Sancus revenue to fall 'slightly below' expectations

Sancus Lending Group said in a trading update on Tuesday that it was expecting revenue of about £9.0m for the 2021 financial year, down from £10.9m in 2020, and “slightly below” its previous expectations.

The AIM-traded firm said it was expecting a net operating loss for the 12 months ended 31 December of around £10.3m, narrowing from a loss of £14.5m in the prior year.

It said the fall in revenue was, in part, due to a decrease in its loan book, falling 17% to £141m in 2021, and from the knock-on impact of Covid-19 on new loans written, delayed loan closures, and a reduction in associated transactional fees.

The reduction in the loan book was largely seen in the offshore jurisdictions of Jersey, Guernsey and Gibraltar, the company said, which were impacted by a “significant restructuring” of their management teams.

“Following Rory Mepham's appointment as CEO in June 2021, a detailed evaluation of the group's loan book was completed,” the board said in its statement.

“Particular focus was given to reviewing historic loans that were either delinquent or defaulted.”

As a result of the exercise, the group said it expected to report an increase in credit loss provisions of £6.5m for 2021, from £4.7m in 2020.

“Virtually all of the provisions made relate to legacy loans written in 2018, or prior to 2018.

“For all of the impacted legacy loan positions, the new senior management team have put together deliverable workout strategies and these are now underway.

“The seasoned property professionals within the new Sancus team will continue working hard to recover value for all participants in these positions.”

Sancus said Mepham had also prioritised planning the turnaround of the group's financial performance.

“The future plans to make the group profitable rely on significant growth in loans under management.

“In order to achieve this, the board is expanding the group's presence in the UK and Ireland, together with rebuilding its loans under management in the offshore markets of Jersey, Guernsey and Gibraltar.

“A number of key hires in the sales and credit teams during the year have been made in all markets, taking group headcount from 25 at the end of 2020 to 35 at the end of 2021.”

That had in turn increased operating expenditure in 2021 to £6.2m from £5.6m, Sancus reported.

It said the investment in new talent was expected to drive and support growth in the loan book over the coming years.

“Other priorities of the new management include streamlining organisational structure, delivery of a robust credit process, effective management systems and becoming increasingly tech enabled, in order to deliver against the Company's growth aspirations.

“Substantial progress has been made and further details will be provided when the company releases its results for the year ended 31 December, expected to be around 31 March.”