REG - Manx Financial Group - Q4 FY 2025 Update

Manx FinancialAnnouncement

11/02/2026 07:00

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RNS Number : 4873S  Manx Financial Group PLC  11 February 2026

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
 
11 February 2026

 

Manx Financial Group Plc

(The "Group")

 

Q4 FY 2025 Update

 

Manx Financial Group (AIM: MFX), the holding company providing a wide range of
diversified financial services to the Isle of Man and the United Kingdom,
reports on the quarter ended 31 December 2025. All figures quoted are subject
to audit confirmation.

 

Douglas Grant, Group CEO, commented:

"As part our initiatives to increase investor communications, I am pleased to
release the second of our quarterly operational updates to keep shareholders
and prospective shareholders up to date with highlights within the Group's
operations. This quarter, we will again focus on Conister Bank Limited and
Payment Assist Limited."

 

Highlights

·      Conister Bank's loan book grew by 2.1% over the quarter, with
deposits increasing by 7.3% in the same period. The loan book increased by
11.6% in the full year, with deposits growing by 11.7% over the same period;

·      Conister Bank's net lending rate provisionally increased by 1.0%
to 10.4% during the year;

·      Conister Bank's entry into the UK consumer overdraft market has
now received regulatory approval and is scheduled to commence during Q2 2026;

·      The results of the FCA's consultation relating to the industry's
historical Discretionary Commission Arrangements ("DCA") are due in March
2026. The Group expects an additional provision will be required; and

·      Payment Assist Limited advances grew by £59.7 million in the
final quarter, an increase of 45.5% compared to the same quarter in the
previous year. Advances for the full year grew by 28.9% to £219.7 million.

 

Overview

Loan book growth of the Group's principal businesses was maintained in 2025 at
12.0%, albeit tempered in the last quarter by a slowdown in activity as
businesses and consumers put investment decisions on hold ahead of the Budget.
Leaks and speculation about potential measures to be included began early and
continued up until the Chancellor's statement in Parliament. This created a
climate of uncertainty in which spending plans for many Small and Medium sized
Enterprises ("SMEs") and consumers were put on hold. Activity has now picked
up again, and with the inflation and cost of living issues affecting both
consumers and SMEs (which together constitute our core customer base)
continuing, we believe demand for the Group's short term financing products
will remain robust.

 

With regard to the Group's DCA liability in relation to motor vehicle sales,
the Group considers that an increase in this provision will be required based
upon the Financial Conduct Authority's ("FCA") provisional remediation
methodology. Until the redress scheme has been finalised and announced in
March, the actual increase in this provision cannot be accurately calculated.
Once finalised, the Group will provide an update in the next quarterly
operational update or in the annual accounts - whichever is published first.
The Group has also made an additional provision in relation to the
Government's withdrawal of its 100% guarantee for certain loans issued under
the Covid-era Bounce Back Loan Scheme. The Group notes that, by making
provisions early, it will remove these historic distractions from its balance
sheet to allow it to focus on the future. In a similar context, shareholders
will remember that 2024's result included a one-off gain following the
provision reversal of £1.8 million. Adjusting for these three one-off
provisions covering both years will provide a better understanding of the
Group's operational performance by flattening any abrupt annual movement.

 

In terms of investor relations, we attended our first live event in London,
hosted by Mello, and were gratified by the level of interest shown by the
retail investors at the conference. We plan to attend a ShareSoc event in
Leeds in April, alongside our annual appearance at the Master Investor
Conference (also in April), and we will host another Investor Meet Company
presentation on the announcement of our 2025 results.

 

Conister Bank

The loan book, being gross loans net of deferred income and before provisions,
increased by 11.6% in the year. This, together with an increase in deposits of
11.7%, improved our liquidity position and left our loan-to-deposit ratio, a
key operational efficiency metric, virtually unchanged at 92.8%, a movement of
just 0.1%. With interest rates easing slowly, the Bank has been able to
improve its provisional net lending rate, being its gross lending rate net of
commissions, by 1.0% to 10.4% during the year, this has fed through to an
improved net interest margin of 53.0%, being an improvement of 15.9%
year-on-year.

 

The FCA consultation on introducing an industry wide compensation (redress)
scheme with regard to DCA in relation to motor vehicle sales was opened on 7
October 2025 and closed on 12 December 2025. The results of the consultation
are expected to be published by the FCA in March of this year. Whilst the
Group believes that its historical practices were compliant with the law and
regulations in place at the time, it recognises that there will be some cost
to be incurred or compensation awarded to those car buyers affected and,
therefore, recognises a provision based on its own probability weighted
assessment of how the FCA would apply the various factors identified by the
Supreme Court. The FCA consultation paper provides further detail on its
proposed redress approach, including significantly broadening the scope of the
overall redress scheme, how unfairness would be assessed, time bar and
proposed redress methodology. Based on the FCA proposals in their current form
and a re-analysis of our historical motor loans book, we have determined that
an increase, albeit by a yet to be determined amount, in the provision from
the previous provision of £0.2 million will be appropriate.

