May 27, 2021 – Mississauga, Ontario – Axis Auto Finance Inc. (“Axis” or the “Company”), (TSXV: AXIS) a fintech lender servicing the alternative auto finance market, announced record results for the third fiscal quarter ended March 31, 2021.
HIGHLIGHTS
- Record portfolio balance of $161.7 million in owned and managed assets, up 19% from $136.4 million at March 31, 2020;
- A 22% year-over-year increase in Adjusted Earnings to $1.4 million;
- A 57% year-over-year reduction in reportable delinquency to 3.43%;
- A 15% year-over-year reduction in credit losses to 9.17%; and
- A 19% year-over-year reduction in annualized operating expenses, expressed as a percentage of average portfolio balances.
Originations for the third quarter of fiscal 2021 were $26.6 million, of which $15.8 million were owned and on balance sheet and $10.8 million were volumes managed for Westlake Financial Services (“Westlake”). Originations continue to be affected by the various government restrictions on dealership operations, imposed to combat COVID.
Annualized credit losses were 9.17%, down from 10.79% in the third quarter of fiscal 2020, representing a 15% improvement. Further, the Company concluded the quarter with reportable delinquency of 3.43%, a marked reduction from 7.89% at March 31, 2020.
Operating expenses in the third quarter of fiscal 2021 were down $0.1 million to $3.9 million or an annualized run rate of 9.9% of average owned and managed assets. That represents a 19% reduction from 12.3% of average owned and managed assets in the comparative quarter of fiscal 2020.
Revenues were $9.5 million, a decrease of 5.0% year-over-year, the result of lower origination volumes in the quarter due to the ongoing COVID related auto dealership restrictions, most notably in Ontario and Quebec.
Adjusted earnings for the quarter was $1.4 million or $0.015 per share, as compared to $1.2 million or $0.012 per share in the third quarter of fiscal 2020. Net earnings for the quarter was $0.6 million or $0.006 per share, as compared to a net loss of ($0.7) million or ($0.007) per share in the third quarter of fiscal 2020. Adjusted shareholder equity was $42.6 million as at March 31, 2021, or $0.44 per share.
About Axis Auto Finance
Axis Auto Finance is a fintech lender providing alternative used vehicle financing options to roughly 30% of Canadians (Source: Equifax) that have credit scores in the non-prime range. All Axis auto loans report to the credit bureau, resulting in over 70% of customers seeing a significant improvement of their credit scores. These clients use Axis as a stepping-stone in their credit rebuilding journey and we are proud to be improving the lives of these Canadians. Supported by state-of-the-art, in-house developed risk analytics, Axis continues to be Canada’s fastest-growing publicly traded auto-financing company. Further information on the Company can be found at https://www.axisfinancegroup.com/investors-press-releases/.
Non-IFRS Measures
The Company’s interim unaudited consolidated financial statements have been prepared in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards (“IFRS”) as issued by the International Accounting Standards Board (“IASB”) and the accounting policies we adopted in accordance with IFRS.
The Company believes that certain Non-IFRS Measures can be useful to investors because they provide a means by which investors can evaluate the Company’s underlying key drivers and operating performance of the business, exclusive of certain adjustments and activities that investors may consider to be unrelated to the underlying economic performance of the business of a given period. A full description of these measures can be found in the Management Discussion & Analysis that accompanies the financial statements for the corresponding period.
The TSX Venture Exchange has neither approved nor disapproved the contents of this press release. Neither the Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
Axis Auto Finance Inc.
Ilja Troitschanski
President
(416) 633-5626
ir@axisautofinance.com