Doorstep lender IPF to top 2018 profit estimates by 10 percent

(Reuters) - Small loans provider International Personal Finance Plc (IPF) (IPF.L) should top analysts' estimates for 2018 pretax profit by 10 percent, the company said on Friday, citing stronger than expected collections in its European home credit businesses.

IPF, which provides consumer finance and small personal loans through a network of agents and digital channels, said analysts had forecast pre-tax profit for the year at 99.4 million pounds.

IPF, which has been dealing with tougher regulatory oversight in consumer lending, in March introduced more competitive rates for its home credit products in Europe through longer-term lending.

It said trading in the first six months of the year had been in line with its plans, with its Mexican home credit and digital businesses growing, while it saw a modest contraction in European home credit from last year.

The company said its expectations for financial performance in 2019 were broadly in line with market consensus.

(Reporting by Noor Zainab Hussain and Justin George Varghese in Bengaluru; Editing by Amrutha Gayathri and Patrick Graham)