Highlights include:
- Profit before tax increased by 9.1% to £36.1 million (2004 H1: £33.1 million)
- Operating profit (excluding goodwill)* increased by 11.5% to £33.9 million (2004 H1 : £30.4 million)
- Earnings per share increased by 11.2% to 24.9p (2004 H1: 22.4p)
- Interim dividend increased by 33.3% to 5.2p (2004 H1 : 3.9p)
- Buy-to-let assets increased by 24.8% to £4,398.6 million (2004 H1: £3,524.6 million)
- Share repurchase programme of up to £20 million announced
Commenting on the results, Jonathan Perry, Chairman of Paragon, said: "We are pleased to report strong growth in earnings for a half year where markets have been disrupted by the introduction of mortgage and insurance regulation and when housing market activity has been soft. Our buy-to-let assets have shown a significant increase with lower volumes offset by lower redemptions.
"Buy-to-let application flows have recovered well since February, a trend which has continued into the second half of the year, leading to strong growth in the pipeline of business awaiting completion. This bodes well for buy-to-let volumes in the second half of the year.
"The strength of the company's financial resources and the continued growth in profits have justified both an acceleration in the rate of dividend increase and the announcement of a share buy back programme to optimise the use of the company’s capital."
