Peer-to-peer lender Zopa scraped back into profit last year, but rising default levels have led it to crack down on who it allows to borrow, writes Rosamund Urwin. The company, which has lent out £3.3bn in total, matches borrowers with investors wanting to lend. It has applied for a banking licence and wants to launch its bank within a year. A float has been pencilled in for 2020.
Chief executive Jaidev Janardana said a float was “the natural destination for the business — though right now we are focused on building the bank”. Zopa was founded in 2005 by a team including chairman Giles Andrews and Richard Duvall, Egg co-creator, who died in 2006. Zopa made a pre-tax profit of £111,000 in 2017, against a…
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/zopa-back-in-black-8d3rsr2xj