 

During the Covid-19 pandemic, Conister Bank acted as a funder within the UK
Government's Bounce Back Loan Scheme. These loans had a 100% UK Government
guarantee, which has now been withdrawn in certain cases. As a result, we have
recognised a small provision for this loan portfolio to cover expected
underwriting losses.

 

We have made good progress in implementing the white-label partnership with
Fiinu plc to provide the Conister Overdraft. Regulatory approval was received
in December and user acceptance testing is underway. We are working on the
remaining deliverables and are targeting product launch during Q2 2026,
initially to Payment Assist Limited's substantial customer base of over
1,000,000 customers and 8,000 garages.

 

Since the FCA's overdraft reform in 2020, 16.5 million people have lost access
to unarranged overdrafts, with a further 6-8 million losing arranged
facilities since 2022. The reforms, which imposed a single interest rate and
banned fixed fees, led many banks to reduce overdraft availability. Key
features of the Conister Overdraft are that consumers do not need to switch
banks to use it and it is the first overdraft in the UK where interest is
capped at 90 days - after that point, interest stops completely.

 

Payment Assist

Our buy-now-pay-later subsidiary, Payment Assist Limited experienced a strong
finish to the year, with advances for the fourth quarter up £18.7 million to
£59.7 million, with annual advances increasing by £49.2 million to £219.7
million. The business has invested heavily in new collections software which
it expects to be fully operational in Q1 2026 and is also finalising an
additional liquidity facility, which it expects to announce later this year.

 

FCA oversight in this sector is scheduled to commence on 15 July 2026 and the
company is well advanced in its preparation for this new piece of customer
focused regulation. As the company continues to re-focus on lending to the
automotive industry, it is reducing its exposure to the less profitable, more
volatile, sectors.

 

Our Irish consumer credit licence application, which is automotive sector
focused, is progressing as planned after a positive meeting with the Central
Bank of Ireland ("CBI"). We are still anticipating a summer decision from the
CBI on this licence. If favourable, we will then approach our IoM and UK
regulators for permission to proceed.

 

Manx Ventures

In addition to Payment Assist, the Group's other unregulated lending
subsidiaries have continued to deliver organic growth in their niche markets.
Our FX business has delivered in line with expectations, while our Isle of Man
wealth management subsidiary is performing well. In both the Isle of Man and
the UK, we are planning to expand our insurance offering as we believe this
will provide cross-selling opportunities for other parts of our Group.

 

The Board is examining options for the businesses in Manx Ventures to create
monetisation opportunities to increase shareholder returns. These
opportunities could include partial or outright sale, joint-venturing and IPOs
for more mature businesses if market conditions allow. We will update
shareholders on this strategy in our next quarterly report.

 

Outlook

The focus for 2026 is to become more efficient, eliminating unnecessary costs
and driving organic growth through our main operating subsidiaries. As well as
making our existing businesses more profitable, the Board believes that the
current market and business environment has created opportunities for value
accretive acquisitions. This could both help the Group to enter new sectors
and increase our size, making us more attractive to a broader range of
investors.

 

Douglas Grant, Group CEO
11 February 2026

 

THIS ANNOUNCEMENT CONTAINS INSIDE INFORMATION FOR THE PURPOSES OF THE MARKET
ABUSE REGULATION (EU No. 596/2014) AS IT FORMS PART OF UK DOMESTIC LAW BY
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For further information, please visit Home - Manx Financial Group PLC
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or contact:

 

 Manx Financial Group PLC  Beaumont Cornish Limited   Shore Capital              Tavistock Communications Limited

 Denham Eke                Roland Cornish/            Tony Gibbs/

                           James Biddle               Oliver Jackson             Simon Hudson/

                                                                                 Adam Baynes
 Tel: +44 (0) 1624 694694  Tel: +44 (0) 20 7628 3396  Tel: +44 (0) 20 7408 4090

                                                                                 Tel: +44 (0) 20 7920 3150

                                                                                 mfg@tavisock.co.uk

 

About Manx Financial

Manx Financial Group (AIM: MFX) is a diversified UK banking and financial
services group with a proud Manx heritage. The Group holds Isle of Man and
UK banking licences, allowing it to provide flexible funding solutions across
both territories focused on SME lending. Knowledge of the SME sector has
enabled MFX to build a portfolio of valuable subsidiaries, from start-ups to
selective and accretive acquisitions, which are creating significant value for
shareholders. These entrepreneurial subsidiaries are grouped under our
entrepreneurial subsidiary Manx Ventures Limited.

 

Nominated Adviser

Beaumont Cornish Limited ("Beaumont Cornish") is the Company's Nominated
Adviser and is authorised and regulated by the FCA. Beaumont Cornish's
responsibilities as the Company's Nominated Adviser, including a
responsibility to advise and guide the Company on its responsibilities under
the AIM Rules for Companies and AIM Rules for Nominated Advisers, are owed
solely to the London Stock Exchange. Beaumont Cornish is not acting for and
will not be responsible to any other persons for providing protections
afforded to customers of Beaumont Cornish nor for advising them in relation to
the proposed arrangements described in this announcement or any matter
referred to in it.

 

 

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