Recently, Lufax Holding Limited (Lufax Holding or the Company, HKG: 6623. lists by way of introduction on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, realizing dual primary listing on HKEX and the NYSE.
Lufax Holding now mainly provides small business owners (“SBOs”) and other highquality borrowers with tailored financing products. As of end of 2022, the total outstanding balance of enabled loans of the Company amounted to RMB576.5 billion (RMB, same as below), serving more than 6.6 million SBOs in China.
Cutting-edge technology helps solve industry pain points
SMBs are an important foundation for China’s economic and social development, contributing over 60% of China’s GDP and over 80% of its job creation. Traditional financial institutions encounter significant challenges in risk assessment of SMBs due to small scale and high turnover, making it difficult for SMBs to obtain the amount of financing required for their business development.
To address the financing pain points of SMBs, non-traditional financial service providers, represented by Lufax Holding, have fused their financial genes with advanced technology and leveraged their extensive traffic and data technology advantages to effectively solve the financing difficulties of SMBs. By combining data-driven algorithms, Lufax can comprehensively analyze customer risks and offer loan products with flexibility in structure, size and tenor for small and micro businesses based on different levels of user risk to meet the needs of SBOs. Meanwhile, Lufax continuously improved its algorithm model through continuous feedback from the monitoring data of post-origination, thereby optimizing the system and helping it better serve SME owners.
As of the end of 2020 and 2022, the outstanding balance of loans granted by Lufax to SBOs increased from RMB370.9 billion to RMB448.9 billion, with a compound annual growth rate of 10%. According to CIC, we ranked second among non-traditional financial service providers for SBOs in China in terms of total outstanding balance of inclusive SMB loans as of June 30, 2022, with a market share of 17.6%.
Bright industry prospects with U-shaped recovery potential
In October 2020, Lufax was listed on the New York Stock Exchange in the United States. Since its listing, the Company has always maintained compliant and prudent operation. In 2022, the Company achieved a total revenue of RMB58.1 billion and a net profit of RMB8.8 billion. At the same time, the Company focuses on creating value for its shareholders by starting to pay dividends in its second year of listing. The amount of dividends paid and to be paid in 2021 and 2022 represents approximately 29.4% and 40.0% of the net profit of the year, respectively.
Lufax Holding has a strong balance sheet position. As of December 31, 2022, the net assets of the Company increased to RMB94.8 billion from RMB83.2 billion as of December 31, 2020, of which cash at bank increased from RMB24.2 billion to RMB43.9 billion.
Recently, China’s economy has been on a clear upward trend, which has expanded room for growth for leading enterprises such as Lufax Holding. On the one hand, domestic fundamentals remain a strong recovery. According to financial data in March, new short-term corporate loans increased by RMB 1.08 trillion, an increase of over RMB 270 billion year-on-year, which objectively reflects that demand from SMEs also improved in March. On the other hand, Lufax Holding itself is actively adjusting its business to focus on higher quality customers and continues to push forward its cost control measures to improve operational efficiency. Listing filings indicate that as new loan vintages replace older ones, the Company’s financial performance is expected to achieve a U-shaped recovery, supported by a macroeconomic rebound and improved loan quality.
In the medium to long term, the credit market for SMBs still has great potential for growth. According to CIC, the total outstanding balance of inclusive SMB loans in China is expected to grow from RMB20.8 trillion as of the end of 2021 to RMB42.7 trillion by the end of 2026, representing a CAGR of 15.5%. The balance of such loans enabled by non-traditional financial service providers will grow at a CAGR of 17.7%, and the percentage of such loans will increase from 12.9% in 2021 to 14.1% in 2026.
The return of Lufax Holding to the Hong Kong stock market will help it realize its long-term growth strategy by synergizing with its business centred on China, and helping it to better capture the growth opportunities of the credit market in China’s micro and small enterprises. At the same time, a dual listing will also widen the investor base of the Company and increase the liquidity of the Shares. There is a possibility that company’s valuations will be reshaped in anticipation of a U-shaped recovery.