Provident Financial : Clarification regarding future performance targets

The Provident Board refers to its 'Trading Statement and Vision for the Future' release on 03 May 2019 and, in particular, the references to future performance targets contained within the section 'What this means for shareholders?' The Provident Board wishes to clarify as follows:

'We are confident that, through our clear strategy and our complementary, synergistic and industry-leading businesses, we will deliver an attractive investment for shareholders. As we transition to a model in which Vanquis Bank is the greatest driver of growth, it is appropriate that our return metrics are fully reflective of this. Accordingly, our target is to deliver a return on assets¹ of approximately 10% for the Group as a whole which is consistent with a target return on equity² of between 20% - 25%, by 2021 and beyond. We will also target sustainable receivables growth of between 5% and 10% per annum which we expect to achieve over the medium term, maintaining dividend cover of at least 1.4 times and a sensible buffer over the total capital requirement as prescribed by the PRA. '

For the avoidance of doubt, the performance targets stated above are not intended to forecast a particular level of profit and, as a consequence, it is not possible to derive a profit figure for any future period.

Notes

¹ Return on assets is calculated as profit before interest, amortisation of intangible assets and exceptional items after tax as a percentage of average receivables (calculation set out on page 66 of the 2018 Annual Report and Financial Statements).

² Return on equity is calculated as profit after tax, prior to the amortisation of acquisition intangibles and exceptional items, divided by average equity. Average equity is calculated after deducting the pension asset net of deferred tax and the fair value of derivative financial instruments (calculation set out on page 67 of the 2018 Annual Report and Financial Statements). Pro forma return on equity for 2018, assuming the rights issue net proceeds of £300m were received on 1 January 2018, was 18.7%.

Enquiries:

Media

Provident, Tel: [phone]
Patrick Snowball, Chairman
Malcolm Le May, Chief Executive Officer
Gary Thompson / Vicki Turner, Investor Relations, Tel: [phone]
Richard King, Media, Tel: [phone]

Barclays (Joint Lead Financial Adviser and Corporate Broker to Provident)
Richard Taylor, Tel: [phone]
Kunal Gandhi
Francesco Ceccato
Derek Shakespeare

J.P. Morgan Cazenove (Joint Lead Financial Adviser and Corporate Broker to Provident)
Ed Byers, Tel: [phone]
Jeremy Capstick
Claire Brooksby
James Robinson

Jefferies (Financial Adviser to Provident)
Graham Davidson, Tel: [phone]
Philip Noblet
Barry O'Brien

Brunswick (PR Adviser to Provident)
Nick Cosgrove, Tel: [phone]
Charles Pretzlik
Simone Selzer

Further Information

Barclays Bank PLC, acting through its Investment Bank ('Barclays'), which is authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority (the 'PRA') and regulated in the United Kingdom by the Financial Conduct Authority (the 'FCA') and the PRA, is acting exclusively as corporate broker and financial adviser for Provident and no one else and will not be responsible to anyone other than Provident for providing the protections afforded to clients of Barclays nor for providing advice in relation to any matter referred to in this announcement.

J.P. Morgan Securities plc, which conducts its UK investment banking business as J.P. Morgan Cazenove, is authorised by the PRA and regulated by the FCA and the PRA in the United Kingdom. J.P. Morgan Cazenove is acting exclusively as corporate broker and financial adviser to Provident and no one else in connection with the matters set out in this announcement and will not regard any other person as its client in relation to the matters set out in this announcement and will not be responsible to anyone other than Provident for providing the protections afforded to clients of J.P. Morgan Cazenove or its affiliates, or for providing advice in relation to the contents of this announcement or any other matter referred to herein.

Jefferies International Limited ('Jefferies'), which is authorised and regulated in the United Kingdom by the FCA, is acting for Provident and no one else in connection with the matters set out in this announcement. In connection with such matters, Jefferies will not regard any other person as their client, and will not be responsible to anyone other than Provident for providing the protections afforded to clients of Jefferies or for providing advice in relation to the contents of this announcement or any other matter referred to herein. Neither Jefferies nor any of its subsidiaries, affiliates or branches owes or accepts any duty, liability or responsibility whatsoever (whether direct, indirect, consequential, whether in contract, in tort, under statute or otherwise) to any person who is not a client of Jefferies in connection with this announcement, any statement contained herein or otherwise.

Forward looking statements

This announcement may contain certain 'forward looking statements' regarding the financial position, business strategy or plans for future operations of Provident. All statements other than statements of historical fact included in this document may be forward looking statements. Forward looking statements also often use words such as 'believe', 'expect', 'estimate', 'intend', 'anticipate' and words of a similar meaning. By their nature, forward looking statements involve risk and uncertainty that could cause actual results to differ from those suggested by them. Much of the risk and uncertainty relates to factors that are beyond Provident's ability to control or estimate precisely, such as future market conditions and the behaviours of other market participants, and therefore undue reliance should not be placed on such statements which speak only as at the date of this document. Provident does not assume any obligation to, and does not intend to, revise or update these forward looking statements, except as required pursuant to applicable law or regulation.

Important Notices

A copy of this announcement will be made available, subject to certain restrictions relating to persons resident in restricted jurisdictions, on the Provident website at www.providentfinancial.com by no later than 12 noon (London time) on the business day following this announcement. For the avoidance of doubt, the content of this website is not incorporated by reference into, and does not form part of, this announcement.

This communication is not intended to and does not constitute an offer to buy or the solicitation of an offer to subscribe for or sell or an invitation to purchase or subscribe for any securities or the solicitation of any vote in any jurisdiction. The release, publication or distribution of this communication in whole or in part, directly or indirectly, in, into or from certain jurisdictions may be restricted by law and therefore persons in such jurisdictions should inform themselves about and observe such restrictions.

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