Feel the damage: Max credit card company’s profits fell by 57% to NIS 47 million during 2020, and revenues eroded by 10% to NIS 1.23 billion. According to CEO Macron Painero, “The financial statements are a reflection of the corona year.”
The data also show that credit losses increased by 25% due to difficulties with private customers and businesses.
Max ended the fourth quarter of 2020 with revenues of NIS 308 million – 11% lower than in the fourth quarter of 2019. This loss was caused as a result of the decrease in credit card activity due to the corona restrictions on the public. Expenditure decreased by 13% to NIS 287 million in this quarter, and profit amounted to NIS 15 million, compared with NIS 8 million in the corresponding quarter last year.
The corona crisis was felt mainly in the decline in purchases and travel abroad. The public spent more on food and pharma, and less on leisure, culture and recreation. Accordingly, the demand for credit also decreased. Credit stood at 7.7%.
Data on the use of Max’s credit cards indicate a continuation of the accelerating upward trend in online consumption. If in the first closure 62% of the turnover was registered online, then in the second closure the figure rose to 67%, and in the third closure it even reached 76%.
The number of valid credit cards at the end of 2020 was 2.8 million – an increase of 3.6%. The number of non-bank cards increased by 5.8% and reached 1.1 million.
Shareholders’ equity amounted to NIS 1.35 billion, compared with NIS 1.50 billion at the end of 2019. In February 2020, a cash dividend of NIS 250 million was distributed.