LendInvest PLC on Monday said its assets under management continued to grow but difficult conditions in the mortgage market have raised concerns.
Shares in the London-based non-bank mortgage lender were trading 29% lower at 69.00 pence each on Monday morning.
In a half year trading update, the company said that its assets under management grew 33% to £2.4 billion at September 30. At the same point last year, LendInvest’s assets under management was valued at £1.8 billion. The company said its new bridging broker portal, which enables ‘a more seamless application process’, drove this growth.
The company’s funds under management grew 20% to £3.4 billion at September 30 from £2.9 billion last year. This growth was helped by the completion of LendInvest’s fourth secularisation in May, which comprised £270 million of Buy-to-Let mortgages.
LendInvest has more than £950 million of lending headroom to support its growth trajectory in the medium term.
The company cautioned that ‘there is considerable short term uncertainty around macroeconomic conditions.’ The company has remained open for new business and re-priced its products, but it also stressed that it was tightening its credit appetite.
The macro impact is likely to reduce the rate of growth, particularly in buy-to-let in the second half of the current year. LendInvest is reducing its growth in operational expenditure accordingly.
As a result, the company expects full-year pretax profit to be in line with the previous year. However, it says it has confidence that it can ‘deliver our future growth aspirations, maintain our progressive dividend policy and deliver shareholder value.’
Chief Executive Officer Rod Lockhart said: ‘Looking ahead, we are acutely aware of the disruption in the UK mortgage market, which is affecting confidence and for the moment, applications for new mortgages have slowed across the market.
‘Recent market dislocation has demonstrated the flexibility and speed to market capability of our platform. This provides us with a competitive edge, flexibility, and proven risk management capabilities, which in addition to the size of our addressable markets and our strong financial position, gives us confidence in our long-term prospects.’
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