(Alliance News) - Morses Club PLC on Friday reported a sharp drop in annual profit but believes it is well placed to capitalise on an expected rise in consumer lending.
In the 53 weeks to February 29, the doorstep lender recorded pretax profit of GBP11.5 million, down sharply from GBP20.2 million, or 43%, in the 52 weeks to February 23 the year before.
Revenue, however, improved 14% year on year to GBP133.7 million from GBP117.0 million.
Morses ended the period with a net loan book of GBP72.8 million compared to GBP73.0 million the year before. Total credit issued rose 6.6% to GBP190.3 million from GBP178.5 million.
The firm proposed a final dividend of 1.0 pence, compared to the 5.2p distribution paid out the year before, taking its total dividend to 3.6p down from 7.8p the year before.
"Financial 2020 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," Chief Executive Paul Smith said.
He continued: "Home Collected Credit remained stable during the year while maintaining strong customer satisfaction levels of 97%. The launch of our online customer portal exemplified the strong progress made in terms of our customer service and digitalisation, with over 78,000 customers registered on the platform by year end, and over 117,000 customers now registered to date."
Smith said the company is "financially robust", and believes Morses is well placed for a post Covid-19 recovery in consumer borrowing. The company has, however, withdrawn its financial guidance for financial 2021.
Shares in Morses Club were 4.4% lower in London on Friday at 43.00 pence each.
By Paul McGowan; paulmcgowan@alliancenews.com
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