Ferratum Group: Solid EBIT performance in 9M 2019

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DGAP-News: Ferratum Oyj / Schlagwort(e): 9-Monatszahlen/Quartalsergebnis
Ferratum Group: Solid EBIT performance in 9M 2019
14.11.2019 / 07:30
Für den Inhalt der Mitteilung ist der Emittent / Herausgeber verantwortlich.

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Ferratum Group: Solid EBIT performance in 9M 2019

Helsinki, 14 November 2019 - Ferratum Oyj (ISIN: FI4000106299, WKN: A1W9NS)
("Ferratum" or the "Group") announces unaudited results for the first 9
months ended 30 September 2019 ("9M 2019").

Financial Highlights 9M 2019

- Revenue y-o-y up by 14.7% to EUR 218.1 million, largely driven by Credit
Limit and SME loans

- EBIT up by 31.8% y-o-y to EUR 33.5 million, EBT up by +43.7% y-o-y to EUR
19.7 million

- Impairments over revenues improved from 39.2% in Q1 2019 to 34.0% in Q3
2019 and stood at 36.2% in 9M 2019

- Record EBIT of EUR 13.0 million in Q3 2019

- Net debt to equity ratio stable at 2.61

Operational Highlights

- Net book value of loan portfolio up by 24.1% y-o-y to EUR 365 million

- Strategic key products SME and Credit Limit continue to grow: SME revenue
up by +29.7% y-o-y and Credit Limit revenue grew with +25.5% y-o-y

2019 Outlook

- For the fiscal year 2019 the Board confirms its expectation that operating
profit (EBIT) will exceed EUR 45 million

                                    9 months ended 30
                                        September
     Key Figures, EUR million            9M 2019        9M 2018
                                                       (restated)
     Revenue                                    218.1         190.2
     Operating profit (EBIT)                     33.5          25.4
     Profit before tax                           19.7          13.7
     Profit before tax %                         9.0%          7.2%
     Earnings per share, basic                   0.78          0.54
     (EUR)
     Earnings per share, diluted                 0.78          0.54
     (EUR)
Financial performance

In the first nine months 2019, Ferratum Group's revenue increased to EUR
218.1 million, an increase of 14.7% compared to the respective period of the
previous year (9M 2018*: EUR 190.2 million), and well in line with
Ferratum's expectations for the period. The growth was mainly driven by the
Credit Limit product with revenues of EUR 118.6 million (+25.5%
year-on-year) and Business Lending with revenues of EUR 20.2 million (+29.7%
year-on-year) in 9M 2019.

Operating profit (EBIT) for the period increased significantly year-on-year
by 31.8% to EUR 33.5 million (EBIT-margin: 15.4%) compared to EUR 25.4
million in 9M 2018. The profit before tax (EBT) in 9M 2019 went up by 43.7%
to 19.7 million (9M 2018: EUR 13.7 million). The increased EBIT and EBT
performance resulted from actions taken by the management to increase cost
discipline, achieve operative leverage, and improve marketing efficiency.

In Q1 2019, the impairments over revenues were higher than average for the
Group (39.2%). This was mainly driven by a record level of sales in SME
loans in Q1, which has a front loaded effect on impairments, and delayed
effects from consumer lending activities in Q4 2018. In the following
quarters, the Group has since managed to decrease the impairments over
revenues, resulting in 36.2% for the reporting period.

In the first nine months of 2019 the Group equity increased by 12.8% to EUR
121.1 million from EUR 107.4 million as of 31 December 2018.

Deposits from customers grew by 12.0% to EUR 205.4 million compared to EUR
183.4 million at the end of 2018. The Group has issued new loans to
customers in Finland under the banking licence since November 2019 and aims
to bring Denmark under the bank within the next months to be able to further
utilize deposit funding.

The net debt to equity ratio stood at 2.61 at the end of 9M 2019, well
within Groups bond covenants of 3.0 and 3.5. Net receivables from customers
grew by 13.9 % to EUR 365.2 million in 9M 2019 from EUR 320.5 million in FY
2018, mainly driven by Ferratum's Credit Limit and SME product.

Key business developments

Ferratum Business, the SME lending business unit of the Group has grown
within Ferratum in a start-up manner and can after only four years of
operation show a profitable business with EUR 20.2 million in revenues
during the first nine months of 2019 (9M 2018: 15.5 million). SME loans are
currently being offered by Ferratum in seven countries (Czech Replublic,
Denmark, Finland, Lithuania, Netherlands, Sweden and the UK) with a maturity
of 6-24 months and loan amounts of up to EUR 250,000. Ferratum Business
expanded its operations to Poland in January 2019 with a pilot in invoiced
based lending. After the conclusion of the pilot, it was decided not to
launch the product in Poland. The product is however being considered for
future launch in other markets. Lending to SME customers in Australia was
also discontinued as the Group saw better opportunities in investing its
resources into the other seven existing markets in Europe, that SME lending
is offered in.

Since March 2019, Ferratum's risk-based pricing model has been introduced in
the Czech Republic for the Credit Limit product, and for Primeloans in
Latvia and Finland. The riskbased pricing allows the Group to offer
customers an individually risk adjusted offering in terms of loan amount and
pricing. The model helps optimize the overall yield and risk exposure, the
implementation plays an important role as the Groups product evolution
shifts towards longer terms and higher loan amounts (i.e Primeloans).

