Home Credit posts sharp rise in receivables in 2017

Prague-based fintech company Home Credit Philippines has reported a threefold jump in receivables to P14 billion in 2017 from P4 billion in 2016 as it continues to book strong growth five years after its entry into the country.

Home Credit now has a 2.5 million Filipino customer base, of which more than 1.5 million have active loans after expanding its operations nationwide.

It booked modest sales of P29 million when it entered the Philippines in 2013.

For this year, Home Credit has already signed more than 800,000 new loans. Its highest performing month so far this year is April where it yielded more than 190,000 new active loans.

Home Credit’s results come after four years of “heavy investing” in the Philippines, beefing up its information technology (IT) infrastructure, expanding its offices and call centers, and growing its workforce to over 9,000 employees.

Home Credit chief executive Annica Witschard said the company’s performance in 2017 is their new benchmark for what is already considered a steep rate of growth in the local consumer finance industry.

“From day one, our mindset was to grow big and grow fast, while changing the landscape with our financially inclusive products,” Witschard said.

She said the company caters to unbanked as well as first-time borrowers.

“Our remarkable growth and expansion in 2017 tells us that we are on track in achieving our goals. And our results in 2017 tell us that our business strategy is an effective one,” Witschard said.

Zdenek Jankovsky, chief finance officer at Home Credit, said the company’s robust sales, effective risk and cost management, and funding have played key roles in its business performance.

“We’ve been successful in leveraging our strengths, especially in risk mitigation, sales, and funding, while applying best practices from Home Credit Group’s more than 20 years of experience globally,” Jankovsky said.

Last year, Home Credit obtained a syndicated loan worth P2.25 billion from Citi, Union Bank of the Philippines, East West Bank, RCBC, Citi, and CTBC to finance its expansion program. It raised additional funds from Veterans Bank as well as Land Bank of the Philippines.