Provident Financial staked its claim to be the leading UK lender to low-income householders after picking up business from stumbling rivals and mainstream banks abandoning the subprime market.

Pre-tax profits at the doorstep lender for 2008 rose 12 per cent year-on-year from £115.2m to £128.8m on turnover up from £669m to £751m. Peter Crook, chief executive, said it differed from its troubled competitors such as Cattles and London & Scottish, the Manchester-based bank that is in administration.