Listed home credit firm delivers ‘strong performance’ in year of acquisitions
An AIM-listed West Yorkshire credit provider has says trading for the last financial year has “been strong and is in line with the Board’s expectations.”
In a trading update for the year ending 23 February 2019, Batley-headquartered Morses Club revealed that total credit issued increased by 2.4% to £178.5m compared with the prior year.
The UK’s second largest home collected credit lender also said that its gross loan book grew by over 7%, comprising a 5% increase in the core book and a 2% rise as a result of the acquisitions of the Eccles Savings & Loans Limited and Hays Credit.
In addition, the total customer numbers grew by 2.6% from 229,000 to 235,000 as of 23 February 2019.
On 26 February, Morses Club announced the acquisition of CURO Transatlantic limited, an online lending business.
The company said the acquisition represents a “major milestone” in its product diversification strategy, as it “develops digital products to meet the changing needs of our customers and broaden our customer base.”
Paul Smith, CEO of Morses Club, said: “We are delighted by the strong performance we have delivered this year, achieving consistent growth both organically and through acquisitions. The significant consolidation we are seeing across the HCC sector is continuing and the fragmented marketplace has enabled us to make high quality acquisitions, expanding our regional presence.
“The quality of our service and products, which are designed around the needs of our customers, remains paramount as we develop our digital platform and increase our online offering in line with our product diversification strategy. We are particularly excited about the acquisition of the CURO TA assets and the contribution they will make to our digital offering.
“We are confident in our outlook for the coming year, which we expect to be reflected in an increased FY2019 dividend payment for shareholders. We continue to pursue opportunities for growth in both our core HCC market and across the wider non-standard finance sector.”
