LendingClub Corp. shares declined after the online lender forecast loan originations below levels predicted by analysts, amid slackening demand for borrowing that already forced it to shed 14% of its workforce.
LendingClub expects to make between $1.9 billion to $2.2 billion of loans in the first quarter of this year, it said in astatementreporting fourth-quarter results. This was the first time the San Francisco-based company had broken out quarterly guidance, a decision it credited to “the rapid change in the economic environment,” it said.
“We’re basically setting up the company to navigate choppier waters, and that includes our appetite for credit and originations,” Chief Executive Officer Scott Sanborn said in an interview.
The company intends to remain profitable, while investing in-period earnings into loan retention to support future earnings, it said in the statement. For the last three months of 2022, LendingClub saw net income decline almost 19% to $23.6 million, as it was hurt by a decrease in loan originations which fell to $2.5 billion compared to $3.1 billion the year prior.
Cost Cutting
LendingClub said earlier this month that it would cut 225 employees and trim pay and benefits expenses by around $25 million to $30 million this year, as it contended with the decline in loan demand. It also outlined pretax charges of about $5.7 million at that time. On Wednesday, the company reported non-recurring charges of that amount, and said $1.3 million of which will be expensed in the first quarter of this year.
The shares fell as much as 9% in late trading in New York before paring some of those losses to trade down about 3% at 6:30 p.m. The stock is up more than 17% this year.
LendingClub said in December that it agreed to buy a $1.05 billion MUFG Union Bank loan portfolio, to help support the company’s revenue stream from recurring net interest income.
Fintech lenders have struggled as the cost of borrowing has skyrocketed to keep pace with the Federal Reserve’s interest rate hikes. LendingClub has differentiated itself from other fintech lenders by acquiring a bank charter, although the measure hasn’t entirely insulated the bank from the higher-rate environment.
