Loan originations continued to climb for LendingClub in the third quarter, yet profitability remained out of reach even as the lender continued to recover from the scandal that forced out its former CEO.
The marketplace lender made $2.4 billion in loan originations during the third quarter, 24% higher than it did in the year-earlier quarter. Net revenue increased 34% from last year to $154 million, driven mainly by higher loan origination volumes.
“LendingClub’s strong growth and record revenue are clear indicators of our platform’s appeal to both borrowers and investors,” CEO Scott Sanborn said in a press release. “Responsibly helping more people get access to the credit they deserve is why we exist as a business and hitting new milestones on both sides of the marketplace is a testament to the power of our business model.”
The San Francisco company’s previous CEO, Renaud Laplanche, left last year after the board of directors discovered that certain information related to the sale of a loan had been falsified.
LendingClub posted a $6.7 million loss in the period ended Sept. 30, but that still represented an 81% improvement from the $36.5 million loss it posted a year earlier. For the first nine months of the year, Lending Club’s losses totaled $62 million, compared with $113.7 million in the comparable period last year.
LendingClub said it also surpassed 2 million borrowers on its platform in the quarter, launched its fifth-generation credit model, executed its second self-sponsored securitization and brought on 10 new investors.
