Provident Financial profit rises on surge in customer base

Feb 24 (Reuters) - British sub-prime lender Provident Financial Plc reported a 19.5 percent rise in adjusted pretax profit for the full year boosted by strong growth in customer base.

The provider of credit cards to non-standard consumers in the UK and home credit in the UK and Ireland (Other OTC: IRLD - news) said it made a strong start in the first two months of 2015.

Adjusted pretax profit for the year ended Dec (Shanghai: 600875.SS - news) . 31 rose to 234.4 million pounds from 196.1 million pounds a year earlier.

Provident Financial (Other OTC: FPLPY - news) 's operations consist of Vanquis Bank, its consumer credit division and the recently acquired Moneybarn, a provider of vehicle loans in the UK.

Provident provides credit to non-standard consumers, who otherwise struggle to get credit cards or loans from mainstream lenders. (Reporting by Aashika Jain in Bengaluru; Editing by Gopakumar Warrier)