LONDON (Alliance News) - Morses Club PLC on Thursday said its performance has been strong and in line with the expectations of its board after recent acquisitions.
The doorstep loan company said that, in the financial year to February 23, its total credit issued had increased by 2.4% to GBP178.5 million from GBP174.4 million the year before.
Moreover, Morses Club's gross loan book increased 7% year-on-year, 5% of which was due to an increase in its core book and 2% resulted from the acquisitions of the Hays Credit LLP and Eccles Savings & Loans Ltd assets.
Morses announced the acquisition of Eccles at the end of January and of Hays Credit soon thereafter on February 12. It did not disclose the value of either of these acquisitions, both of which are north of England-based home credit businesses.
Overall, Morses said its total customer numbers had reached 235,000 on February 23, 2.6% higher than its 229,000 total customers the year before.
On Tuesday this week, meaning post period-end, Morses Club announced the acquisition of the business, and certain assets of, online lender CURO Transatlantic Ltd for GBP8.5 million. Morses said the acquisition is a "major milestone" in its diversification strategy.
Morses Club Chief Executive Paul Smith said: "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 [financial year 2019] dividend payment for shareholders. We continue to pursue opportunities for growth in both our core [home collected credit] market and across the wider non-standard finance sector."
Shares in Morses were up 1.8% at 164.20 pence on Thursday.
