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ASX-listed lender Wisr is seeing a renewed appetite for growth in loan originations paying off, with CEO Andrew Goodwin saying its broker network remains a priority for the future.
Wisr, which specialises in digital personal lending, including personal loans and car loans, previously undertook what it termed a “deliberate moderated growth strategy” throughout FY24.
The lender said at the time the slowdown was an effort to moderate new loan origination growth to maintain balance sheet strength and prioritise profitability following RBA cash rate increases.
Wisr’s move to shift gears again in FY25 with a “return to growth strategy” saw it report $77.3 million in loan originations for the first quarter of FY25, a 54% year-on-year growth in quarterly originations.
This put loan originations up 40% on the final quarter of FY24, when $55.2 million in loans were originated, as Wisr’s business benefitted from the first full quarter of the new growth push.
The group’s loan book has shrunk 15% from $887 million in Q1 FY24 to $753 million in Q1 FY25 due to the strategy pivots. Wisr’s total loan book was also down 2% down on the previous quarter.
Wisr CEO Andrew Goodwin (pictured above) told Australian Broker the renewed growth in originations reported for the latest quarter “was very much just the beginning” of its return to growth strategy.
“We made some strategic decisions in FY24 that were intended to make the pivot back to growth as seamless as possible,” he said.
“Notably, during the previous period of moderated loan growth settings, we continued to invest in our channels, and in addition to uplifting our technical capabilities for our proprietary technology, our broker channel remained a priority, which required transparent communication.”
Goodwin said the group’s commitment to its broker network, as well as the investments it had made during the period, “sets us up for success for the rest of FY25 and beyond”.
“We have invested in strong and diversified distribution networks including our valued and established broker network alongside our direct-to-customer proposition,” he said.
“Our broker channel has always been a priority for us. We continuously seek to improve our products based on broker feedback – to meet the evolving expectations of both brokers and their clients.
“We have deep relationships with our broker and aggregator networks and pride ourselves on how our BDM team has built and developed these connections over time.”
Goodwin said maintaining the prime quality of Wisr’s book had been a focus, and that the group had seen improvements in yield while maintaining a strong average customer credit score of 782.
The group’s portfolio yield increased by 79 basis points compared with Q1 FY24 to 11.12%, which Goodin said was led by key pricing initiatives that were made in Wisr’s front book.
This combined with improvements in its warehouse facility pricing to increase its front book net interest margin by 78 basis points to 6.47% compared with the previous corresponding period.
“Looking ahead, as we focus on growing loan originations and our loan book in FY25 and beyond, we are encouraged by significant improvements in our unit economics,” Goodwin said.
“This positions the company strongly to continue growth while scaling the business towards profitability and a self-sustaining capital position.”
The group reported 90+ day arrears were at 1.4%, an improvement from 1.58% in Q4 FY24, while it experienced net losses of 2.06%, which was a reduction of 69 basis points from Q4 FY24.
Goodwin said Wisr’s digital offering aimed to provide personal finance customers more than just access to credit. Through its app, the group offers tools and services like financial round ups to help consumers save or pay back debt, along with free credit score checks.
Goodwin said it sees this as a differentiator in the current cost-of-living challenged environment.
“Personal finance has it in the title – it’s personal and individual to every person,” he said. “So in an environment that has been challenging in different ways for many Australians, we have focused on providing an experience that goes beyond a transactional relationship.”
