KKR’s Aussie lenders are short of investor credit
25/08/2021 03:43
(The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions
expressed are his own.)
By Antony Currie
MELBOURNE, Aug 25 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Pepper Money and
Latitude have shown they can weather pandemic lockdowns and
thrive thereafter. Even so, the two non-banks backed by the
buyout shop are trading below their IPO prices earlier this
year. Some caution is warranted, but the discount to bigger
peers looks overdone.
Full view will be published shortly.
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CONTEXT NEWS
- Australian non-bank lender Pepper Financial on Aug. 24
reported pro-forma net profit after tax of A$66 million for the
first six months of the year, a 57% increase over the same
period in 2020. The company expects its annual pro form net
profit to exceed the A$120 million it projected in its IPO
prospectus, assuming New South Wales and Victoria, the country’s
two most populous states, emerge from coronavirus lockdown by
the end of the year.
- Rival Latitude on Aug. 23 reported cash net profit after
tax for the first half of the year of A$121 million, 81% higher
than the same period in 2020.
- Both companies are backed by private equity firm KKR and
had their initial public offerings in 2021.
<^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Pepper Money earnings https://ir.miraqle.com/DownloadFile.axd?file=/Report/ComNews/20210824/02410627.pdf
Latitude earnings https://investors.latitudefinancial.com.au/DownloadFile.axd?file=/Report/ComNews/20210823/02409887.pdf
BREAKINGVIEWS-IPOs give new meaning to Down Under
urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL3N2NK1SV
BREAKINGVIEWS-Capital Calls-KKR gets a down-round feeling Down
Under urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N2LT2AF
BREAKINGVIEWS-Japanese bank repositions Aussie lender’s owners
urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N2LA0C9
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(Editing by Jeffrey Goldfarb and Katrina Hamlin)
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