Zopa’s P2P business posted £ 6m loss in final year

Zopa’s peer-to-peer lending business posted a pre-tax loss of almost £ 6bn in its final year in operation.

Zopa confirmed in December 2021 that it was exiting the P2P space, to focus on its digital bank.

Its winding-down P2P business was sold and rebranded as Plata Finance earlier this year. It no longer accepts retail investors but still maintains an institutional investor base.

Financial results for the 12 months to 31 December 2021, filed with Companies House, reported a pre-tax loss of £ 5.95m, down from a loss of £ 8.5m the previous year.

Plata Finance saw its fee and commission income drop by 45 per cent year-on-year to £ 12.4m in 2021, which it said was driven by the decision to close the P2P platform to new investors in December 2020.

Read more: Zopa Bank deposits pass £ 2bn

It also noted a decline in originations over the year, which resulted in a 23 per cent decline in fee and commission expense.

Looking ahead, Plata Finance said that its strategy is “to maintain the existing institutional investors and continue to grow the institutional P2P business bringing in new investors and making new consumer loans.”

Read more: Zopa backer Northzone raises € 1bn for new fintech fund

The firm did not pay a dividend to investors in 2021.

Zopa launched in 2005 as a P2P consumer lending platform and unveiled its intentions to launch a digital bank in 2016.

Zopa Bank won its full banking license in mid-2020 and started offering savings accounts in August of that year.

Zopa’s bank deposits crossed the £ 2bn mark last month, which it said was due to high demand for its mobile only account – Smart Saver – and its fixed term savings accounts.

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