ANZ New Zealand's equipment and vehicle finance company, UDC Finance, has reported an 11 per cent rise in annual profit after growing vehicle lending strongly along with lower provisions for bad loans. UDC Finance reported a net profit of NZ$57.1 million after revenues grew six per cent to NZ$122 million and provisions for bad debts fell 11 per cent, due largely to a three per cent fall in impaired loans.New UDC chief executive Wayne Percival, who replaced current ANZ Group chief of staff Tessa Price in August, cited 14 per cent growth in vehicle lending as a factor, along with an improvement in UDC's cost to income ratio to 26.5 per cent from 27.3 per cent a year ago. UDC is New Zealand's largest equipment and vehicle financier, aimed at small to medium businesses. The company has benefited over the last 18 months from higher business confidence and economic growth in late 2014 that was running at almost four per cent, along with falling interest rates through mid-2015.