and analysts are predicting £1.1 million this time, as Nelson’s team boosts the company’s lending margins, helped by its online proposal system.

He sees these good times lasting for another two years. ‘We are sticking to our knitting,’ says Nelson, recalling how Private & Commercial took a bath and lost millions in 2004 and 2005 after two ‘adventures’ into car supermarkets and sub-prime credit insurance. ‘We learnt a valuable lesson at just the right point in history,’ he reflects. One feature of present distress elsewhere in the market is other companies’ loan books coming up for sale.

‘They are still asking too much, and we expect a decent discount,’ comments Nelson. ‘But I’m sure they’ll come to that,’ he adds with relish.