P2P Global has published its first set of accounts – covering the period from its IPO in May 2014 to the end of December 2014. By the end of the year the company’s net asset value was 1001.76p (the issue price was 1000p), the shares were trading at a 17.8% premium and it had paid a 6p dividend. A further 12.5p dividend was declared recently.
On 31 December, P2P had lending arrangements with seven platforms and equity investments in five of these. The equity investments accounted for 1.3% of the asset value. The assets were split 65:35 US : Europe. and 68:32 consumer : SME (small and medium sized enterprises). Since the year end, the company has raised another £250m of equity. It now has lending arrangements with 16 platforms, one of which is in Asia.
The Chairman says – “Technological advances have created efficiencies in all aspects of our day-to-day interactions and continue to challenge more traditional businesses. The world of high street banking is facing increased competition and may lose their market share to more convenient and innovative online lenders. With the financial crisis behind us, banks have managed to stabilize their overall profitability while facing increased regulatory costs and reducing the availability of credit to the market. The industry of online lending has challenged this traditional borrowing and has created a new generation of financial services that market participants expect to become a trillion dollar market in the not too distant future.”
P2P eyes trillion dollar market