Subprime lender axes nearly 200 jobs

PROVIDENT Financial, the subprime lender, revealed 180 jobs had been axed as it reported lower annual profits after recession-hit customers reined in their borrowing.

The group posted a 2.4 per cent fall in pre-tax profits to 125.7 million, as it said demand for credit had been "tempered by increasingly cautious behaviour" and adverse weather at the end of last year – traditionally its peak lending season.

Provident axed 95 jobs after abandoning plans for a separate direct repayment loans business, called Real Personal Finance, following a pilot last year.

Another 85 jobs were cut from its 900-strong head office workforce in Bradford.