Moneysupermarket's loan sales hit by credit crisis

By Paul Sandle

LONDON (Reuters) - Price comparison web site Moneysupermarket.com (MONY.L) said on Thursday it was performing in line with expectations, but loan sales were being hit by lenders' reluctance to lend.

The company said in a trading statement that revenue from its loans and savings division fell over 15 percent year-on-year in the third quarter, meaning insurance overtook it as the largest source of commission revenue.

Shares in the group, which have lost more than 70 percent of their value since floating at 170 pence a share in July 2007, were down 3.8 percent at 44.25 pence at 9:04 a.m. having earlier traded as much as 7 percent lower at 42.75 pence.

Finance Director Paul Doughty said visitor numbers were up across all of the company's channels, which also include travel services and utilities, but fewer loan enquiries were being converted and credit card sign-ups were flat.

"There just isn't the lender appetite to lend," he said in a conference call with reporters.

The company had signed up Platinum Loans as a replacement for Barclays (BARC.L) subsidiary FirstPlus which was Moneysupermarket's largest loans provider until it withdrew from the market in the summer.

"It is converting significantly lower rates than FirstPlus did," Doughty said. "I am not expecting the majority (of FirstPlus business) to be replaced."

Savings enquiries were very strong, however, as customers sought safer institutions for their money, he said.