SoMo reports rising profits before pandemic
Peer-to-peer bridging lender SoMo saw its profits rise to just over £3.2m in the 12 months to 31 March 2020 – up from approximately £2.9m the previous year.
The company, which rebranded from The BridgeCrowd last year, also increased its annual turnover from £10.9m in the year ending 31 March 2019, to £11.3m in the year ending 31 March 2020.
In SoMo’s full accounts filing for 2020, the company revealed that its bridging finance loan book stood at £47.3m by the end of March 2020, while its consumer credit loan book stood at £1.8m. SoMo intends to split its bridging and consumer credit businesses into two separate companies in the future.
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Writing on behalf of the SoMo board, chief executive Louis Alexander (pictured) said that the company does not expect to see its default rates rise significantly as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.
“Bridging finance is naturally exposed to volatilities in the property market,” said Alexander. “However, lending is short term and risk is managed with cautious loan-to-value lending criteria.
“Consumer credit lending is based on affordability. While the coronavirus pandemic brought some uncertainty at the end of the financial year, recoveries are not expected to be significantly affected.”
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Alexander added that the company has achieved year-on-year increases in turnover and funds lent since inception, and hinted at future growth with a focus on technology.
“Technology is at the heart of the business and an in-house team has developed cutting edge technologies to deliver financial payment and loan services,” he said.
“Innovative solutions are enhancing and enhancing both the core bridging platform and consumer credit technology and this will continue to be a focus.”
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