Highlights include
* Acquisition of Britannic Money for £18.8m, a discount to net assets
* Britannic Money now trading profitably
* Strong organic growth and acquisition increase net loan assets to £5.3bn (2002: £2.5bn)
* Pre-tax profit from ongoing operations, which excludes the effect of the acquisition, up 15.4% to £53.1m (2002: £46.0m)
* Pre-tax profit, which includes the effect of the acquisition, up 12.8% to £51.9m (2002: £46.0m)
* Cost to income ratio reduced to 35.3% (2002: 37.0%)
* Dividend up 23.5% to 6.3p (2002: 5.1p)
* Current trading strong; prospects for the year attractive
Commenting on the results, Jonathan Perry, Chairman of Paragon, said:
"The year ended 30 September 2003 was a period of significant development for the Group, with the strong organic growth of our core business divisions being augmented by the acquisition of Britannic Money. The acquisition is financially attractive and strategically significant and both increases our asset base and provides us with new sources of distribution to complement our prominent position in the professional buy to let sector. The combined business provides a strong base for further development in a sector which has excellent long-term growth prospects."
