Latitude Finance has reported stagnant new personal and auto lending volumes over the half despite receivables reaching a six-year high.
Non-bank consumer lender Latitude Financial has reported flat year-on-year personal and auto loan originations of $785 million, even as total card and loan volumes climbed 4 per cent to $4.4 billion in the first half of the financial year 2026.
The result points to resilient demand across Latitude’s broader consumer-finance portfolio, but a more measured pace of new lending as inflation and higher interest rates continue to weigh on household budgets.
Total volumes were also 8 per cent lower than in the preceding six months.
Gross receivables increased 4 per cent year on year to $7.3 billion, their highest level in six years, while the lender said personal loan receivables reached a “record high.”
Managing director and CEO Bob Belan said the lender had delivered a positive first-half performance despite more difficult economic conditions.
“Latitude delivered a strong first half result despite a more challenging macro-operating environment,” he said.
Belan acknowledged that ongoing cost-of-living and borrowing pressures were persisting, but said the lender’s credit performance had continued to track within expectations.
“Persistent inflation and higher interest rates continue to place pressure on some Australian households; however credit performance has remained within our expectations,” Belan said.
Applications lift as originations level out
Latitude received 277,000 applications during the half, up 8 per cent year on year, including 98,000 applications from new accounts.
It opened 148,000 new customer accounts, a 1 per cent increase.
The lender said strong demand underpinned the record first-half originations and that of its reported $785 million new-origination volume, 48 per cent was fixed rate and 52 per cent was variable rate.
The product mix remained weighted towards home improvement lending, which represented 31 per cent of personal-loan volumes.
Vehicle purchase and repair accounted for 21 per cent, followed by debt consolidation at 19 per cent, travel at 11 per cent, medical and dental at 6 per cent, and other purposes at 11 per cent.
Largest non-bank unsecured lender
Latitude said that it remained Australia’s second-largest personal-loan provider and the country’s largest non-bank unsecured consumer lender, with a portfolio more than double that of its nearest non-bank competitor.
It added that it was ranked fifth nationally across personal loans and cards, behind the major banks.
The lender noted that its position in the market further reflected its distribution footprint, which included 6,000 active accredited loan brokers at the end of the half.
[Related: Latitude hit with fresh $3.96m fine over spam breaches]
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