As of 31 December 2017, there was approximately 1,670 car loan customers @LuckyBloke. From my limited understanding, they are predominantly clients that either have a current debt agreement with Fox Symes (approximately 20,000 current clients) or have recently had one. If you think about it, risk is reduced if the lender has had a few years to monitor the financial behaviour of the borrower. This is probably why the 30 day loan default rate of 1.56% is so low.
I believe the current model works around the client getting the loan approved and then finding a suitable new vehicle. As the business grows, no doubt there will be opportunities for the business to procure vehicles and insurance products for their customer base allowing them to earn additional fees.
I don’t get the impression that finding new customers has been the problem for the car lending business. It’s all been about convincing Westpac over a period of time that there business model actually works. We have been put on notice that loan pool will start to grow significantly this year. I am still not convinced that Westpac are completely on board, will have to wait and see.
All the best with this one! It’s a good business!
FSA Price at posting:
$1.45 Sentiment: Buy Disclosure: Held
