PayPal entry punishes Australia's pricey buy-now-pay-later stocks

[SINGAPORE] Shares in Australia's Afterpay and its smaller consumer lender rivals tumbled for a second day on Wednesday, as the entry of US giant PayPal into the buy-now-pay-later sector sent investors scrambling to re-price its frothy stocks.

Afterpay fell as much as 12.4 per cent, before paring losses, and has shed about A$2.4 billion (S$2.40 billion) in market capitalisation in the two trading sessions since PayPal Holdings said it would offer small, short-term loans to US customers.

"Having such a large customer base already in the US, PayPal certainly throws a spanner in the works for their expansion plans," said James Tao, a market analyst at CommSec in Sydney.

Rivals also tumbled, with Zip Co Ltd dropping as far as 17.7 per cent and Sezzle Inc 15.5 per cent before both trimmed losses. They have each lost more than 23 per cent in two days. Openpay Group and Splitit each fell about 9 per cent.

Afterpay and other alternative credit firms, which offer small instalment loans to shoppers and make money by charging merchants a commission, are riding the boom in online shopping that has been sparked by the coronavirus pandemic.

The US is regarded as the sector's largest growth market and is a key focus for most of the Australia-listed buy-now-pay-later companies.

GET BT IN YOUR INBOX DAILY

Start and end each day with the latest news stories and analyses delivered straight to your inbox.

Sign UpVIEW ALL

PayPal's US offering is a fee and interest-free loan for purchases between US$30 and US$600, repayable in four instalments over six weeks.

That is broadly similar to Afterpay's product, which has proven popular enough among millennials to convince investors of its growth potential.

A 900 per cent rally in the share price since March has catapulted the company into Australia's top 20 largest listed firms, even though it has never turned a profit.

Afterpay, Zip Co, Sezzle, Openpay and Splitit did not immediately respond to emailed requests for comment. Zip Co's chief executive officer was quoted in the Australian Financial Review as saying his firm expected and is prepared for more competition.

REUTERS