Together loan book reaches £4.4bn

Together Financial Services Limited (‘Together’ or ‘the Group’), one of the UK’s leading specialist mortgage and secured loan providers, is pleased to announce its results for the quarter ended December 31, 2021.

 Commenting on today’s results, Gerald Grimes, Group CEO Designate of Together, said:

“Q2 has seen sustained growth for Together, with our loan book up 4.6% on the previous quarter and up 13.8% on the same period last year, at £4.4bn. Our average monthly lending volumes increased by 11.7% on Q1 to £200m, with originations in November and December exceeding £200m and rising above pre-pandemic levels.

“In line with our growth strategy, we have raised or refinanced £900m across 3 transactions since September, adding to the diversity and maturity of our funding structure. Most recently, in December we refinanced and doubled the size of our Delta ABS facility for unregulated bridging loans from £200m to £400m.

“Although the UK economy is continuing to recover at a rapid rate, it is likely that consumers will be impacted by rising inflation, higher interest rates, and fiscal changes. While economists are forecasting a slowdown in economic growth in 2022, Together remains well placed to help increasing numbers of customers realise their ambitions and to play our part in supporting the UK’s economic recovery.”

Financial performance: quarter ended December 31, 2021

• Group loan book of £4.4bn, up 13.8% compared with £3.9bn at December 31, 2020, and up 4.6% compared with £4.2bn at September 30, 2021
• Weighted average indexed LTV remaining very conservative at 51.6% (Q2‘21: 52.2%; Q1‘22: 52.4%)
• Average monthly loan originations of £199.9m, up 168.7% in the quarter compared with £74.4m in Q2‘21 and up 11.7% when compared with £179.0m in Q1‘22 as the Group continued to increase lending volume

– In November and December 2021 loan originations exceeded £200m, being above pre-pandemic levels

– Weighted average origination LTVs remain conservative at 61.4% (Q2‘21: 58.5%; Q1‘22: 60.1%)

• Interest receivable and similar income of £95.3m, up 2.6% compared with £92.9m in Q2’21 and up 2.2% compared with £93.3m in Q1‘22 reflecting a growing loan book
• Underlying net interest margin1 remained attractive at 5.8%, compared with 6.5% in Q2‘21 and 6.1% in Q1’22 with the reduction from the prior quarter largely due to product mix and is reflective of growth in some of the Groups lower yielding products as it pursues strategic opportunities in areas such as residential term and buy to let lending.
• Annualised cost of risk has decreased to 0.03% when compared with 0.6% in Q2‘21 due to a reduced impairment charge during the quarter primarily as a result of continued strong growth in property values
• Underlying profit before tax¹ was up 12.4% to £43.0m when compared with £38.2m in Q2‘21 and up 10.8% when compared with £38.8m in Q1‘22
• Cash generation remained robust, with cash receipts of £507.4m, up 17.8% compared with £430.6m in Q2‘21 and up 20.6% compared with £420.8m in Q1’22 mainly due to increased redemptions during the period.

 Shaping the business for the future

• With demand for specialist lending products expected to grow strongly over the medium-term, we have been shaping our business to ensure Together is well placed to take advantage of significant potential growth opportunities in our markets. This ongoing process includes:

– Enhancing the customer experience through investing in our people and digital capabilities;

– Investing in and optimising our business processes to enable us to efficiently scale our business;

– Leveraging our established brand to expand distribution and addressable markets; and

– Building capability for agility and flexibility to capture opportunities.

ESG update

• Following appointment of an ESG consultancy in September 2021 and consultation with colleagues, customers, investors and other key stakeholders we have developed our ESG strategy:

– This strategy is now being reviewed and prioritised in line with our Purpose and Vision before going through our internal governance processes for approval; and

– We have also formalised our Diversity & Inclusion strategy and signed up to the Women in Finance Charter.

Continued increase in diversity, liquidity and maturity of funding

• £900m raised or refinanced across 3 transactions since Sep ‘21:

o   Nov‘21 Bracken Midco1 PLC successfully issued £380m 2027 Senior PIK Toggle Notes as part of the refinancing of its existing £368.2 million aggregate principal amount of Senior PIK Toggle Notes due 2023, reducing cash coupon from 8.875% to 6.75%;

o   Nov‘21 issued additional £120 million in aggregate principal amount of 4 7/8% Senior Secured Notes due 2026 at issue price of 100.5%, upsized in market from £100 million.

o   Dec‘21 Delta ABS 2 upsized from £200m to £400m.

• Facility Headroom increased to £1,495.5m at 31 Dec‘21 (31 Dec‘20: £1,021.9m) and accessible liquidity of £419.1m at 31 Dec‘21 (31 Dec‘20: £300m).