The WISR Ltd (ASX: WZR) share price has jumped this morning after the company announced its growth for the December quarter.
Wisr describes itself as Australia’s first neo-lender with financial products and services. It has a Wisr application to help Australians pay down debt, whilst WisrCredit is said to be the country’s only credit score comparison service.
December quarter
Wisr revealed that it delivered record loan originations of $83.8 million, a 35% increase compared to the first quarter of FY21 (which was $61.9 million). This quarter represented growth of 165% compared to the second quarter of FY20.
At 31 December 2020, total loan originations were $390.5 million since inception. The most recent $50 million of loans were written in less than 2 months.
The company said that the improved average credit score for the second quarter of FY21 (of 757) validates the company’s risk governance, lending model and continued ability to attract Australia’s prime customers away from the incumbents, whilst driving growth.
Wisr’s recently launched secured vehicle loan product is also apparently delivering strong initial results.
Management comments
Wisr CEO Anthony Nantes said: “We had a very strong start to the quarter and it’s fantastic to see that momentum continue through the holiday period, delivering 35% growth while attracting the best borrowers in Australia. The consumer sentiment shift we witnessed from COVID-19, for better financial products and services, has certainly not slowed down.
“Our new secured vehicle product has also significantly increased the total addressable market for Wisr. Combined with our differentiated business model, consumer proposition, technology platforms and funding capability, we’re in prime position to continue to aggressively grow our new loan originations, with significant room to scale in the second half of the year and beyond. The team is excited about the growth we can deliver in 2021, and our ability to build a company of significant size and scale in this market.”
Summary thoughts
Wisr is clearly growing strongly and its consumer proposition seems to be working. I don’t know how big the company can become and I’m not personally a fan of investing in businesses predominately involved in lending. So I’m giving it a miss for my own portfolio, however I can see why some investors may be attracted to this growth.
There are other ASX growth shares in the financials space that I’d rather buy such as Magellan Financial Group Ltd (ASX: MFG) or even Macquarie Group Ltd (ASX: MQG).
