Zaim Credit Systems PLC (LSE:ZAIM), the fintech group focused on Russia, said it is significantly outperforming in a very fast-growing market.
The final quarter of 2021 saw the amount issued in loans rise 14% quarter-on-quarter and 105% year-on-year to £7.8mln.
Loans issued online rose 18% and 148% respectively to £7.2mln, with the company saying the online business continues to be the engine of growth, representing 92% of loans issued in the whole of 2021.
In 2021, £23.1mln in loans was advanced in response to online applications, which was 4.9 times higher than in 2020 while the amount issued offline roughly halved as the company closed stores and kiosks across Russia.
"It is very hard talking about business in such unprecedented and difficult times. Despite this, we are firmly committed to adhering to all our duties to our stakeholders and our customers. These results show that the fourth quarter of 2021 became the sixth consecutive quarter of profitable growth. Our operational results demonstrate the effectiveness of the online-focused strategy that we employed in the middle of 2020,” said Siro Cicconi, the chief executive officer of Zaim.
“The business continues to be cash-generative, which we are carefully reinvesting in order to serve a wider base of clients with our online business. Our online-focused strategy allows for lower fixed costs and faster growth that makes us confident in the long-term development of our business. Our investment in our proprietary platform and process delivered impressive results and I would like to thank the whole team for their dedication in these uncertain times,” said Cicconi.