The chronic underperformance of debt collector Credit Corp Group during the 2008 financial year appears to be subsiding.Profit after tax was $5.4 million, a quarter of the year prior, but the company is beginning to recover after directors initiated a "strategic review" in February, when profit guidance was downgraded, the share price subsequently slashed, and the managing director and chairman exited the company."Basically what has happened over the last six months is we have reduced our purchasing, and used the cash flow to repay $18 million in six months, bringing our net debt down to $125 million,", said Thomas Beregi, interim chief executive officer.Comparing year on year financials on a company that just twelve months ago was valued by equity investors at more than half a billion, and now at around $40 million, is not entirely relevant, but the signs of a recovery are there.Financial year 2009 forecast is for a NPAT of $8 to $10 million, on EBITDA of $85 to $90 million, with company debt down to $120 million.The face value of debt purchased in the first half of FY08 was $59.4 million, reducing in the second half to $18.3 million. At June 2008, 40 per cent of revenue from purchased debt ledgers represented debt aged at one year or less; 35 per cent of revenue related to debt of between one and two years, while a quarter of revenue related to debt two years or more overdue.For the first three quarters of the last financial year, purchased ledgers of less than one year in age represented between 52 to 63 per cent of revenue, indicating the company is now improving collection performance by collecting older debt.Beregi says the useful life of debt is six years from the date of acquisition."We adopt a fairly long time horizon (when collecting), and we have been buying a lot of debt over the last few years and have quite a stockpile of asset.".Beregi added that much of recent cash flow has been from "working older debt".Beregi said the board will provide some certainty around the next chief executive officer at Credit Corp in September. Beregi is a candidate.In February this year, managing director Geoff Lucas quit the company as net profit was revised downwards, sending the share price plunging from around $4 to less than a dollar, with the Financial Review reporting Lucas was forced to sell over a third of his holding in Credit Corp due to margin calls.Beregi said the Board has looked closely at policies around holding leveraged positions in the company, and trading windows, and there has been some tightening up."In terms of people not allowed to have margin loans around their own stock, that is not something that has been specifically addressed. Although the amount of remuneration that management is receiving here that is share based has decreased significantly."Beregi said he does not have any margin loans in Credit Corp shares, but does have some options which are triggered when performance targets are achieved.Credit Corp shares