European ARM Giant Intrum Justitia Tallies High-Growth 2014 in Annual Report

Intrum Justitia, one of the largest debt buyers and collectors in Europe, reported strong results for the full year 2014 marked by overall company growth, both organic and through acquisitions.

The Stockholm, Sweden-based Intrum reported net earnings of $126.7 million in 2014, a 27 percent increase from 2013. Total group revenues rose 13.5 percent to $630.7 million.

Intrum noted that the increase in revenues represented organic growth of about six percent and growth from acquisitions of three percent. The remainder was due to portfolio revaluations and currency exchange effects.

The company announced two acquisitions in 2014. In October, Intrum said it was buying Danish telecom debt collection agency Advis A/S for $24.6 million. Earlier in the year, Intrum acquired Czech debt buyer Profidebt s.r.o. for $42 million.

Lars Wollung, Intrum’s President and CEO, said that two of the company’s three operational regions in Europe are driving growth. “It is mainly the Central Europe and Western Europe regions that are contributing to growth and the improvement in earnings,” said Wollung. “We are retaining a high level of profitability in Northern Europe, but the performance remains relatively unchanged compared with the year-earlier period.”

Intrum operates in more than 20 European countries and breaks down its operational regions, with business conducted on behalf of clients in and collecting from debtors in:

• Northern Europe – Denmark, Estonia, Finland, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Russia, and Sweden.
• Central Europe – Austria, the Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Slovakia, and Switzerland.
• Western Europe – Belgium, France, Ireland, Italy, Portugal, Spain, and the United Kingdom.

The average number of Intrum employees for all of 2014 was 3,801, up 7.6 percent from 2013.

Intrum said that it spent $237 million on debt portfolio purchases in 2014, down about 21 percent from the previous year.

Intrum also separately announced Thursday that Alessandro Pappalardo will be appointed Director of Purchased Debt. Alessandro has been employed at Intrum Justitia since 2013, currently holding the position as Deputy Director of Purchased Debt. He has about 10 years of experience investing in European loan portfolios at Goldman Sachs. Alessandro is an Italian native with a degree in Economics from the Bocconi University.

Alessandro Pappalardo will assume his new position on February 1, 2015, succeeding Lars Wollung, Intrum’s CEO and President, who has held the role as Acting Director of Purchased Debt since April 2014.