BERN: Mortgage provider and loan servicing group Pepper Ireland recorded a 28 per cent rise in its revenues last year but its profit declined largely due to increased costs from a near doubling of staff numbers.
Latest accounts for Pepper Finance Corporation (Ireland) DAC show that its revenue rose by 28 per cent to €37.8 million in the year to the end of December 2015, after securing a number of new loan servicing mandates. This included being appointed to provide servicing on a portion of a €540 million loan book acquired from Danske Bank, and to provide similar services on a €1.4 billion loan book acquired from Lloyds Bank.
The company made an after-tax profit of €6.3 million, which was down from just under €6.6 million in 2014. This reduction was due to a sharp rise in administrative expenses, which increased by 40 per cent to €35 million.
Included in this figure was €21 million paid in wages and salaries, more than double the €9.9 million incurred in 2014. Employee numbers rose to an average of 308 in 2015 compared with 160 in in the previous year.
