Invesco ditches entire stake in Provident Financial

Invesco Asset Management has placed 30.4m shares of doorstep lender Provident Financial - its entire stake - via an accelerated bookbuild to institutional investors, with Jefferies the bookrunner.

According to traders, the shares, which represent a 12% stake in the company, were placed at 187p each.

Last week, Provident said new business volumes fell 20% in the four months to April 30 as it tightened lending rules in response to the Covid-19 pandemic.

The company, which provides loans for people refused credit by mainstream banks, said there had been a slight recovery in May. Provident said it was in a strong liquidity position, with regulatory capital of £710m equating to a common equity tier 1 ratio of 33.4%.

At 0820 BST, the shares were down 0.5% at 198p.