UK's International Personal plans to enter India

LONDON: International Personal Finance, the UK provider of unsecured loans in six overseas countries, said first-half profit rose 2.4 per cent and plans to enter India by early 2009.

Net income rose as the Yorkshire, England-based company added customers and set aside less money for doubtful loans, International Personal Finance said on Tuesday.

The company's shares began trading on the London Stock Exchange in July after splitting off from Provident Financial, the UK lender to low-income households. The company has 1.9 million customers in markets including Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovakia and Mexico.

"IPF has a robust business model with a strong balance sheet and secure sources of medium-term funding for our growth plans," said Chairman Christopher Rodrigues in the statement. "We expect further progress in the second half".

The company, which plans to expand in central Europe, would enter the Russian market in the first quarter of 2008 and Ukraine and India by early 2009, said Rodrigues.