There were a couple of questions on the US PDL yield from...

There were a couple of questions on the US PDL yield from analysts. About 460m of the PDL carrying value is US, the rest Aus. The collections in the US was just 189m on that asset pool, only 41% yield and much lower than Aus. From memory I think 70% is targeted. The CEO when asked mentioned a FY25 timeline to bring the US business inline with historic yields and returns.

I think the big ramp up in purchasing and new staff has front loaded the assets, while collections capability has lagged. Obviously CCP judged the prices good enough to justify putting the cart a bit before the horse. Productivity is still well below Aus/NZ, plus payment arrangements which are key to good collections are much lower in the US.

Also, CEO mentioned that in terms of headcount, they are now satisfied they have adequate capacity. So from now on I assume the focus will be on improving the reutnrs. The pathway to better returns is perhaps why no impairment has occured, although some impairment is still a risk given the rise in deliquency on payment arrangements.

On cashflow, lots of free cash is expected to be spun off in FY24 at current expected investment levels. Gearing should reduce and if some impairment is required at half year due to higher still deliquency, that won't imperil the balance sheet. CCP is conservative, so I certainly hope the values on the books aren't inflated, it would be completely against the track record of the company, which just recently has seen two competitors hit the rocks for that exact reason.

For a short to pay off in CCP you'd need a balance sheet crisis. I don't see that happening unless there is outright fraud going on. The company just doesn't have enough leverage at the moment.