Resurs Holding - Year-end Report January--December 2016

HELSINGBORG, Sweden, Feb 07, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

1 October—31 December 2016*

• Lending to the public rose 17% to SEK 21,204 million, up 3% compared with Q3 2016
• Operating income increased by 7% excluding costs for the discontinued travel-insurance operations, total operating income increased by 2% to SEK 693 million
• Operating profit increased by 33% to SEK 276 million
• Earnings per share rose 74% to SEK 1.22
• C/I before credit losses (excl. Insurance) was 43.8% (50.2%)
• The credit loss ratio was 1.8% (3.0%)

1 January—31 December 2016*

• Lending to the public rose 17% to SEK 21,204 million
• Operating income increased by 18% to SEK 2,797 million
• Operating profit increased by 36% to SEK 1,140 million
• Earnings per share rose 43% to SEK 4.52
• The Common Equity Tier 1 ratio was 13.2% (13.1%) and the total capital ratio was 14.1% (14.2%)
• C/I before credit losses (excl. Insurance) was 44.7% (48.1%)
• The credit loss ratio was 1.9% (2.3%)
• Return on equity excl. intangible assets (RoTE) was 24.3% (21.4%)
• The Board proposes a dividend of SEK 3.00 per share, corresponding to earnings per share of 66%

Statement by the CEO:

Strong end to 2016 — continued healthy growth and focus on digital launches and partners

Strong growth in lending and earnings 

The year ended with yet another strong quarter. The loan portfolio grew 17 per cent to over SEK 21 billion, much stronger than our communicated annual growth target of about 10 per cent. Growth was driven by the banking segments, Payment Solutions and Consumer Loans, with contributions from all of our markets. Net profit for the quarter also improved SEK 244 million, up 38 per cent excluding nonrecurring costs, driven by higher business volumes and continued strong control over both costs and credit losses.

Successful performance of the operations continues 

In Payment Solutions, we continued to drive sales together with our retail finance partners, which generated success throughout the Nordics for both us and our partners in the fourth quarter. Further collaborations were entered into with new partners. Our card operations, led by Supreme Card, passed a new milestone during the year when we achieved a total annual transaction volume of more than SEK 4 billion. We saw improvements in several areas with more cards issued and a growing number of transactions per card. Consumer Loans performed very well during the year and the fourth quarter was the strongest ever. Our focus was on the digitisation of business processes to build a higher level of customer satisfaction and internal efficiency. Discontinuation of the UK insurance operations in the Insurance segment was charged to fourth-quarter earnings. The strong performance of core business continued, with high profitability and growth.

Digital innovations and applications 

During the quarter, our determined efforts to develop and launch new and innovative solutions for our partners and consumers continued. The digitisation of offline business continued, and more and more stores implemented our digital application service. Our aim is that all of our Nordic partners will start using the digital application service in 2017. Our mobile app, Loyo, performed successfully during the year and the number of users continued to increase. The first digital wallet in the Nordic region, Loyo Pay, which can be used for payments across all channels – online, in apps and physical stores – was launched during the quarter. Technically, the product is complete but it will still be some time before the retail sector is mature enough for mobile payments. We are currently conducting testing activities, with about 100 testers helping us to identify various retail issues. We are also working actively with other retail stakeholders and organisations to drive forward the development of digital services.

A fantastic and eventful year

2016 was a fantastic and eventful year for Resurs. We launched new digital services for both our partners and consumers, entered into collaborations with several new partners and carried out a successful IPO. At the same time, we delivered strong growth and profitability quarter after quarter, and ended the fourth quarter with an all-time high in several areas. That confirms the strength of our business model. In 2017, we will continue to focus on innovative digital and promotional solutions, and on close collaboration with our partners.

About Resurs Holding 

Resurs Holding (Resurs), which operates through the subsidiaries Resurs Bank and Solid Försäkringar, is the leader in retail finance in the Nordic region, offering payment solutions, consumer loans and niche insurance products. Since its start in 1977, Resurs Bank has established itself as a leading partner for sales-driven payment and loyalty solutions in retail and e-commerce, and Resurs has this built a customer base of approximately 5 million private customers in the Nordics. Resurs Bank has had a bank charter since 2001 and is under the supervision of the Swedish Financial Supervisory Authority. The Resurs Group operates in Sweden, Denmark, Norway and Finland. At the end of 2016, the Group had 728 employees and a loan portfolio of SEK 21.2 billion. Resurs has been listed on Nasdaq Stockholm since 29 April 2016. 

*Certain performance measures provided in this section have not been prepared in accordance with IFRS. Definitions of key ratios are provided on page 30. The reasons for the use of alternative performance measures and reconciliation against information in the financial statements are provided on the website under "Financial information."
The figures in parentheses refer to 31 December 2015 in terms of financial position, and to the year-earlier period in terms of profit/loss items. 

This information is such information that Resurs Holding AB is required to disclose pursuant to the EU Market Abuse Regulation and the Swedish Securities Market Act. The information was submitted for publication by the above mentioned contact person on 7 February 2017 at 8:00 a.m. CET.

For additional information, please contact:

Kenneth Nilsson,
CEO,
E-mail: kenneth.nilsson@resurs.se;
Tel: +46-42-382000

Gunilla Wikman,
IR,
E-mail: gunilla.wikman@resurs.se;
Tel: +46 707-638125

Peter Rosén,
CFO,
E-mail: peter.rosen@resurs.se,
Tel: +46 736-564934

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