Enova International, Inc. (NYSE:ENVA) Q4 2022 Earnings Call Transcript

Operator: The next question comes from John Hecht with Jefferies.

John Hecht: I appreciate all the guidance. Real quick on that, Steve, you said the words for the near-term when you gave a few guidance factors around some of the expenses and so forth. When you were saying near term, was that just referring to the first quarter? Or is that more of kind of just kind of a base case throughout the year as you stated it?

Steven Cunningham: Yes. I mean for the most part, as I wrapped up at the end there, I clarified that it’s primarily focused on the first quarter. So aside from what David just asked, most of my guidance was related to first quarter expectations as we’ve been providing a quarter forward general view for a while now.

John Hecht: Okay. That’s helpful. And then I guess a little follow-on for David’s question. Just as you emphasized more of the line of credit product given your focus, what should we think about the overall yields and so forth kind of the mix of the — I don’t know, the ROA drivers in the consumer book as you kind of emphasized that product over the course of the year?

Steven Cunningham: Yes, I mean I think you’ve seen a little bit of — if you’ve seen our supplement, yields ticked up just a little bit which is what we said last quarter when we were asked about it. You might see a bit of a change but not a return to kind of where we were last year. And I think that’s going to hold true. So I think you’re going to continue to see strong risk-adjusted cash flows, as you’ve seen in the fair value marks on the consumer book as we make these adjustments and that’s a reflection of the performance as well as the cushions that we’re building related to ROE to give us flexibility.

David Fisher: Yes. I think the only thing I would add is the ROEs on that product are very strong. So I think that’s why you’re seeing the strong fair value marks with the higher yields over time. With that mix shift, you’ll see slightly higher charge-offs than you would have with the installment product. But given the higher yields and the higher fair value marks and the higher ROEs, that the returns on the product are very, very strong. So yes, if we see slightly higher charge-offs in the consumer book, it’s likely to be largely mix-related.

John Hecht: Okay. And then last question, just because we’ve heard like in the small business that certain industries are doing well, certain industries have been challenged, I guess, tied to inflation. You guys are obviously sailing through that kind of variability with pretty consistent results. So I’m wondering, as you kind of tightened or refined in that segment, are there different subsectors that you can — you’ve been emphasizing and some that you’ve been shying away from or any color you can give us on that?

David Fisher: Sure. So I think one reason we’re able to manage this well is we got way out in front of it. This is not last quarter or 2 initiative. This really started with COVID and has been continuing ever since. So we look at industries, we break it down, it’s really 100 different industries if you think kind of high level. Restaurants, we continue to be cautious with, although they’re doing very, very well now. So we certainly haven’t abandoned that space at all but it’s a place we’re watching out for. Trucking is a mess; the whole industry is having problems, from supply chain issues affecting their loads but also their ability to fix their trucks, fuel prices, just a whole bunch of factors. Trucking is really problematic right now.