Higher margins, lower staff costs and declining charge offs are putting Latitude Financial in a sweet spot.

After a tough period, net profit on continuing operations for Latitude rebounded to $21.6 million over the half year to December 2024, from $9 million in the June half and a loss of $10.3 million in the December 2023 half.

Total operating income was $387 million, up 13 per cent over six months and up 19 per cent over 12 months.

Charging interest rates as high as 30 per cent on some personal loans, and much the same on its credit card portfolio, Latitude is not shy in declaring that a falling rate environment for funding costs will support even higher margins. It has not made any rate cuts since the RBA cut the cash rate early last week.

In FY2024 the net interest margin was 10.5 per cent, up 75 bps over a year and up 84 bps half on half.

Receivables of $6.7 billion mainly comprise card receivables in its Pay, or cards division.

New personal and car loan origination lifted 33 per cent over the year to $1.5 billion. Total purchase volume was $6.7 billion.

Latitude says it is the number 2 brand in personal loans in Australia, building on its GE Money heritage.

The average interest yield on its portfolio is 15.4 per cent, with an average yield on new business of 17.7 per cent.

The NIM on new business is 11.7 per cent.

What it terms expense base re-engineering seems to be paying off in spades, with FTE numbers down 30 per cent since the beginning of 2022.