Second charge lender Optimum Credit posts £1.7m loss in 2015

The firm said start-up costs covering staff, IT, legal and premises were responsible for the negative results, adding it was confident it would become profitable in the medium term.

Optimum Credit was launched by the former Nemo Personal Finance senior management team in October 2013 and started trading in June 2014. It finished its first 15 months of operation on a deficit of £2.6m.

The Cardiff-based firm, which is backed by private equity house Patron Capital Partners, a £20m loan facility from RBS and £600,000 in business finance from the Welsh Government, said it was “satisfied” with its financial position and future growth.

It said it had in place a “medium-term plan that will see profitability established as the loan book grows”.

During 2015, the company had originated £84.5m in loans, with credit risk profiles and weighted average loan-to-values that, it said, were “much better than forecast”. It had also taken on the servicing of three shared equity portfolios with a total value of £80.9m, generating income of £270,000.

Optimum’s results showed the firm had doubled its staff numbers in the past year, from 28 in 2014 to 55 in 2015. This raised wage costs by about £1m to £3m, while the cost of its highest paid director increased 72%, from £121,000 in the first 15 months of operation to £209,000 in 2015