UK's Provident Financial boosted by growth at Vanquis

* 2013 pretax profit 196 mln stg, up 9.9 percent

* Vanquis Bank profit rises by 60 percent

* Vanquis helps some customers rebuild credit ratings

By Freya Berry

LONDON, Feb 24 (Reuters) - British sub-prime lender Provident Financial (Other OTC: FPLPY - news) boosted its 2013 pretax profit by 9.9 percent to 196 million pounds ($326 million), helped by strong growth from Vanquis Bank, a credit card for borrowers turned down by mainstream banks.

Vanquis, which lends small amounts and helps some customers rebuild their credit ratings, saw its customer base grow by more than a fifth, with pretax profit jumping almost 60 percent to 113.7 million pounds.

Provident said on Tuesday that it was paying a final dividend of 54 pence per share, up 11.6 percent, making a total dividend for 2013 of 85 pence, up 10 percent and in line with expectations. The company said it had made a strong start to the first two months of 2014.

However the company, which provides credit to the approximately 10 million people in Britain likely to be refused loans by mainstream lenders, said that its Consumer Credit Division (CCD) was hit by a reduction in customer numbers.

Provident said that it had laid off 520 workers as part of a drive to cut costs. Pretax profit in the division fell 16.6 percent to 102.5 million pounds.

Chief Executive Peter Crook told Reuters that the company was not planning any further layoffs.