Australia’s Latitude Group rescinds buyout offer for Humm’s BNPL business

(Reuters) – Australian digital payments and lending firm Latitude Group Holdings on Friday terminated its A$335 million ($235.97 million) offer to buy Humm Group Ltd’s consumer unit that includes its buy now, pay later (BNPL) business.

Humm Group cited current major disruptions in the financial markets for the termination, in a statement to the bourse.

The termination comes after Humm said its consumer unit, Humm Consumer Finance, saw a 61% on-year plunge in year-to-date cash net profit after tax at the end of May due to intense competition, rising interest rates, and weakening consumer sentiment.

Additionally, the fintech firm said it intended to review the strategic direction of its consumer unit to focus on its core products and markets as it seeks to restore profitability.

Latitude Group said in a separate statement that its BNPL business represented less than 1% of its revenue and receivables, and that it was profitable and well capitalised to execute future opportunities.

($1 = 1.4196 Australian dollars)

(Reporting by Tejaswi Marthi in Bengaluru; Editing by Vinay Dwivedi and Subhranshu Sahu)