INTERNATIONAL PERSONAL FINANCE DELAYS PLANS TO ENTER BULGARIA

UK-based consumer loan provider International Personal Finance (IPF) has postponed its entry into Bulgaria, according to the company's first-half report.

In March, the company's chief executive John Harnett told news agency Bloomberg that Bulgaria and Ukraine were IPF's top priority markets.

Several months later, however, the company said it had no plans to set foot in new countries in 2011, but at the same time expressed interest in Turkey's lending market.

IPF is a major loan provider in countries in Central and Eastern Europe, in particular the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland and Romania, as well as in Mexico.

According to the company's first-half report, entering new markets was still part of its long-term development strategy, but no plans for expanding into new markets had been considered this year. At the same time, the company said it had enlarged its future development programme, adding Turkey, Spain, Chile and Indonesia.

"They complement the markets we examined earlier, namely Bulgaria, India and Ukraine. We expect to complete the review of new markets and outline the next new countries to enter in the first quarter of 2012," the report said.

IPF had been reviewing Bulgaria's market since mid-2010 through several consultancies.