Bad debts, write-offs tip Cash Converters into loss
Payday lender Cash Converters, which reports its 2018/19 results next month, has flagged a loss of between A$2 million and $4 million.The company said in a statement that revenue grew 8 per cent last financial year but it has made a number of adjustments that have tipped it into loss.These include $5 million of loan write-offs, after a credit risk review. The company said growth in its auto lending and personal loan books has come with an increase in bad debt expense. It has tightened its approval criteria.As a result of the credit risk review, the company will bring forward the point at which some loans are written-off, increasing the bad debt expense.Other write-offs include $3.5 million of accelerated amortisation and depreciation, $1.6 million on an IT project in the United Kingdom and $1.4 million of restructuring costs.In addition, legal costs involved in fighting the remaining class action (the other one was settled last year) added up to $3.2 million.