UK lender Cattles H1 profit up 16.8 percent

LONDON, Aug 28 (Reuters) - British subprime lender Cattles (CTT.L) reported a 16.8 percent increase in its half-year profit, but said more customers were experiencing repayment difficulties in the face of weakening economic growth.

Cattles said its pretax profit for the six months to June 30 was 70.2 million pounds ($129 million), up from 60.1 million pounds in the same period last year.

The group, which lends to consumers who cannot get credit from mainstream banks, added that customer accounts with a proportion in arrears rose to 31.4 percent of the total, up from 29.2 percent at the end of 2007.

Cattles also said finance director James Corr is to step down in February next year.

(Reporting by Myles Neligan; Editing by Richard Hubbard)