In a statement, IPF, said that, since delivering its trading update in April, the group’s operational performance had continued to be positive.

The statement added: “Credit issued has been broadly in-line with our internal expectations despite tighter Covid-19 related restrictions in a number of our markets.

“As we highlighted in the Q1 trading update, our business plan assumed a weakening in collections performance due to subsequent waves of the pandemic in the first half of 2021. In contrast, our actual collections performance has continued to be very strong resulting in a faster-than-anticipated improvement in impairment as a percentage of revenue.

“While we remain cautious given the dynamic Covid-19 environment, the faster-than-anticipated improvement in impairment in April and May is expected to result in a further improvement in the full-year impairment charge and a significantly stronger rebound in profitability in 2021 than was expected at the time of our Q1 trading update.”