NSF.L Regulatory News (NSF)

PRESS RELEASE 

Non-Standard Finance plc

('NSF', the 'Company' or the 'Group')

23 April 2020

Timing of 2019 full year results and trading update

Following the joint statement by the FCA, FRC and PRA on 26 March 2020 urging listed companies that feel it appropriate to take advantage of up to two extra months to publish their financial statements, the Board announces that the 2019 full year results are now expected to be announced in mid-May 2020, to provide the Group and its auditors with additional time to collate data on the Group's current trading performance as well as any changes to the external environment so that it can provide a more informed view regarding future prospects and outlook. The final date of the results will be confirmed in a further announcement in due course and the Group continues to expect normalised results for the year ended 31 December 2019 to be in line with expectations.

COVID-19 trading update

Over the past four weeks, lending volumes have been limited to smaller sized loans to key workers only. Whilst the highly uncertain environment means that we must remain cautious about lending to new customers, we are developing new scorecards and procedures for all three businesses and have already launched a remote lending solution for our home credit business, Loans at Home.

Despite the challenging circumstances, our collections performance has been robust. Collections so far in April at Everyday Loans, our branch-based lending division, are running at above 90% of the comparative pre-lockdown levels in March while at our Guarantor Loans Division, collections are running at slightly below 90%. However, given a large proportion of collections occur nearer to the end of the month, we are continuing to monitor this closely and will be able to update more meaningfully at the time of the 2019 full year results announcement. Both businesses shifted to a remote-working model in late March 2020. At Loans at Home, where, prior to the restrictions the vast majority of collections were made face-to-face, the widespread adoption of a series of remote payment options has meant that collections are currently running at approximately 75% of the expected level.

Liquidity and cash flow update

As a result of the focus on collections, the cash preservation actions taken by the Board in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, and given the high risk-adjusted margins of all three businesses, the Group has become cash flow positive in April after all operating expenses, generating £3m of net cash in the first three weeks of April. As at 21 April 2020 the Group had net cash of £38.7m and gross borrowings of £345.0m. When circumstances allow, the Group has access to additional borrowing facilities totalling £185m to fund future loan book growth.

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