Pepper Money continues to make noise — and record numbers.
With takeover speculations now out in the open, the lender has revealed record-breaking originations, underscoring its growth momentum and strengthening the case for its valuation. At the same time, the surge highlights a broader shift underway in Australia’s lending landscape, where non-banks are no longer fringe players, but gaining serious ground.
On Thursday, Pepper reported full-year results, revealing broad-based growth. For the 12 months ending 31 December 2025, mortgage originations surged 66%, year over year. Statutory net profit after tax grew to $104.6 million, up from $98.2 million last year. And total assets under management (AUM) increased 14%, year-over-year, to $21.8 billion, up from $19.1 billion in December 2024.
"I am extremely proud of our achievements over [calendar year] 2025," said Mario Rehayem, chief executive officer of Pepper. "It has truly been a record-breaking year across all areas."
By category, asset finance originations climbed 20% to $3.5 billion, while prime originations soared 148% over the period. Commercial property lending jumped 56% to $400 million. Approximately 97% of mortgage originations came through the broker channel, the company said. Meanwhile, mortgages accounted for $10.2 billion of Pepper’s total AUM, asset finance totaled $6.5 billion, and service assets made up the remainder.
Pepper Money made headlines recently after it was confirmed that Australian investment manager Challenger Limited was in advanced talks with Pepper Money parent company Pepper Group ANZ HoldCo., to buy a portion of Pepper Money. Both companies declined to comment on the financial terms of the deal.
As of late 2025, Pepper Money, which turned 25 last year, served more than half a million customers. Rehayem told Australian Broker that the firm has its sights set on surpassing more than one million customers by 2029.
"The horizon is looking good for us," Rehayem said. "What we've done in 25 years, we want to do in the next five years."
Pepper offers residential home loans in both Australia and New Zealand, as well as personal, commercial, asset finance and self-managed super fund lending in Australia. The firm went public in 2015, only to go private again after being acquired by KKR in 2017. Pepper was eventually relisted on the ASX in 2021. Rumors began circulating last spring that the company was up for sale. If the deal with Challenger goes through, then Pepper Money will once again be delisted from the ASX.
