The business plans of mercantile agency Credit Corp are working out better than expected. The firm said yesterday that net profit for the 10 months to April 2011 was A$17.9 million, up 58 per cent on the corresponding period for 2010.In February, Credit Corp said it projected a full-year profit of $19 million to $21 million, and if the monthly run-rate is any guide it will beat the top end of this range.On an earnings-per-share basis, the firm's full-year profit is even further ahead of the projected EPS of 41 cents to 46 cents for the full year.The firm said that another measure of profit, "adjusted EBITDA", was $106.9 million for the 10-month period compared with a projection of $116 million to $120 million for the full year.Improving productivity - the result of staff working the phones and chasing borrowers behind in their loan repayments - seems to be the main driver behind the firm's higher profit. In an ASX announcement yesterday, Credit Corp said collections' efficiency had increased by three per cent over the last year.In addition, a new call centre in Manila servicing clients in Australia and New Zealand opened in November 2010, and was "profitable in its fifth month, which is well ahead of plan", the company said.More than 10 per cent of staff will soon be based in the Philippines, where labour costs are lower than in Australia.One adverse trend is the rising cost of the delinquent debtor ledgers that Credit Corp buys from banks and utilities. This means the firm may curtail purchases of ledgers in 2012.