Zopa celebrates £1.5m profit as revenues climb by 40% to £46.5m

Zopa has announced a 2017 profit after tax of £1.5m for its peer-to-peer business. This marks its move back into full year profitability*.

It was a year of strong and sustainable growth for Zopa, with 2017’s revenue of £46.5m up 40% on 2016 (£33.2m revenue, loss of £5.8m). The rise in revenue sits alongside an increase in money lent out, with 2016’s £690m up by 43% to £985m. Over the last five years, Zopa has grown its lending and revenues at over 65% CAGR.

A focus on tech innovation, including letting customers know in seconds whether they are pre-approved for a loan, alongside a range of initiatives and partnerships to reach new customers, fuelled the progress.

Commenting on the year’s success, Zopa CEO, Jaidev Janardana, said: “2017 was a landmark for us. We’re proud to see the company’s efforts reflected in our record lending figures, profitability and strong customer growth. It’s a big step towards Zopa’s vision to be the best place for customers’ money. We’ve invested significantly in technology, in our proprietary back office infrastructure, and in our people, all of which have helped Zopa to continue to scale and grow sustainably.”

In 2017, Zopa became the first major peer-to-peer lender to receive full FCA authorisation. This made possible the launch of its Innovative Finance ISA in June, in response to customers wanting their peer-to-peer investments included in a tax-efficient ISA wrapper.

Zopa reached the £3bn lent-to-date milestone in January 2018. This follows 2017’s milestone, when Zopa became Europe’s first peer-to-peer platform to pass £2bn. It hopes to achieve another set of exciting milestones over the coming year as it launches a bank in order to broaden its product offering to customers.

Other highlights included: • Zopa’s headcount hit 312 by the end of 2017, up 53% from 204 in 2016. • In November, Zopa enjoyed a record month, with £100m lent out.

*Zopa booked full year profits in 2011 and 2012.

Zopa’s full results are available for download: http://cdn.zopa.com/documents/2017-zopa-annual-report-financial-statements.pdf