Our MD and CFO join RAAS to discuss the FY23 results

00:00:00:00 - 00:00:27:09

Finola Burke

Hello I am Finola Burke from RAAS and today our focuses on ethically motivated financial services group. How many credit ASICs ticket PNC. And joining me to discuss the FY 2023 results and Outlook is managing director Keith John and CFO Barry Hartnett welcome Keith Barry. Thank you for joining us. Thanks Finola Lovely to be with you. So Keith I'll start with you, Pioneer,

00:00:27:09 - 00:00:57:23

Keith John

Credit delivered record FY 23 cash collections of 132.6 million and a return to profit is a $35 million turnaround on FY22 to record NPAT of $0.2 million. And underlying EBITDA which was up 42% or to 86.1 million, which was ahead of our forecasts. So where do you attribute the momentum in the business? Thanks, Finola. Look, it's it's been a remarkable result.

00:00:58:01 - 00:01:26:08

Keith John

Delivered pretty much across all lines of the business. So firstly, starting with investment, that was a good contribution, a very solid contribution from investment. We made late in PDP in FY 22. That investment was we bought very, very well. We think that's a a hallmark of this business. So we bought very well. And then of course, it's not just good enough to do that.

00:01:26:08 - 00:01:53:04

Keith John

We've got to operate, operationalize that. And Andrew Hoskins, who runs our operations, has done a remarkable job of making sure our people are mobilized and in that part of the business is operating very well. So that's been a fantastic achievement through the year one, we expect to continue, of course. And then the other part is we did have lower financing costs this year than we had in previous years.

00:01:53:04 - 00:02:17:14

Keith John

Unfortunately, the the cost of funds rose throughout the year and that that had a pretty dramatic impact on what would have been a much more significant bottom line contribution. But having said that, we're in a place where we can refinance that now later this year and that will that will continue to drive a material increase in profitability in 24 and beyond.

00:02:17:16 - 00:02:33:09

Finola Burke

And Barry the company did see a lower acquisition of PDP investment in FY 23, although obviously towards the end of the year that you did acquire. But does that in any way impact future performance for the group?

00:02:33:11 - 00:03:13:12

Barry Hartnett

So the lower investment does not impact our future performance on air has an inventory book of about 1.9 billion and the weighted average of the book is within three years. So there's significant upside to us on that and we expect to generate performance from that portfolio. The investment in FY 23 was conducted on the same level of discipline on those tranches that we've always done and pleasingly our experience and improved cash collections and returns to our underwriting forecast on those portfolios.

00:03:13:14 - 00:03:42:22

Barry Hartnett

So in FY 24, we expect the cash collections and the metrics to grow in excess of what we've just reported in FY 23. And you guided to a conservative PDP increasing in FY 24. What's behind that guidance and are you being more selective in your PDP acquisitions in this current environment? So we've based the guidance on what we've got contracted and committed to the company.

00:03:42:22 - 00:04:09:01

Barry Hartnett

At this point in time, we've got about 58% of the guidance locked away and contracted and forward flow agreements. This is the highest percentage of any financial year that we've started off with. So we think there's sufficient upside to that guidance. Again, disciplined in our approach in terms of what we acquire. And our focus remains on banking and finance.

00:04:09:03 - 00:04:35:06

Barry Hartnett

In FY 22, 99 million was spent, but prior to that was our large inventory portfolio with a slightly higher price because it's performing again, we expect more of those inventory style large portfolios to come to markets. We haven't considered those in any of our guidance figures at the moment. In terms of the environment, the current environment is favorable for Pioneer.

00:04:35:08 - 00:05:04:18

Barry Hartnett

What we're seeing at the moment is reduced competition for pdp's and a vendor preference to sell to Pioneer. So again, we think there's we think there's upside in this guidance. And what's your expectation for the timing on the refinancing of your debt? How much of appetite is there out there budget currently? So on our current facility, we've got a may call which is up at in early November.

00:05:04:20 - 00:05:28:08

Barry Hartnett

Ideally, we would like to be you know agreed and looking to execute on any transaction in the first half of this financial year. We have appointed advisors who've been working with the team now for a couple of months and they've also sort of sounded Americas. And you know, what we're hearing back is there is strong appetite for our credit.

00:05:28:08 - 00:05:53:05

Finola Burke

So we expect to get this way and we expect to get it away at a materially reduced cost of funds and Keith you played with the prospect of a return to dividends. Is that something you would contemplate in the FY 24 year? I would certainly love to be there. I mean, it will it will depend, of course, on how much profit we can make and how soon we can get that cost of funds down and by how much.

00:05:53:07 - 00:06:29:19

Keith John

But, you know, this business has a proud history of paying dividends. It's it's rewarded shareholders in the same way shareholders rewarded it. And we want to get back that super quick. We're back into the profitability path now. So it's just a function of time before where we're back in that position. Thank you Keith and Barry for joining me today to discuss Pioneer credit results and I look forward to catching up with you throughout the course of the next 12 months to check on your progress.