TORONTO, May 4, 2026 /CNW/ - Propel Holdings Inc. ("Propel" or the "Company") (TSX: PRL), the fintech facilitating access to credit for underserved consumers, today reported financial results for the three months ended March 31, 2026 ("Q1 2026"). Propel also announced that its Board of Directors has approved a further increase to its dividend from C$0.90 to C$0.96 per share on an annualized basis, effective Q2 2026. This represents an increase of 7% and the Company's eleventh consecutive quarterly dividend increase. All amounts are expressed in U.S. dollars unless otherwise stated.

Financial and Operational Highlights for Q1 2026 (Shown in U.S. Dollars unless otherwise stated)
Comparable metrics relative to Q1 2025

• Revenue: $166.1 million in Q1 2026, representing record quarterly performance, compared to $138.9 million in Q1 2025
• Adjusted EBITDA¹: $42.0 million in Q1 2026, representing record quarterly performance, compared to $41.2 million in Q1 2025
• Net Income: $20.7 million in Q1 2026 compared to $23.5 million in Q1 2025
• Adjusted Net Income¹: $23.0 million in Q1 2026 compared to $23.4 million in Q1 2025
• Diluted EPS²: $0.49 (C$0.67) in Q1 2026 compared to $0.56 (C$0.80) in Q1 2025
• Adjusted Diluted EPS^1,2: $0.54 (C$0.74) in Q1 2026 compared to $0.55 (C$0.80) in Q1 2025
• Return on Equity³: 31% in Q1 2026 on an annualized basis compared to 42% in Q1 2025
• Adjusted Return on Equity¹: 34% in Q1 2026 on an annualized basis compared to 42% in Q1 2025
• Loans and Advances Receivable: $466.4 million in Q1 2026, a record ending balance, compared to $380.1 million in Q1 2025
• Ending Combined Loan and Advance Balances ("CLAB")¹: $592.7 million in Q1 2026, a record ending balance, compared to $483.2 million in Q1 2025
• Dividend: paid a Q1 2026 dividend of C$0.225 per common share on March 4, 2026, representing a 7% increase to our Q4 2025 dividend

Management Commentary

"We are pleased to report a very strong start to the year, supported by stable credit performance, and delivered record first quarter originations, contributing to record revenue, Adjusted EBITDA¹ and Ending CLAB¹.

Supported by robust consumer demand, origination volumes remained strong into 2026, increasing by 30% year-over-year in the quarter and building on momentum from the end of 2025, driving growth across the portfolio. Credit performance was stable, with provision for loan losses of 45% of revenue, driven by our disciplined underwriting. This represents a significant improvement from 56% in Q4 2025 and reflects strong performance for a first quarter period.

Looking ahead, we remain focused on executing our growth strategy. We are expanding into new states in the U.S., introducing new products and adding new marketing partners and channels to scale originations further, while leveraging our AI-powered platform to support continued credit performance.

We are seeing strong momentum across the business. With a record Ending CLAB¹, sustained demand and  new growth initiatives beginning to scale, including Propel Bank and the launch of the Freshline product in partnership with Column, we are focused on the opportunities ahead. We are confident in our ability to deliver continued profitable growth in 2026 and beyond," said Clive Kinross, Chief Executive Officer.

