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Encore Capital Group Announces Fourth Quarter and Full-Year 2024 Financial Results

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Encore Capital Group, Inc.
Encore Capital Group, Inc.
  • Favorable U.S. market for portfolio supply continues

  • Global portfolio purchases in 2024 up 26% to record $1.35 billion

  • Global collections in 2024 up 16% to $2.16 billion

  • Actions taken to resolve Cabot issues resulted in a loss for the quarter and the year

SAN DIEGO, Feb. 26, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Encore Capital Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: ECPG), an international specialty finance company, today reported consolidated financial results for the fourth quarter and full year ended December 31, 2024.

“2024 was a year of significant growth for Encore,” said Ashish Masih, Encore’s President and Chief Executive Officer. “Our global portfolio purchases increased by 26% to an all-time high for us and global collections increased by 16% compared to 2023. Higher portfolio purchasing in recent years is a key driver of our growth in collections and ultimately cash generation growth of 20% for the year.”

“In the U.S. in 2024, continued growth in bank lending, coupled with rising delinquencies and charge-offs, led to record supply for non-performing loan portfolios and a continuation of the favorable purchasing environment in the U.S. market. As a result, our largest business, MCM, increased U.S. portfolio purchases in 2024 by 23% to a record $1 billion. In addition, anchored by stable consumer payment behavior throughout the year, MCM collections increased by 20% compared to 2023.”

“For our Cabot business in the U.K. and Europe, 2024 was a year of progress, but also significant restructuring to resolve certain persistent issues and enable future success. Cabot portfolio purchases increased by 36% compared to 2023, driven by exceptional Q4 purchases of $200 million that included large spot-market portfolio purchases at attractive returns. For the year, Cabot collections increased by 8% compared to 2023. Despite these successes, Cabot’s business environment continued to be highly competitive and impacted by macroeconomic factors such as subdued lending growth and low charge-offs. In 2024, we took certain restructuring actions including the exit from two underperforming markets, beginning with the Spanish secured non-performing loan (NPL) market in Q3 followed by the Italian NPL market in Q4. We also made adjustments to Cabot’s estimated remaining collections (ERC), particularly in the fourth quarter. These actions resulted in a $101 million goodwill charge in Q4.”

“We believe our reported financial results in 2024, and in particular our net loss of $139 million, or ($5.83) per share, are not indicative of the operational performance of our business due to certain non-cash charges, the largest of which were the goodwill impairment related to our Cabot business and the adjustments to Cabot’s ERC in Q4, which reduced earnings for the quarter and the year. We believe these Cabot ERC adjustments, in addition to other actions taken during the year, place Cabot on a more solid footing. We expect Cabot’s future performance to align closely with its rebased ERC.”