Morses Club trading in line with expectations since AIM listing

(ShareCast News) - Credit lender Morses Club said since listing on AIM in May the company is trading in line with expectations. Total credit issued rose by 16% to £66m for six months to 27 August, compared to the same period last year, due to expansion in new territory, strategic growth initiatives and acquisitions. The company said impairment was in line with the lower end of the its target range.The loan book remained level, however high tier customers increased by 6% due the company's focus on higher quality lending.Customer numbers increased by 2.4% to about 208,000 and the company is developing its digital platform to provide new services and products to its customers.Chief executive Paul Smith, said: "The momentum in the business continues following our recent successful initial public offering, and demonstrates the resilience of our business model in challenging economic environments. We look forward to declaring our maiden dividend at our first results since the initial public offering."The UK home collected credit sector is well established and, as the second largest lender in this market, we believe we are well placed to grow as the uncertainty caused by the outcome of the EU referendum is likely to cause mainstream lenders to tighten their underwriting criteria further."Morses Club will announce its maiden half-year results and dividend on 6 October.Shares in Morses Club were down 7.69% to 108p at 1107 BST.