Cabot Credit Management Announces Financial Results for the Year Ending 31 December 2014

Cabot Credit Management, a market leading acquirer and manager of consumer debt, today announced the financial results for the year ending 31 December 2014.

“Another strong quarter completes our successful year, with portfolio purchases up by 83% compared with the year ending 31 December 2013, exceeding our full year target, and with a significant proportion of purchases coming from our Irish operation” said Ken Stannard, Chief Executive Officer. “We have continued to focus on keeping the customer journey at the heart of our operation which we believe puts us in a strong position as we go through the FCA application process.”

“During 2014 we achieved the highest ranking in OC&C’s prestigious annual Credit Management and Debt Collection index, ahead of more than 60 international debt collection and recovery companies.”

"The integration of Marlin and Cabot has gone extremely well, and we are currently in the process of completing the transition to a single collections platform for the combined debt purchase operation.”

“We also had two key new appointments, Ryan Stanley, as our new Operations Director and latterly Charlotte Taggart joined as our General Counsel and has subsequently become a board member of the Credit Services Association (CSA), the UK trade association for our industry.”

Highlights

Sustained growth for Cabot Credit Management (CCM)

• 120-month Estimated Remaining Collections (ERC) increased 52% to over £1.6 billion compared to the same period in 2013
• Debt purchase collections increased 49% to £247 million compared to the year ending 31 December 2013
• Adjusted EBITDA increased 36% to £173 million compared to the year ending 31 December 2013

Substantial increase in portfolio purchases and robust funding

• Portfolio purchases increased 83% to £227 million compared to the same period in 2013

Business strategy and operations

• Transition all debt purchase operations to the same collections platform
• Building on our Customer Satisfaction Index results where Cabot outperformed the UK banking and building society index and all high street banks
• Taking advantage of adjacent market opportunities, including Ireland
• Building on strong paying book performance by optimising customer solutions and journey

Regulatory update

• FCA authorisation is on track for 2015, and we have submitted our application for authorisation.
• In 2014 CCM joined the Lending Standards Board (LSB) as an Associate member, raising standards in the industry

Key financial results

Teleconference

At 15:00 hours (GMT) on 26 March 2015, Cabot Credit Management will hold an audio conference presentation on the company’s performance. For further details, please visit the Cabot investor website at www.cabotcm.com/investors.

About Cabot Credit Management

Cabot Credit Management is a market leader in debt purchasing, contingency collections, and customer tracing, and is divided into three specialty businesses: Cabot Financial, Cabot Financial Ireland, and Apex Credit Management.
The combined Cabot Credit Management group has purchased assets totalling £11.9 billion, manages over £2 billion of assets on behalf of clients, collects over £30 million per month on portfolios it either owns or services on behalf of clients, and has delivered consistently strong financial performance, having grown its business in each of the last 16 years without exception.

The group, which has purchased over 4 million customer accounts, employs approximately 950 people with offices in Kings Hill, Stratford-upon-Avon, Dublin, Worthing and London. The company prides itself on its ethical values, customer service and high standards. It has an impressive list of accolades including:

• Investors in People Gold and Champion awards
• Sunday Times Top 100 Best Companies To Work For – 2013
• Sunday Times Profit Track 100 – 2013

The controlling shareholder of Cabot Credit Management is Encore Capital Group, an international speciality finance company providing debt recovery solutions, with the remaining equity being held by a fund advised by J.C. Flowers & Co. in addition to company management.