Financier raises 'boom' doubts

By Deborah Hill Cone

Friday 30th August 2002

Brent King

The Pacific Retail Finance model is "starting to get flawed," Dorchester Group's Brent King suggests.

The problem is the booming retail finance firm is now offering personal loans, which Mr King predicted would reduce individual borrowers' ability to buy further big-ticket items from Pacific Retail Group.

"It prevents people from buying the next lot of goods ... because of overborrowing."

PRF, originally the finance book of listed Pacific Retail Group, has been a success story under chief executive Peter Halkett, expanding beyond offering hire purchase to appliance buyers and raising $34 million in eight months to the end of March.

It now offers credit to consumers buying goods at its own retail chains as well as others including Freedom Furniture, Furniture City and Pack 'n' Pedal.

The area of retail finance was seen as an area neglected by the major banks but offering good margins, although PRF's profitability has now attracted the interest of other players.

Advantage Group chairman Evan Christian has joined forces with former PRF manager Kelly Wright to investigate opportunities in the finance sector.

Dorchester provides finance for office products company Ricoh as well as other office equipment providers but was not specifically planning to become a provider of finance for retailers.

Nevertheless Mr King made a light-hearted hint that the company might try and tap into other retail networks.

"Briscoes has always appealed to me but I have not got around to doing anything about it," Mr King said.

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