Firstmac has announced that it now holds more than $10 billion of loans under management and settled a “record” $3.5 billion of loans in the last financial year.
The non-bank lender revealed that record growth in the year 2017–18 ($3.65 billion of settlements) helped the group reach the $10 billion milestone, with both the Firstmac and loans.com.au brands contributing to the 21.8 per cent increase in loan book growth.
Managing director Kim Cannon commented: “Getting to $10 billion is a great reward for the many people who have worked hard to build this company and gives confidence to potential customers, while also enhancing our status in international funding markets.
“I am especially proud that this growth has been achieved entirely through writing prime-quality loans, allowing us to maintain a low default rate that is the envy of the banks.”
The lender has now reportedly written more than 100,000 home loans and manages approximately $10 billion in mortgages and $250 million in cash investments.
The milestone comes as the non-bank lender extends its reach across the broker channel; in March of this year, the lender joined the panel of Choice Aggregation Services.
Stephen Moore, chief executive officer of Choice, said at the time: “Providing our members and their customers with a wide range of lending options is a key priority for us as an aggregator.
“The addition of Firstmac to Choice’s lending panel will further strengthen the wide range of lending solutions already available via our network.”
Mr Moore added that the aggregation company “took a serious approach” to selecting high-quality lenders for its panel, adding that he believes that Firstmac “certainly demonstrate[s] a strong track record in delivering housing finance to Australians”.
“With close to 40 years’ experience in writing home loans, and a service-oriented support team, Firstmac will be welcomed warmly by Choice brokers,” the chief executive said.
[Related: Choice adds new lender to its panel]