Discussion of Financial Results and Business Strategy

• Strong consumer demand, expanded geographic reach, and additional product and marketing partners drove record first quarter Total Originations Funded¹, as well as quarterly record Ending CLAB¹ and revenue
  • Propel and its Bank Partners delivered record first quarter Total Originations Funded¹, supported by robust demand across both new and returning and existing customers. New customer Total Originations Funded¹ grew by 37% year-over-year in Q1 2026
    • Total Originations Funded¹ increased by 30% year-over-year to a first quarter record of $199.3 million in Q1 2026, driving Ending CLAB¹ to a record of $592.7 million, up 23% from Q1 2025
    • The growth in Ending CLAB¹ supported 20% year-over-year revenue growth to a  record $166.1 million in Q1 2026
• Disciplined underwriting and a strong tax season in the U.S. supported stable credit performance
  • Supported by the Company's AI-powered underwriting, Propel achieved a provision for loan losses of 45% of revenue in Q1 2026. This reflects a healthy credit environment, is consistent with seasonal trends and represents a significant decrease from the 56% provision the Company experienced in Q4 2025
• Net income and Adjusted Net Income¹ in Q1 2026 reflect continued growth and ongoing investment in the business
  • Profitability in Q1 2026 was driven primarily by record revenue alongside stable credit performance
  • Results also reflect a higher mix of new customer originations and continued investment in scaling key growth initiatives, including Propel International Bank Inc. ("Propel Bank"), Lending-as-a-Service ("LaaS"), and the Column N.A. ("Column") partnership, as well as ongoing investment in marketing channels and AI-driven capabilities to support long-term growth
• Propel UK continued to deliver against its 2026 strategy
  • Growth is expected to accelerate as the year progresses, supported by strong performance and credit trends, reflecting disciplined underwriting and expanded distribution channels
  • The business remains focused on expanding its addressable market in 2026 through new products and partnerships leveraging Propel's platform and infrastructure
• The LaaS program delivered record revenue of $5.9 million in Q1 2026, an increase of 114% year-over-year
  • LaaS program growth reflects continued expansion across existing bank partnerships and increasing origination volumes
  • With additional purchasers onboarded and expansion into new states, the LaaS program is expected to be an increasingly meaningful driver of growth in 2026 and beyond as the program scales
• Expansion initiatives increase addressable market and support long-term growth
  • Propel launched Freshline, in partnership with Column on March 10, 2026, with roll-out continuing through the balance of 2026 across additional U.S. states
    • The Freshline product expands Propel's presence into new customer segments and geographies, increasing its U.S. addressable market
  • To support the Freshline roll-out, Propel secured $210 million in new capital commitments in Q1 2026, including $60 million from Mesirow Alternative Credit and $150 million from a new institutional investor, representing the largest forward flow commitment in the Company's history
  • Propel also continued to operationalize Propel Bank, supporting lending and servicing activities across its U.S. programs while enhancing long-term strategic flexibility
• Strong financial position supports continued growth and an increase to our dividend
  • The Company maintains a strong financial position, supporting the continued expansion of its programs and growth initiatives
  • At quarter end, Propel had approximately $108 million of undrawn credit capacity on its various credit facilities with a Debt-to-Equity³ ratio of 1.2x
    • The Debt-to-Equity³ ratio has remained the same as the end of Q1 2025, even with the 23% growth in Ending CLAB¹ for the three month period ending March 31, 2026
  • On April 28, Propel upsized its Fora credit facility to C$40 million from approximately C$26 million and reduced the cost of capital on the facility by approximately 200 basis points per annum
  • The Company's strong financial position and continued earnings generation supported the decision to increase the quarterly dividend by 7% to C$0.24 per common share in Q2 2026

Dividend Increase
Propel also announced today that its board of directors has approved an increase to its dividend that represents an increase from C$0.90 per common share to C$0.96 per common share on an annualized basis. This represents an increase of 7% and the Company's eleventh consecutive quarterly dividend increase. The board declared a dividend of C$0.24 per common share, payable on June 3, 2026 to shareholders of record as of the close of business on May 15, 2026. The Company has designated this dividend as an eligible dividend within the meaning of the Income Tax Act (Canada).

Conference Call Details
The Company will be hosting a conference call and webcast tomorrow morning with a presentation by Clive Kinross, Chief Executive Officer, and Sheldon Saidakovsky, Chief Financial Officer.

