The highlights of the results were:
· Underlying profit of £66.7m
· Entire £10 billion portfolio match-funded to maturity
· Arrears significantly below industry peers and wider mortgage market
Commenting on the results, Nigel Terrington, Chief Executive of Paragon, said: "The past year has been a most dramatic and turbulent period, with the Group having to navigate through the effects of a growing global financial crisis and now a deteriorating economic environment.
As we enter the new financial year our objective to protect the shareholders' embedded value remains our key priority. We are well capitalised, with shareholders' funds of £621.5 million, the loan portfolio match funded to maturity, no debt maturing until 2017 and a strong cash position.
In addition, our buy-to-let arrears remain well below the industry average, reflecting the high quality of our book and the considerable effort and experience that has gone into its careful management. Given the weak economic outlook and continuing turmoil in the funding markets, it is unlikely that credit markets will recover in the near future, thereby making the timing of our return to new lending in scale uncertain.
Looking forward, our highly experienced loan servicing team will continue to manage the portfolio carefully through the economic downturn. In addition, new business lines have been developed appropriate to the environment, utilising our core skills to provide alternative sources of income and our capability to deliver meaningful portfolio acquisition opportunities has been strengthened with the joint venture agreement."
