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Zaim Credit Systems PLC growing fast after making changes forced on it by the


The transition from an offline-centred business to an online-centred model mid-way through 2020 resulted in significantly lower fixed costs and higher scalability of the business

PLC () said it achieved profitability in the second half of 2020 after initially being knocked off course by the Coronavirus pandemic.

The Russian fintech group said its adjusted loss before interest and tax for the whole of 2020 was £125,000, versus a loss of £177,000 the year before, with the second half of the year seeing a profit of £808,000, which almost wiped out the loss of £933,000 in the first half of the year.

The loss before tax narrowed to £614,519 from £891,589 in 2019.

Interest income rose to £4.86mln in 2020 from £3.94mln the year before. Total loans issued increased by 15% to £10.4mln (2019: £9.0mln) and by 52% to £6.3mln in the second half of the year from £4.1mln in the first half.

Zaim said the growth seen in the second half of the year is expected to continue, with the group now focused more on its online operations.

Growth in loans issued was driven by the sharp increase in the online business, which grew 16-fold from £0.3mln in 2019 to £5mln in 2020, with £4.3mln of those online loans coming in the second half of the year.

In December 2020, the online business represented 82% of total loans issued compared to 13% in March 2020 at the outset of COVID-19 and just 9% in December 2019.

The lender said it had set aside a provision of £1.79mln (2019: £231,681) to cover potential bad debts.

“During the quarantine period in the Q2 2020 [second quarter of 2020], the group rapidly accelerated the shift in its business model to remote lending via the Internet, which resulted in a significant increase in access to our products without the need to visit our stores and at the same time decreasing the fixed costs base,” said Zaim’s chief executive, Siro Cicconi.

“The group proceeded to optimise the physical store business, including the closure of loss-making outlets and moved forward focussing the majority of the group’s resource towards the online business. This was executed well and I am pleased with the results demonstrated by the profitability in the second half of 2020.

“The group experienced exceptional growth in lending volumes over the second half of 2020 and continues to see a large opportunity for our business to continue its current trajectory,” he added.

Shares in Zaim were up 9.4% at 4.2p in early deals.



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