Conference call details are as follows:

About Propel
Propel Holdings (TSX: PRL) the fintech building a new world of financial opportunity for consumers, partners, and investors. Propel's operating brands — Fora Credit, CreditFresh, MoneyKey and QuidMarket — together with Propel Bank facilitate access to credit for consumers underserved by traditional financial institutions. Through its AI-powered platform, Propel evaluates customers in a more comprehensive way than traditional credit scores can. The result is better products and an expanded credit market for consumers while creating sustainable, profitable growth for Propel. The revolutionary fintech platform has already helped consumers access almost 2 million loans and lines of credit and almost 3 billion dollars in credit. At Propel, we are here to change the way customers, partners and investors succeed together.  Learn more at propelholdings.com

Non-IFRS Financial Measures and Industry Metrics
This press release makes reference to certain non-IFRS financial measures and industry metrics. These measures are not recognized measures under IFRS and do not have a standardized meaning prescribed by IFRS and are therefore unlikely to be comparable to similar measures presented by other companies. Rather, these measures are provided as additional information to complement those IFRS measures by providing further understanding of our results of operations from management's perspective. Accordingly, these measures should not be considered in isolation nor as a substitute for analysis of our financial information reported under IFRS. Such measures include "Adjusted Diluted EPS", "Adjusted EBITDA", "Adjusted EBITDA Margin", "Adjusted Net Income", "Adjusted Net Income Margin", "Adjusted Return on Equity", "EBITDA", "EBITDA Margin", "Ending CLAB", and "Total Originations Funded". This press release also includes references to industry metrics such as "Annualized Revenue Yield", "Return on Equity" and "Total Originations Funded" which are supplementary measures under applicable securities laws.

These non-IFRS financial measures and industry metrics are used to provide investors with supplemental measures of our operating performance and thus highlight trends in our core business that may not otherwise be apparent when relying solely on IFRS measures. We believe that securities analysts, investors and other interested parties frequently use non-IFRS financial measures and industry metrics in the evaluation of issuers. The Company's management also uses non-IFRS financial measures and industry metrics in order to facilitate operating performance comparisons from period to period, to prepare annual operating budgets and forecasts, and to determine components of management and executive compensation. The key performance indicators used by the Company may be calculated in a manner different than similar key performance indicators used by other similar companies.

Definitions and reconciliations of non-IFRS financial measures to the relevant reported measures can be found in our accompanying MD&A available on SEDAR+. Such reconciliations can also be found in this press release under the heading "Reconciliation of Non-IFRS Financial Measures" below.

Forward-Looking Information
Certain statements made in this press release may constitute forward-looking information under applicable securities laws. These statements may relate to our declared dividend payable on June 3, 2026, our business development pipeline and our ability to introduce new products, expand into new states in the U.S. and add new marketing partners and channels to scale originations further, our ability to leverage our AI-powered platform to support continued credit performance, the strong demand from consumers we expect to see throughout 2026, our ability to deliver continued profitable growth in 2026 and beyond, LaaS program growth and its related impact in 2026 and beyond and the roll-out of Freshline through the balance of 2026 across additional U.S. states. Often but not always, forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "may", "will", "expect", "believe", "estimate", "plan", "could", "should", "would", "outlook", "forecast", "anticipate", "foresee", "continue" or the negative of these terms or variations of them or similar terminology.

Many factors could cause our actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements or future events or developments to differ materially from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements, including, without limitation, the factors discussed in the "Risk Factors" section of the Company's annual information form dated March 2, 2026 for the year ended December 31, 2025 (the "AIF"). A copy of the AIF and the Company's other publicly filed documents can be accessed under the Company's profile on SEDAR+ at www.sedarplus.ca.

The Company cautions that the list of risk factors and uncertainties described in the AIF is not exhaustive and other factors could also adversely affect its results. Readers are urged to consider the risks, uncertainties and assumptions carefully in evaluating the forward-looking information and are cautioned not to place undue reliance on such information. The forward-looking information contained in this press release represents our expectations as of the date of this press release (or as the date they are otherwise stated to be made), and are subject to change after such date. However, we disclaim any intention or obligation or undertaking to update or revise any forward-looking information whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required under applicable securities laws.

Selected Financial Information

Reconciliation of Non-IFRS Financial Measures
The following table provides a reconciliation of Propel's net income to EBITDA¹ and Adjusted EBITDA¹:

The following table provides a reconciliation of Propel's Net Income to Adjusted Net Income¹, Adjusted Return on Equity¹ and Adjusted Net Income margin¹:

The following table provides a reconciliation of Propel's Ending CLAB¹ to loans and advances receivable:

SOURCE Propel Holdings Inc.