VTL finance arm's fortunes grow with new markets

Strong growth at listed vending machine business VTL Group's subsidiary Nathans Finance is expected to continue as new markets are developed, the company says.

Net profit at Nathans for the year ending June 30 was up 47.3 per cent at $4.97 million, with an increase in assets from $137 million to $172.2 million.

Nathans was originally set up to provide finance to VTL franchise owners but VTL chairman Gary Stevens said the company wanted to expand into the wider small business market.

"By far the greatest proportion [of business] is VTL-related but we are moving away from that as we can," he said.

"We see Nathans as a good profit generator for VTL and we intend to continue to develop that book."

Nathans would develop finance operations in the United States and Australia to move the lending book away from being New Zealand based and match it against borrowing in those regions.

Nathans chairman Roger Moses said that Banco Popular North America had agreed to refinance existing [Nathans] loans and to lend to qualifying new franchisees on terms aligned with the US small business market.

This would benefit existing franchisees in that their loan costs would be reduced and it would free up money for Nathans to on-lend to new franchisees or the wider market.

"This new arrangement will allow Nathans Finance to fulfil the objective of broadening it's lending book outside VTL-related activities," Moses said.

"In addition the company is keen to look at buying existing books of loans."