Recently, Agusto & Co. upgraded Credit Direct financing Company Limited (Credit Direct), the consumer financing division of FCMB Group Plc and one of Nigeria’s top non-bank financial services providers for digital first, to a BBB+ credit rating. According to Agusto & Company, “The upgrade reflects Credit Direct’s dominant position in the industry and its good and consistent profitability, which compares better than most peers in the consumer lending segment.”
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“We are honoured and proud to announce that Agusto & Co. has upgraded Credit Direct’s rating to BBB+, a remarkable achievement considering the high inflationary and turbulent macroeconomic environment we are navigating,” said Chukwuma Nwanze, Managing Director and CEO of Credit Direct, in response to Agusto & Co.’s upgrade of the company’s credit rating.
This upgrade, which places us among the top-rated FinTech lenders in the nation, is a reflection of our strong risk management procedures, resilient business model centred on extending financial inclusion for Nigerians, and the trust we have earned from stakeholders and customers in addition to our strong financial health and strategic agility.
Additionally, Credit Direct declared that its N6.9 billion Series I and II commercial paper, which it had offered in November 2023 on the FMDQ Securities Exchange, had been successfully paid out.
“The strong investor confidence demonstrated through their participation and support underscores our position as one of Nigeria’s leading digital-first non-bank financial services providers,” said Nwanze in his thank you to the investor community for their involvement in the series I and II commercial papers.
We sincerely thank our investors for their confidence, and we will continue to be committed to providing outstanding value and developing enduring relationships, both of which are essential to realising our goal of increasing financial inclusion for all Nigerians.
Speaking about the company’s financial performance in the first half of 2024, Credit Direct’s Chief Financial Officer, Kolawole Omoniyi, said that despite challenging business conditions, the company is maintaining its growth trajectory. According to Omoniyi, “we maintained the momentum in the first half of 2024 after delivering a strong financial performance in 2023.” In our unaudited financial performance for H1 2024, we increased interest income YoY by 105%.
As a result, during the first half of the year, our profitability increased by 154% over the same period the previous year. As of the end of H1 2024, our cost to income ratio had decreased by 370bps, and as of the same period, our NPL ratio had decreased by 221bps.
These developments demonstrate the continuous progress in our cost efficiency and asset quality ratios. After a robust H1 2024 financial season, our return on average equity increased to 65.6% and our return on average assets to 10.5%. In addition to its impressive financial results, the company stated that it has made great strides towards implementing a digital transformation to make sure it is prepared for the future.
According to Nwanze, “Our impressive results in the first half of 2024 are unmistakable proof of the revolutionary potential of our digital activities. Our dedication to digital transformation has improved customer satisfaction, increased staff productivity, and greatly increased our operational efficiency. By the end of June 2024, our digital channels accounted for over 95% of our loan book, which is a considerable increase from the 62% recorded as of June 2023. In order to give our clients round-the-clock access to our services, we improved our current digital channels and added four new ones. Nwanze highlighted that even in the face of rising inflation, digital transformation activities including the implementation of automated customer profiling, self-service loan origination channels, and credit decisioning have helped to improve asset quality and lower the cost-to-income ratio.
In the second half of 2024, Credit Direct hopes to build on this momentum and provide even more value to its stakeholders and clients. Its priorities continue to be advancing financial inclusion and offering cutting-edge financial solutions to satisfy its clients’ changing demands.
Concerning Credit Direct Finance Company Limited The consumer finance division of the FCMB Group, Credit Direct, is a fully owned subsidiary that provides loan and retail investing products to both individuals and companies. Since 2007, Credit Direct has proudly served millions of consumers countrywide under licence from the Central Bank of Nigeria.
