Morses Club sees demand 'steadily' increase across all lending products

Non-standard financial services firm Morses Club said on Friday that it had continued to trade in line with expectations, with demand steadily increasing across all lending products.

Customer numbers in Morses' digital division for short-term and long-term lending products increased by 80% over the five months ended 31 July to stand at over 42,000, ith loan book growth at 158% from the year-end.

The AIM-listed firm noted that increased lending volumes had not resulted in "a deterioration in credit quality", with collections performance in line with budgeted plans despite new credit being issued at a 34% higher clip than budgeted.

In terms of home collected credit, Morses said 65% of all lending in the unit was now cashless as over 70% of its customers registered for the company's online customer portal.

Customer numbers were said to be in line with expectations during the first five months of the year at 144,000, while total credit issued for the period was 18% above management's budgeted plan.

Chief executive Paul Smith said: "Our expanded offering in the digital division along with the continued strong performance in our HCC division is encouraging.

"The group's significant experience in the sector and its commitment to providing best in class HCC and digital products will enable us to take advantage of changes in the market and further strengthen our position as a leading provider of non-standard financial services products in the UK."

As of 0825 BST, Morses shares were down 1.94% at 81.0p.