Press releases

1 October–31 December 2019*

• Lending to the public rose 12% to SEK 31,345 million
• Operating income increased 7% to SEK 945 million
• Operating profit was impacted by an extra credit provision of SEK 35 million due to the information we receivedthrough the Norwegian Gjeldsregistret and declined 3% to SEK 364 million, excluding this effect operatingprofit would have increased 7% to SEK 399 million.
• Earnings per share increased 1% to SEK 1.43
• C/I before credit losses (excl. Insurance) was 39.5% (40.7%)

The credit loss ratio was 2.7% (2.0%). 0.5% of the credit loss ratio refers to the extra credit provision, as commentedon in the statement by the CEO.

1 January—31 December 2019*

• Lending to the public rose 12% to SEK 31,345 million
• Operating income increased 7% to SEK 3,679 million
• Operating profit was impacted by an extra credit provision of SEK 35 million due to the the information we receivedthrough Norwegian Gjeldsregistret and declined 5% to SEK 1,563 million, excluding this effect operating profit wouldhave increased 7% to SEK 1,598 million.
• Earnings per share increased 6% to SEK 6.07
• C/I before credit losses (excl. Insurance) was 39.1% (40.5%)
• The credit loss ratio was 2.3% (2.1%). 0.2% of the credit loss ratio refers to the extra credit provision.
• The Board proposes that the 2020 Annual General Meeting resolve on dividends of SEK 2.10 per share (1.95).According to the company’s model of semi-annual dividend payments, dividends of SEK 1.80 per share (1.65)were paid in autumn 2019. Accordingly, the proposed dividend together with the dividend decided in autumn 2019 entails an increase of 8% compared with dividends in the preceding year.

Statement by the CEO

Resurs ended 2019 with continued profitable growth and a strong trend in underlying earnings. The earnings trend will benefit our shareholders through the proposed 8 per cent increase in dividends for the full-year. Overall we presented our best ever full-year earnings, despite a lower margin. Resurs continued to capture market shares in the fourth quarter of the year and delivered stable earnings with healthy growth in lending. Lending at year-end amounted to SEK 31.3 billion, corresponding to a 12 per cent increase compared with 2018. We supplemented our capital structure in the fourth quarter with an oversubscribed issue of Additional Tier 1 Capital of SEK 300 million. In December, the Board of Resurs decided to strengthen the financial capital target for the total capital ratio, raising it from 14 per cent to more than 15 per cent. All in all, these initiatives not only strengthen Resurs in meeting the higher regulatory buffer requirements, but the Additional Tier 1 Capital also means that we are well-positioned to continue to deliver profitable growth based on responsible credit lending.

Year distinguished by continued innovation and more strategic partnerships

Payment Solutions continued to report healthy and profitable growth during the year, primarily driven by increased volumes from our retail finance partners. The margin for the quarter was impacted by the customer mix and higher credit losses in Norway. A number of new collaborations with retail finance partners were initiated throughout the Nordic region during the year, in parallel with Resurs receiving renewed trust as a strategic partner from a large number of existing retail finance partners, such as Mio and Bauhaus.

Our Insurance business segment continued to develop its travel, security, roadside assistance and product insurance product lines with strong growth in both premium earned and technical result. In summary, first-rate operation that is making great progress.

Responsible credit lending in a challenging Norwegian market

Consumer Loans reported overall healthy lending growth for the year. The Norwegian market remains a challenge since the effect of the new statutory requirements and the implementation of the Gjeldsregistret changed the market conditions. Higher credit losses are probably to be expected, but we believe these will only affect a portion of our Norwegian credit portfolio and be of a temporary nature. Work was carried out to qualify as far as possible the over-indebtedness in the Norwegian market that was not possible to verify before Gjeldsregistret was introduced. The current IFRS 9 models are not sufficiently quick to identify future credit losses since the models are based on historical figures. In order to manage the increase in credit losses right away, an extra credit provision of SEK 35 million was made in the fourth quarter, alongside the model-based reserves that are made on an ongoing basis. I am proud of the conservative credit model that we follow for both assessment and the reserve ratio.

Looking ahead, we see many opportunities as the Norwegian market stabilises to design an offering that meets both the new rules of play and that delivers customer and business value.

Full focus on responsible business

Our dedication to Resurs’s most material sustainability topics – including responsible credit lending, anti-corrpution, equality and diversity – is not only an important prerequisite for growth and profitability but also for earning the trust of the market.

It is also gratifying that we were recognised in several different ways during the year, for example, for our work on shaping an equal opportunity workplace for which we were rewarded by holding our place on the AllBright Foundation’s green list of Swedish listed companies with gender equal management. Towards the end of the year, Resurs was named 2020 Career Company of the Year¹, which recognises employers who offer development opportunities for younger employees and, not least, ranked our transparency surrounding how we combat corruption among the top² of Swedish companies.

We can look back on another successful year in which Resurs continued to grow faster than the market and capture market shares. Our success lies in our extensive experience of retail, leading technological developments and a robust business model that combined with responsible business presents a strong combination that is difficult to beat. It is also a combination that means we are well positioned to seize all the opportunities offered by not only a new year but also a brand new decade!

Kenneth Nilsson
CEO, Resurs Holding AB

1 For more information, visit karriarforetagen.se/karriarforetag-2020/
2 “Sustainable Company” survey carried out by DI, Aktuell Hållbarhet and Lund University School of Economics and Management

More information:

Christina Kassberg, CFO & Head of IR, christina.kassberg@resurs.se  +46 42 38 20 00
Christina Jungvid Ohlsson, IR Officer, christina.jungvidohlsson@resurs.se  +46 70 781 65 58

About Resurs Holding:

Resurs Holding (Resurs), which operates through the subsidiaries Resurs Bank and Solid Försäkring, is the leader in retail finance in the Nordic region, offering payment solutions, consumer loans and niche insurance products. Since its start in 1977, Resurs Bank has established itself as a leading partner for sales-driven payment and loyalty solutions in retail and e-commerce, and Resurs has thus built a customer base of approximately 6 million private customers in the Nordics. Resurs Bank has had a banking licence since 2001 and is under the supervision of the Swedish Financial Supervisory Authority. The Resurs Group operates in Sweden, Denmark, Norway and Finland. At the end of the fourth quarter of 2019, the Group had 750 employees and a loan portfolio of SEK 31.3 billion. Resurs is listed on Nasdaq Stockholm.

* Certain performance measures provided in this section have not been prepared in accordance with IFRS or the capital adequacy rules, meaning that they are alternative performance measures. Calculations and reconciliation against information in the financial statements of these performance measures are provided on the website under “Financial reports.” Definitions of performance measures are provided on the website under “Financial data.” In this section, changes and comparative figures refer to the same period in the preceding year. This applies to all other sections of text in this interim report, profit/loss items and cash flow that are compared with the same period in the preceding year. The exception is for financial position for which the comparative figure refers to 31 December 2018.

This information is information that Resurs Holding AB is obliged to make public pursuant to the EU Market Abuse Regulation. The information was submitted for publication, through the agency of the contact person set out above, at 07:30 CET on February 2020.