Financial Statements Bulletin 1.1.-31.12.2021

Financing volumes continued to grow strongly, the result was burdened by non-recurring costs related to the transition to banking operations

• Revenue decreased by three percent and was 10,7 million euros (11,1).
• Operating profit (EBIT) was -0.9 million euros (0,9).
• The amount of financing brokered increased by 60 percent from the previous year and totalled EUR 215.0 million (130.7).
• On December 22, 2021, the Extraordinary General Meeting decided to merge the company with Evli Bank Plc, which will continue its banking operations. If the merger is completed as planned, the company will continue its operations as Fellow Bank Plc from the beginning of April 2022 and create a new digital and customer-oriented bank in Finland.
• In preparation for future banking operations, the company strengthened its personnel and the number of employees increased to a total of 66 (54) by the end of the year.

• Revenue decreased by two percent and was 5.2 million euros (5,3).
• Operating profit (EBIT) was -1,4 million euros (0,8).
• The amount of financing brokered increased by 59 percent from the corresponding period of the previous year and totalled EUR 142.3 million (84.3).
• The result was significantly burdened by non-recurring expenses related to the merger with Evli Bank Plc and increased personnel expenses. 
• The company invested in the development of new services and preparations for future banking operations: the company launched an e-commerce payment solution in thousands of Finnish online stores and a mobile application for its private customers.

Fellow Finance adopted to IFRS reporting for the financial year ended 31 December 2020. Previously, the company's consolidated financial statements and semi-annual reports have been prepared in accordance with Finnish Accounting Standards (FAS). The figures in parentheses in this report refer to the audited comparative period of the IFRS consolidated financial statements, i.e., the same period in 2020, unless otherwise stated.

FINANCIAL GOALS AND PROFIT FORECAST FOR YEAR 2022

On December 22, 2021, Fellow Finance's Extraordinary General Meeting approved a merger in which the company will merge with Evli Bank Plc, which will continue its banking operations. Fellow Bank Plc, which will be formed upon the completion of the merger, will provide more detailed information on its financial targets and guidelines for 2022 after the completion of the merger. The proposed Effective Date of the Merger is April 2, 2022. Due to significant changes in Fellow Finance Plc business, the company will not provide more detailed financial guidance for 2022. Information on the long-term financial targets of Fellow Bank Plc, which will be formed upon the completion of the merger, is presented in the merger and listing prospectus published by Evli Bank Plc on December 7, 2021.

TEEMU NYHOLM, CEO: 

Strong growth in financing volumes continued and we prepared to commence banking operations, but earnings were burdened by non-recurring costs related to the merger

In 2021 our financing volumes continued to grow steadily and recover from the downturn caused by the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. Towards the end of the year, our monthly financing volumes surpassed the company's previous record levels. However, our revenue for the full year fell slightly short of the previous year due to a reduction in interest income from lending through our own balance sheet, a temporary interest rate cap enacted as a result of the pandemic and the focus on financial instruments with lower profit margins in the financing brokered by us. Our profit was burdened by non-recurring costs related to the merger arrangement with Evli Bank Plc and increased personnel expenses. Consequently, the company's result was negative in 2021, although without the above-mentioned non-recurring items, the result would have been slightly positive.

In our business areas, Finnish business financing in particular continued its very strong and steady growth. We also started on a good growth course in Finnish consumer financing. On the international markets, our financing volumes remained modest but, in accordance with our plans, we pursued projects to relaunch operations on the Polish and German markets. In Poland, we resumed lending operations in consumer financing towards the end of the year and launched an invoice financing service for SMEs. In Germany, our project with a new partner bank progressed, with the aim of launching business operations in 2022. In accordance with our strategy, we consolidated our business on the international market and wound down our operations in Sweden and the Czech Republic.

In July, we announced our merger agreement with Evli Bank Plc. As part of the arrangement Evli Bank Plc will demerge through a partial demerger into a new asset management group and a company that will carry on Evli's banking services and into which Fellow Finance will merge. The combined company formed in the merger will be Fellow Bank, whose goal will be to launch a new digital bank in Finland that will serve both private customers and SMEs. Our aim is to complete the merger and begin banking operations in early April 2022. The Fellow Bank that will be created in the arrangement will be the first Finnish digital bank with a very solvent and strongly capitalized capital, with strong and committed anchor owners.

During the autumn, we defined the business strategy for the future Fellow Bank together with Fellow Bank's new Board of Directors and announced the themes of the new strategy in December. The core of Fellow Bank's strategy is offering customers easy-to-use digital banking services combined with flexible, personal customer service. Furthermore, we will focus on selected customer segments that are underserved by traditional banks and on profitable product areas. 

The foundation of the bank's business is formed by Fellow Finance's large customer base combined with Evli Bank's deposit customers, which Fellow Bank continues to actively serve. As a bank, we will be able to offer our customers an even wider range of services, thus further expanding our customer base. With a digital service model and modern information systems, we achieve high operational efficiency. Above all, the new business model will improve profitability and competitiveness.

In May, we launched an e-commerce payment solution and during the autumn, we were able to offer our Fellow Invoice payment method comprehensively in thousands of Finnish online stores to both private persons and corporate customers. In August, we also launched a mobile app for our private customers, which will be our primary service channel at Fellow Bank going forward. During the autumn, we prepared for the integration with Evli Bank, developed new banking services and implemented processes in our organization required by regulations related to credit institution operations.

On the credit investor side, we concentrated on institutional customer relationships, and we are pleased to report that during the year we gained several significant new institutional investors for our peer-to-peer lending and crowdfunding platform. Furthermore, we succeeded in our strategic objective of increasing the share of lower-risk loans in the financing exposure. Credit risk management will continue to be a key aspect of our operations also in the future, and we were able to substantially reduce the credit losses of loans intermediated through the balance sheet of our subsidiary Lainaamo Oy in comparison with 2020.

During the latter part of the year, we increased the number of personnel in preparation for the forthcoming banking operations. We recruited new employees in service development and marketing, for example. As a result of the integration with Evli Bank, our organization will be further strengthened with experts in banking operations and risk management.

The year 2022 will be an important period of renewal for the company. Becoming a bank will fundamentally change our business model and grow our organization. We will gradually introduce new banking products and services to our customers during the year. Our large customer base in private and corporate customers and the deposit customer relationships inherited from Evli Bank will provide a strong foundation for our new business model. Providing our customers with a top-quality and flexible service will continue to be at the core of everything we do.

FELLOW FINANCE PLC

Further enquiries:

Teemu Nyholm: CEO, Fellow Finance Plc, teemu.nyholm@fellowfinance.fi,tel. +358 50 577 1028

Certified advisor: Evli Bank Plc, tel. +358 40 579 6210

Fellow Finance Plc is a loan-based crowdfunding and peer-to-peer lending platform. The company's mission is to transform the traditional financing and payments to direct transactions between people and businesses. Fellow Finance has intermediated consumer and business financing of more than 900 million euros in Finland, Sweden, Denmark, Germany, Poland and the Czech Republic and served more than 1 000 000 customers. The company is regulated by the Financial Supervisory Authority of Finland as an Authorized Payment Institution and listed on the Nasdaq First North Growth Market Finland. www.fellowfinance.com.