Revenues up at home credit provider

Birstall-based lender, Morses Club, says its revenue increased by 14.3% to £133.7m (FY19: £117m) in its preliminary results for the 53 weeks ended 29 February 2020.

The listed business also reports a statutory pre-tax profit of £11.5m (FY19: £20.2m).

Total credit issued to Home Collected Credit (HCC) customers was 2.2% lower at £174.2m (FY19: £178.1m). And total credit issued to all customers was £190.3m.

Group customer numbers increased by 9% to 255,000 (FY19: 234,000), and the company also highlights the development and launch of its fully online Customer Portal, with over 78,000 customers by the end of FY20.

No staff have been furloughed and no Government debt or other support packages accepted.

Paul Smith, chief executive officer of Morses Club, responded: “FY20 was a year of significant regulatory and operational change for Morses Club, with the company making considerable progress in advancing its strategy, particularly in the development of the Digital division.

“HCC remained stable during the year while maintaining strong customer satisfaction levels of 97%.

“Since the impact of Covid-19 on our markets, I have been impressed by the resilience and adaptability of the Group during a period of unprecedented change.

“The way in which we were able to quickly implement wide-ranging operational changes and leverage our platform to continue to lend to customers is testament to the dedication of our employees and agents, and the customer-centric culture we strive for at Morses Club.

“With the progress made last year, our strategy remains to focus on our customers, leverage and progress our digital capabilities and drive market share growth within the wider non-standard finance market.

“Morses Club is financially robust, and I look forward to further progress being made across the Group during the rest of the year.

“Morses Club is well placed for a post Covid-19 recovery in consumer borrowing.”