Stockport based Together, one of the UK’s leading specialist secured lenders, has announced strong growth as the group’s loan book reached a new high of £3.01bn.
The announcement comes as Together posted its quarterly results to 30 September 2018, driven by robust lending at a conservative loan to value on originations of 58.1%.
Building on over four decades of experience, Together continued to grow strongly over the quarter, with monthly loan originations up 9.7% to £137.5m, compared to the first quarter last year. The Group remained highly profitable and cash generative, delivering profit before tax of £30.4m and cash receipts to £414.7m for the quarter.
The loan book reached a new record level of £3.01bn at September 30, 2018, up 1.8% compared with £2.96bn at June 30, 2018 (Q4 ’18) and up 27.1% compared with £2.37bn at September 30, 2017 (Q1 ’18).
Group Chairman, Mike McTighe commented:
“We maintained our strong growth momentum in the quarter, growing the loan book by 27% compared to 30 September 2017. We continued to add significant additional liquidity to support our growth plans, successfully refinancing and extending our AA rated CABS facility to £1.25bn on more favourable terms, and issuing £350m of 8.875% Senior PIK Toggle Notes as part of refinancing the existing 10.5% Senior PIK Toggle and Vendor Notes. Since the period end, we have also announced the completion of our second public residential mortgage backed securitisation for £287m.
“As Brexit negotiations enter a crucial phase, the UK’s economic outlook remains uncertain with a number of contradictory indicators. Despite these uncertainties we continue to see strong demand from customers with record levels of originations in October of £170.9m, and along with our recent work to increase and extend our funding lines, we believe Together remains well placed to deliver on our ambitious growth plans.”
Marc Goldberg, Commercial CEO, said:
“We are proud to announce Together continued its strong growth over the last quarter and delivered another great set of results. The success and continued growth of our business is a great testament to the hard work and dedication of our colleagues, who remain focused on our mission of helping customers achieve their financial ambitions. We look forward to building on the strong momentum as we enter the next stage of our exciting future.”
Pete Ball, Personal Finance CEO, added:
“We are delighted to have reached a new record during the quarter as we grew our loan book to over £3billion. A particular focus included building out our distribution partnerships with UK mortgage clubs and networks by adding two further influential mortgage networks and clubs, whilst also continuing to enhance existing relationships and strengthen broker relationships.
“Looking ahead to the next quarter, we are focussed on further enhancing our platform and extending our distribution reach to provide more customers with the products and finance solutions they need.”
Highlights
– Strong loan book growth driven by robust lending volumes at conservative LTVs
– Group remains highly profitable and cash generative
– Significant additional liquidity raised to support lending growth
– Refinancing of Holdco Structure extending maturity and reducing margin