“Potok” made room – Newspaper Kommersant No. 28 (7473) dated 02/15/2023

The first month of this year turned out to be successful for the crowdfunding market, with a year-on-year growth of 77%. At the same time, for the first time in the history of observations, the leader changed in the segment. Potok lost first place in terms of volume of financed transactions to JetLend. According to experts, the rapid growth in this segment is fraught with increased risks, and at least several months are needed for the final alignment of the players’ forces.

In January 2023, the leader changed in the crowdfunding market for the first time, it follows from the data prepared by Money Friends, which Kommersant got acquainted with. For the first time since the start of monitoring industry indicators, JetLend, and not Potok, has become its largest player (the main shareholder of which was previously Alfa-Bank, now the share in the company belongs to the Moscow Exchange, see “Kommersant” dated June 10, 2022). So, according to Money Friends, JetLend financed transactions for 382 million rubles, and Potok – for 353 million rubles. For comparison: at the end of December 2022, these figures were at the level of 440 million rubles. and 526.6 million rubles. respectively. And according to the results of the first half of 2022 – 258 million rubles. and 353 million rubles, follows from the materials of Money Friends. In total, according to the results of January, financing for 1.026 billion rubles was issued on the crowdlending market. Compared to the results of the same period last year, the growth was 77%.

JetLend offers a product that no one else on the market uses – revolving credit lines, its CEO Roman Khoroshev explains the results of the company. “The tool allows companies to choose tranches at any time. Colleagues do not have such a competitive advantage,” he says.

Market participants assess the change of leader differently. “JetLend has a very aggressive sales policy. For them, market share is more important than profit. I see a risk for their future in this,” says Timur Ksenz, CEO of Money Friends. But according to Yuri Kolesnikov, a member of the expert council of the State Duma Committee on the Financial Market, this is a long-term trend. “It is expected that a more aggressive, technologically advanced and introducing elements of artificial intelligence into scoring procedures, the player has become the market leader. I do not think that this is a one-time monthly result, this is a pattern, ”he is sure.

Experts do not yet see fundamental grounds for Potok to lose its position. “Given that the market is small, individual transactions have a strong impact on volumes. To talk about a long-term change of leader, you need to look at the dynamics of at least a few months, ”says Dmitry Alexandrov from Ivolga Capital Management Company.

They are not inclined to worry in the “Stream” itself. “For us, as a platform to which investors have entrusted their funds, it is important that they receive maximum profitability,” said Yuri Popov, CEO of Potok. “We consider it most important to maintain our leadership positions in this parameter.” He added that the figure of one month is unrepresentative. JetLend offers a product that no one else on the market uses – revolving credit lines, its CEO Roman Khoroshev explains the results of the company.

At the same time, the risks of the segment are high: small and micro businesses are financed in crowdlending, which is the most affected by the economic situation, Mr. Alexandrov warns. The average overdue rate for the platforms included in the AIIP is about 3%. Timur Ksenz estimates the share of arrears at 5% of portfolios. “The NPL15+ indicator in May reached a peak of 1.8%: the growth was mainly due to the fact that many borrowers worked with Europe and were forced to rebuild the chains,” notes Roman Khoroshev. “Now it has returned to a level of less than 1%.” For the most part, borrowers on platforms are of very high quality, says AOIP Executive Director Kirill Kosminsky. “If this indicator of the leader starts to grow strongly, it will be critical, until this happens, the growth can be called sustainable,” the expert concludes.

Polina Trifonova, Ksenia Dementieva