Individual voluntary arrangement (IVA) provider Accuma is bullish on future demand for the debt resolution instrument.

In today's full-year results, the company said rising levels of consumer debt would see IVAs and debt management become increasingly 'attractive' to borrowers and creditors. Management is bullish despite the toughening line taken by banks against IVAs, who complain they don't get sufficient payback from the agreements.

In line with other players, Accuma reported a hit on its IVA business. The group said the average fee from IVAs had been slashed by £1,000, or 37%. Accuma revealed pre-tax profits had halved to £888,538 in the year to July 31 - a period in which which the group issued two profit warnings and saw shares lose 90% of their value.

But the market would seem to share the company's new optimism for the future. Shares were up 1.5p, or 5%, in early trading to the current 31.5p.