Morses Club hails strong trading in first half

(Sharecast News) - Home collected credit lender Morses Club said on Thursday that it performed "strongly" in the 26 weeks to 25 August, in line with the board's expectations.Total credit issued in the period rose 4.3% to £85.7m compared to the same period last year, while cash collections were up 11.9% and total customer numbers remained largely stable at 229,000. The gross loan book was 6.1% higher and Morses said the proportion of loans attributable to the highest tier of customers remains steady. This reflects "the continued focus on the quality of the loan book due to the company's prudent credit policy and the success of the investment in territory builds in the prior financial year".As previously reported, the group took on a significantly higher number of territory builds in FY 2018 as a result of "a unique market opportunity which arose at that time". This refers to the fact that Morses capitalised on the failed revamp by Provident Financial by taking on agents. These new agents and managers have been successfully integrated into the business and territory builds are now operating at a more normalised level in the period, the company said.Demand for the Morses Club Card, the cashless lending product, has continued to be strong, with in more than 27,000 customers holding over £13.1m of loan balances on cards versus 11,000 customers and £4.6m of loan balances in the same period a year ago.Chief executive officer Paul Smith said: "We are pleased with our first half performance as we have delivered high quality growth in our core HCC loan book, whilst remaining focused on good customer outcomes. We have been working hard on implementing best-in-class operational controls and streamlining our lending process, whilst ensuring we always put our customers first."We are encouraged by the continued demand for the Morses Club Card, which is fundamental to our cashless strategy and offers our customers the flexibility they have asked for. We are confident in our outlook for the rest of the current year and remain positive on opportunities in both the HCC and wider non-standard finance markets."At 0947 BST, the shares were down 9% to 136.45p.