Lockdown impact on consumer confidence sees revenue dip 24% for lender

Birstall-based lender, Morses Club, has seen its revenues drop to £50.2m (H1 FY20: £66.3m), a 24.3% fall, in its interim results for the 26 weeks ended 29 August 2020. 

The firm’s chief executive, Paul Smith highlighted that the impact of lockdowns on consumer confidence was making market conditions more challenging.

The business also reported adjusted pre-tax profits of £2.3m (H1 FY20: £9.6m).

Total credit issued to all customers was £60.2m (H1 FY20: £91.0m), a drop of 33.8%.

Despite the pandemic, no staff have been furloughed and no Government debt or other support packages have been applied for.

The company says remote lending to its new Home Collected Credit (HCC) customers launched in July 2020, adding it had received a very positive customer response to its digital HCC offering.

Morses Club attributes the falls in both revenue and total credit issued to the challenges of lending to new and existing HCC customers and lower customer demand during lockdown.

Smith said: “The way in which Morses Club has responded to the unprecedented challenges posed by Covid-19 is something that I am extremely proud of.

“The speed of progress we have made across the Group in the period is testament to our investment in technology over a number of years and Morses Club is well-placed to become a more complete financial services provider in the growing and fragmented non-standard credit sector.

“Whilst we are pleased with the undoubted resilience shown by the business during H1, we are fully cognisant of the impact on consumer confidence due to the ongoing lockdowns across the UK, which directly affects the communities we serve.

“We accept that market conditions remain challenging but are confident our approach will continue to deliver improvements.”

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