(Reuters) -British lender Close Brothers said on Wednesday it would streamline its premium finance division to focus on business clients over individuals due to rising costs and operational complexity.
Its shares fell 7.6% by 0835 GMT and were among the biggest losers on the FTSE mid-cap index.
Close Brothers will withdraw the service, which allows insurance premiums to be paid in instalments rather than upfront, to individual customers from certain broker relationships over the next 6 to 12 months.
The company added that the move is expected to save about 20 million pounds ($27.2 million) per year by 2030, and that its premium finance loan book is likely to drop by about 30% in the next three years.
“Rising costs to serve customers, broker consolidation and increasing operational complexity have impacted the long-term attractiveness of personal lines relative to other parts of our portfolio,” it said.
($1 = 0.7362 pounds)
(Reporting by Shashwat Awasthi in Bengaluru; Editing by Rashmi Aich and Vijay Kishore)