Ferratum's Mobile Wallet, the next generation of Ferratum's Mobile Bank is
being piloted in Latvia and is expected to be launched to the public in
Latvia after the completaion of the ongoing pilot.

The Primeloan product was introduced into two further markets during the
first nine months of 2019, Sweden and Latvia, bringing the overall amount of
Primeloan countries to four.

The new IT platform, the Ferratum Operating System (FerraOS), has been
introduced in Sweden, Latvia and Bangladesh during 2019. The new platform
roll-out is part of the ongoing Smart IT program and builds the next
generation IT foundation, on which the Group can further expand its business
on, including its own and partner's offering. Currently, the focus is on
combining new microservice modules with older stack, such as payment,
identity, authentication, and document services, as well as real time data
services.

In June, the Group announced a partnership with with Srijony Foundation in
Bangladesh to contribute to the country's digitalization, technological
transformation and financial inclusion in the lending sector.

As at the end of September 2019, Ferratum operates in 23 countries, with
lending having been suspended in Russia, France and Slovakia, and Bangladesh
being added to the countries of operation.

Rating update

The Group was assigned a BB- rating by Fitch Ratings in March 2019. The
Rating is assigned at holding company level based on Ferratum's consolidated
financial statements, which include Ferratum Bank p.l.c.. The 2019/2023 bond
(ISIN: SE0012453835) of Ferratum Capital Germany GmbH was also assigned a
BB- rating by Fitch Ratings in April. Creditreform AG, assigned the Group a
rating of BBB-/stable in April.


Personnel

At the end of the third quarter 2019, the Group had 888 employees (9M 2018:
958 employees). Personnel expenses stood at EUR 33.2 million and came down
from 17.3% of Revenues in 9M 2018 to 15.2% in 9M 2019.

As of August, Bernd Egger joined Ferratum as Chief Financial Officer,
succeeding Dr Clemens Krause. Clemens will now have a key role in managing
the Groups credit risk as Chief Risk Officer. Bernd has an extensive
background in international banking, finance and corporate development and
holds a masters degree in Business Administration as well as a Master of
Science in Finance.

Klaus Schmidt joined the Goup in April as interim Chief Marketing Officer,
and has as planned, as of October handed over his responsibilities to long
time Leadership Team member and Chief Commercial Officer, Saku Timonen.

Confirmation of the outlook for 2019

For the fiscal year 2019 the Board reiterates its expectation that operating
profit (EBIT) will exceed EUR 45 million.

Subsequent events after period end

In October the Group successfully completed the written procedure in
relation to Ferratum Capital Germany GmbHs outstanding up to EUR 150,000,000
senior unsecured bond loan 2018/2022 with ISIN SE0011167972. The vast
majority of bondholders agreed on the benefits of the alignment of the Net
Debt to Equity covenant with the issuers other bond (ISIN SE0012453835) with
a net-debt to equity ratio of 3.5x. This allows the Group to continue its
strategically important transition towards providing its customers with
larger, longerterm loans (e.g. Primeloans, Credit Limit and loans to Small
and Medium size Enterprises). The transition towards lower risk products
opens a vast segment of customers with better payment behavior and a lower
credit risk, while also increasing the Group's readiness to deal with
further changes in the interest rate environment. The amendments were
effective as per 15 October 2019.

The Group has issued new loans to customers in Finland under the banking
licence since November 2019.


About Ferratum Group

Ferratum Group is an international provider of mobile banking and digital
consumer and small business loans, distributed and managed by mobile
devices. Founded in 2005 and headquartered in Helsinki, Finland, Ferratum
has expanded rapidly to operate in 23 countries across Europe, Africa, South
and North America, Australia and Asia.

As a pioneer in digital and mobile financial services technology, Ferratum
is at the forefront of the digital banking revolution. Ferratum has
approximately 763,000 active customers that have an open Mobile Bank account
or an active loan balance in the last 12 months (as at 30 September 2019).

Ferratum Group is listed on the Prime Standard of Frankfurt Stock Exchange
under symbol 'FRU.' For more information, visit www.ferratumgroup.com.

Contacts:

IR@ferratum.com
https://www.ferratumgroup.com/investors/ir-contact


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14.11.2019 Veröffentlichung einer Corporate News/Finanznachricht,
übermittelt durch DGAP - ein Service der EQS Group AG.
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   Sprache:        Deutsch
   Unternehmen:    Ferratum Oyj
                   Ratamestarinkatu 11 A
                   00520 Helsinki
                   Finnland
   Telefon:        +49 (0) 30 9210058-44
   Fax:            +49 (0)30 9210058-49
   E-Mail:         ir@ferratum.com
   Internet:       https://www.ferratumgroup.com
   ISIN:           FI4000106299
   WKN:            A1W9NS
   Börsen:         Regulierter Markt in Frankfurt (Prime Standard);
                   Freiverkehr in Berlin, Düsseldorf, Hamburg, Hannover,
                   München, Stuttgart, Tradegate Exchange
   EQS News ID:    912489



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912489 14.11.2019

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