BOURNEMOUTH’S subprime lender Amigo has delayed the release of its annual results after a letter from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).

Amigo said the regulator had been in touch over the company’s efforts to agree a scheme that would cap compensation to people who had complained about mis-selling.

Last month, Amigo warned that insolvency was "still an option" after being given a new three-month lifeline from its own lender.

Amigo Loans warns insolvency is "still an option" after lifeline from lender

The company said yesterday's letter from the FCA had “raised some issues” which could affect “forward looking statements” in the business’s annual report. The report was due to be published today with its results for the year to March 31, 2021.

The company said: “The letter raised some issues which could impact on forward looking statements contained within the annual report covering the results for the year ended March 31 2021. As a consequence, the company announces that the release of the annual results for the year ended March 31 2021 will now not take place, as planned, on July 29 2021.”

Earlier this year, Amigo failed in a bid to win High Court approval for a scheme of arrangement that would limit compensation in mis-selling cases. The FCA had argued that the scheme unfairly put shareholders’ interests ahead of complainants.

Amigo said: “The FCA has also confirmed that it would not expect to authorise a return to lending by Amigo until after the sanctioning of a new scheme, by the High Court, including on the grounds that Amigo would need to demonstrate its financial viability and ability to meet its regulatory obligations, including, for example, the appropriate resources threshold condition, in order to return to lending.

“We will update the market with a new date for the publication of the annual results as soon as possible.”

Amigo Loans: How Bournemouth's subprime lender ran into trouble 

It said the delay in publishing its results constituted a “technical breach” of one of its loan covenants. The breach can be remedied by publishing the results within a 30-day grace period.

Amigo chief executive Gary Jennison said: "As a new board and management team we remain focused on finding a solution to the issues caused by historical lending. Our priority is to successfully present a revised Scheme of Arrangement but working through this is clearly very complex which has impacted the timing of our results.

“We continue to believe this is the best route forward for all our stakeholders, and specifically for those customers who have a valid claim for redress, and we are engaging constructively with the FCA taking on board their views and the comments made by the court."