Avant Money’s loan books hits €3bn while Dilosk eyes expansion

Avant Money's mortgage book stood at €2.2bn at the end of the year. Stock image

Donal O'Donovan

Total lending by Avant Money in Ireland hit €3bn last year despite a slowdown in the pace of growth at its new mortgage business as higher interest rates sapped switcher appetite.

Spanish lender Bankinter’s Irish operation reported new mortgage production of €800m in 2023, down 37pc compared with the previous year. Even so, the mortgage book stood at €2.2bn at the end of the year, up 41pc. Consumer lending on credit cards and personal loans was up 19pc.

Earlier this week the Spanish parent reported recurring profits of €845m, up 51pc year-on-year.

Niall Corbett, CEO at Avant Money, said the firm here continues to contribute positively to the overall group’s financial and business performance, delivering strong growth across their credit card, personal loan and mortgage portfolios. The lender’s bad loans represent just 0.4pc of lending.

“The strength of our parent company and its commitment to diversify across different geographies aligns very well with our ambitious growth plans for Ireland,” Mr Corbett said.

Meanwhile, Irish-owned non-bank lender Dilosk is preparing a renewed push to win a greater share of the owner-occupier mortgage market after raising €400m on the markets.

Non-banks that are dependent on capital markets for funding have been at a relative disadvantage to banks since the European Central Bank (ECB) began hiking interest rates in mid-2022, because bank savers are less aggressive than bond investors at seeking to get interest rate hikes passed on.

However, the consensus is that rates have peaked and will fall this year, putting non-banks back in contention to compete on price.

Dilosk DAC, which trades as ICS Mortgages, said on Friday it had raised €400m of a possible €1bn on offer from investors in its eighth public bond issuance. The new debt is fully backed by ICS Mortgages’ owner-occupier residential mortgages.

The bonds were issued by Dilosk RMBS No.8 (STS) DAC and placed with 26 investors.

BNP Paribas and Bank of America acted as arrangers with Natixis joining them as lead managers.

Dilosk’s co-founder and CEO Fergal McGrath said strong investor demand enabled the firm to “significantly tighten” pricing to levels not seen in the past two years.

“Following this successful deal, we will be announcing over the coming weeks several exciting enhancements to our current owner-occupier product range as we look to grow our mortgage business in 2024 and beyond,” he said.