Subprime lender Goeasy reports Q4 loss of $336.9M

MISSISSAUGA — Stiff headwinds related to automotive and power sports loans helped push Goeasy Ltd. to report a fourth-quarter loss of $336.9 million along with layoffs, write downs and more challenges ahead.

The lender, which saw its share price plunge in March after it disclosed that it was writing off $178 million in loans, saw its shares under pressure Wednesday as the firm talked of a turnaround ahead.

“The leadership team here is certainly spending some time reflecting on how we got to this point. These aren’t results that we want,” Patrick Ens, who stepped into the CEO role in January, told a conference call with financial analysts.

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As part of the turnaround effort, Goeasy said it’s pulling back on its LendCare segment where it issues loans indirectly through merchants. The $178-million charge was related to the LendCare business, as was a $159.6-million goodwill impairment charge.

“We are taking decisive action to pull back where we see the weakest performance,” Ens said.

“We’ve significantly tightened credit standards and reduced exposure in auto lending, power sports, and other merchant channels.”

The firm also said it cut its staff by nine per cent in March, amounting to about 237 employees.

Goeasy said it expects loan performance to see further pressure in the first half of this year before resuming growth in the second half, but Ens didn’t commit to a timeline for a return to profitability.

“There’s a variety of moving pieces there that are all intended to strengthen and improve the profitability of the company as we move forward. We haven’t provided more precise guidance than that,” Ens said.

The lender focuses on consumers with non-prime credit scores and charges interest rates that reflect higher risk. It’s weighted average interest rate was 27.5 per cent at the end of 2025.

The firm said that along with losses in its LendCare segment, the federally instituted interest rate cap of 35 per cent that came into force at the start of last year also affected its financial performance.

The lender’s troubles come as many Canadians faced with inflation, higher unemployment and other pressures struggle.

The Bank of Canada says the share of instalment loans at least 90 days behind in payments has surged from 1.29 per cent around the end of 2021 to 2.64 per cent as of the fourth quarter of 2025. Auto and credit card loans in arrears have also been climbing, but not as dramatically.

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However Ens said the non-prime segment remains promising.

“Our platform addresses a large target market, 9.5 million Canadians with non-prime credit scores who collectively represent almost $238 billion in non-mortgage credit balances,” he said.

“That group is underserved by the mainstream financial institutions. With no dominant player, the market opportunity is attractive for participants that can execute with discipline.”

Goeasy said its losses for the fourth quarter amounted to $20.49 per diluted share, compared with a profit of $54.2 million or $3.12 per diluted share a year earlier.

On an adjusted basis, Goeasy says it lost $8.93 per diluted share in its latest quarter compared with an adjusted profit of $3.32 per diluted share in the fourth quarter of 2024.

Revenue for the quarter totalled $406.3 million, compared with $407 million a year earlier.

The company says it generated $951.5 million in loan originations in the quarter, up from $813.7 million a year earlier, while its consumer loan portfolio stood at $5.51 billion at the end of the quarter, up from $4.60 billion at the end of 2024.

As of mid-morning Wednesday, the company’s share price was down about 7.4 per cent to $35.39 on the Toronto Stock Exchange. On March 9, before it disclosed the charges, the stock topped $115 a share.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 1, 2026.