Lending Club (NYSE: LC), the largest marketplace lending platform in the US, has announced Q3 results. For the quarter ending September 39th, the online lending platform stated that loan originations jumped from $2.24 billion versus $1.17 billion in same quarter year prior. Operating revenue came in at $115.1 million compared to $56.5 million in Q3 2014. This was an increase of 104%. Adjusted EBITDA stood at $21.2 million, an improvement from $7.5 last year. Net income swung into positive territory as Lending Club claimed $1.0 million in earnings. The same period last year generated a loss of $7.4 million. Earnings per share stood at $0.04 – which beat average earnings estimates of $0.02/share. Shares of Lending Club moved higher as the market was encouraged by the improved expectations for the rest of year.
Lending Club CEO Renaud Laplanche commented on the quarter;
“We had another spectacular quarter, with revenue growth re-accelerating from 98% to 104%, and EBITDA jumping 181% year-over-year to reach 18.4% margin,” said Laplanche. “With over 1.2 million customers, continuously high customer satisfaction, strong credit performance, increased marketing efficiency and lower customer acquisition costs, we are continuing to observe tremendous network effects and benefits of scale. Our results this quarter combined with our raised Q4 outlook lead us to forecast a near doubling of revenue again this year and look toward 2016 with high confidence.”
Guidance was increased for Q4 with revenue expected in the range of $128 to $130 million, up from $122 to $124 million.
“The third quarter demonstrated the operating leverage inherent in our business model, with marketing and operational efficiency delivering record contribution margin, flowing through to higher than planned EBITDA and GAAP profitability,” said Carrie Dolan, CFO. “We remain excited by the opportunity that lies ahead and will continue to invest in product, automation, risk management and channel development to strengthen our platform and continue to penetrate and further expand our addressable market. We head into the fourth quarter with strong momentum and the confidence to raise our outlook for both revenue and margin.
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