MTF’s loan book tops $1.1b
MTF Finance has reported new-loan growth of seven per cent with earnings for originators – that’s to say franchises and car dealers – climbing by 17 per cent to $47.5 million for its half-year.
In addition, the company’s loan book expanded by 10 per cent to $1.1 billion during the reporting period.
The sustained growth comes off the back of a record 2023 financial year when its sales grew by 40 per cent in a challenging economic environment.
Chairman Mark Darrow says: “MTF Finance continues to take a long-term view of the business and is investing heavily in its technology platforms, investing in brand building and growing organisational capability to ensure the next 50 years are even stronger than the previous 50.”
Chris Lamers, chief executive officer, adds: “We continued to see good growth in the first half of this year and have maintained our focus on returns for our originators, who are also shareholders and shoulder the majority of the risk when writing a loan.”
Heavy investment in technology and people capability resulted in a 25 per cent year-on-year decrease in underlying profitability to $4.6m, but the company takes a long-term view of adding enterprise value.
“We’re committed to improving and expanding our network to help more customers with a diversified product range, such as the launch of home-loan brokering, and maintaining our commitment to personalised service based in the local community,” adds Lamers, pictured above.
“Ultimately, we aim to make lending about people again. This is reflected in our 10,000-plus reviews on Trust Pilot and recognition as the most-trusted car loans provider in New Zealand in the 2024 Reader’s Digest Trusted Brands survey.”
Towards the second half of its financial year, MTF believes economic headwinds will impact lending volumes in the short term.
Lamers says: “The high quality of MTF’s lending decisions is supported by arrears of 31 days-plus remaining at 0.85 per cent, well below the industry average.
“We remain committed to making the right decisions for our customers and anticipate lending volumes will continue to soften for the rest of the financial year.”
Darrow adds: “The continued diversification of our product range not only creates future growth opportunities, but helps us to manage through different economic cycles.
“We expect this year to finish similar to the record 2023 financial year in terms of loan volumes. It sets the business up well for 2025.”
