Instant Finance triples profit on debenture exit, swipes at guarantee

The lender reported a profit of $3.3 million in the year ended March 31, triple the $1.1 million profit a year earlier, as it rejigged its business and closed down its deposit book.

Instant Finance paid off the remaining $11.1 million of secured debentures by August last year, with chief executive Richard de Lautour saying "it was in the best interests of both investors and the company that all remaining debenture holders were repaid early."

"As funding conditions and investor confidence in the industry continued to decline and the Treasury guarantees further distorted the debenture market in late 2008, it was no longer appropriate to be the company's or our investors' long term future on debenture funding," he said.

Through the 2008 financial year Instant Finance paid off some $23.7 million of debentures.