Carfinco profits from a growing market

Article Excerpt

CARFINCO FINANCIAL GROUP $7.93 (Toronto symbol CFNI; TSINetwork Rating: Speculative) (1-888 -486-4356; www.carfinco.com; Shares outstanding: 24.6 million; Market cap: $195.1 million; Dividend yield: 5.3%) provides car loans to consumers who aren’t able to meet the criteria of traditional lenders, like banks. Edmonton-based Carfinco started out by financing vehicle repairs in 1997. In 1999, it began providing loans for car and truck purchases. In January 2001, the company got out of the repair-financing business to focus solely on lending money to car buyers. Carfinco converted from a conventional corporation to an income trust in 2004. It converted back to a corporation on January 1, 2012. The company offers its loans through 1,459 car dealers across Canada. About 60% of its loan portfolio is in western Canada and 40% is in eastern Canada. The company recently entered the Quebec market. Carfinco aims to review a customer’s credit and provide an approval or a rejection within 30 minutes. It does this using an online application system. The…