Welcome to the annual meeting of shareholders of Goeasy Ltd. Please note the meeting is being recorded. I would like to introduce Mr. David Ingram, Executive Chairman of the Board of today's meeting. Mr. Ingram, the floor is yours.
Thank you. Good afternoon, everyone, and thank you for joining us at the annual meeting of the shareholders of Goeasy Ltd. My name is David Ingram. I am the Executive Chairman of the Board of Goeasy, and I will also be acting as Chair of today's meeting. Allow me to outline the agenda for this afternoon. We have eight formal matters of business to conduct. Once the formal business of the meeting has been completed, I will turn the agenda over to Jason Mullins, President and CEO, who will make a presentation regarding business highlights and outlook. We will then take any questions. Given that this is a virtual meeting, the votes in today's meeting will be conducted by online ballot for all matters.
If, as a registered shareholder or a duly appointed proxyholder, you are using your control number to log into the meeting and you accept the terms and conditions, you will be provided with the opportunity to vote by online ballot. If you have already voted by proxy and you vote again during the online ballot during the meeting, your online vote during the meeting will revoke your previously submitted proxy. If you have already voted by proxy and do not wish to revoke your previously submitted proxy, do not vote again during the online ballot. The poll will be opened for all resolutions at the same time. This will allow you to choose to vote on each resolution immediately or wait until conclusion of discussion on each resolution prior to casting your vote.
Given the virtual format of today's meeting, and in order for us to expeditely undertake the business to be conducted at the meeting, we would request that registered shareholders and duly appointed proxyholders who have signed in using their control number and have specific comments or questions on formal items of business, make such written submissions now, clearly identifying the applicable item of formal business as well as your name and contact information. By clicking on the Ask a Question button and submitting their question. We will do our best to answer all questions, but if for any reason we are unable to do so during the meeting, we will endeavor to follow up after the meeting if you have provided your contact information with your question.
Once discussion of all items of business has concluded, I will give you one minute to enter your votes and then declare voting closed on all resolutions. If you have any questions not specifically relating to an item of formal business to be discussed at today's meeting, please feel free to submit those questions at any time during the meeting, and we will do our best to ensure that such questions are addressed at the conclusion of the meeting. The results of the meeting will be released to the TSX today and available on our website. I now declare the polls open on all resolutions. I will now call the meeting to order. I will preside as Chair of this meeting. I shall ask Sabrina Anzini to act as Secretary of the meeting.
Unless there is an objection, I shall appoint Christopher De Lima of TSX Trust Company to act as scrutineer for the meeting. The Secretary has advised me that the notice calling this meeting, together with the form of proxy, Management Information Circular, and the annual report containing the financial statements of Goeasy Ltd. for the financial year ending December 1, 2023, and auditors' report thereon, have been sent to each director of the corporation, the auditors of the corporation, and each intermediary and registered holders of common shares of the corporation of record on March 19, 2024, the record date for the meeting. Additional copies of these materials are available on the corporation's website and on SEDAR+. Accordingly, I will dispense with the reading of the notice of the meeting.
The scrutineer has provided me with a preliminary report regarding shareholder attendance at this meeting. The scrutineer reports that there are present at this meeting, in person or represented by proxy, 188 shareholders holding 9,545,139 common shares. Accordingly, I declare that the requisite quorum of shareholders is present, and I declare that the meeting is duly and properly constituted for the transaction of business. I direct that the confirmation of mailing of the notice of the meeting received from TSX Trust Company and the scrutineer's complete reports on attendance be annexed to the minutes of the meeting. There are several matters that must be dealt with during the formal part of the meeting.
In order to expedite these matters, I've requested that certain persons make and second the formal motions, and I will call on these persons at the appropriate time. The Secretary has the minutes of the last meeting of shareholders of the corporation, and these can be examined at any time. I will dispense with the reading of the minutes of such meetings. The first item of business is the presentation of the corporation's consolidated financial statements and the auditor's report thereon, which have been made available prior to the meeting and are available on the corporation's website and on SEDAR+. I will dispense with the reading of the auditor's report to the meeting. We will now proceed with the election of directors. The number of directors to be elected at the meeting is nine. I declare the meeting open for nominations.
In the interest of expediency, I will make the nominations on behalf of the management of the corporation. I nominate these persons, those persons specified in the Management Information Circular, delivered with the notice of meeting, namely, David Appel, Karen Basian, Tara Deakin, David Ingram, Donald Johnson, James Moore, Sean Morrison, Jason Mullins, and Jonathan Tétrault, to serve as directors of the corporation, to hold office until the next annual meeting of shareholders, or until their successors are duly elected or appointed in accordance with the articles and bylaws of the corporation. Are there any further nominations? As no further nominations were received, I now declare the nominations closed. May I have a motion that nine persons nominated as directors of the corporation be so elected?
I so move.
Thank you, Hal. May I have the motion seconded?
I second the motion.
Thank you, Farhan. I will now call for a vote on the motion. The online ballot will allow for voting for each individual director nominee. If you have already voted by proxy and do not wish to revoke your previously submitted proxy, do not vote again during the online ballot. We will now proceed with the reappointment of the auditors of the corporation. May I have a motion that Ernst & Young LLP be reappointed as auditors of the corporation until the next annual meeting of shareholders, or until a successor is appointed, and that the board of directors are authorized to fix the auditors' remuneration?
I so move.
Thank you, Jason. May I have the motion seconded?
I second the motion.
Thank you, Hal. I will now call for a vote on the motion. If you have already voted by proxy and do not wish to revoke your previously submitted proxy, do not vote again during the online ballot. As described in the Management Information Circular, it is proposed that the Corporation Share Option Plan be ratified and the continued granting of unallocated options thereunder be approved. May I have a motion that a resolution in the form of the resolution attached to Schedule A to the Management Information Circular, approving the ratification of the Corporation Share Option Plan and continued granting of unallocated options thereunder, be passed as a resolution of the Corporation?
I so move.
Thank you, Jason. May I have the motion seconded?
I second the motion.
Thank you, Farhan. I will now call for a vote on the motion. If you have already voted by proxy and do not wish to revoke your previously submitted proxy, do not vote again during the online ballot. As delivered in the Management Information Circular, it is proposed that the corporation's Executive Share Unit Plan be ratified and the continued granting of unallocated units thereunder be approved. May I have a motion that a resolution in the form of the resolution attached to Schedule B to the Management Information Circular, approving the ratification of the corporation's Executive Share Unit Plan and continued granting of unallocated units thereunder, be passed as a resolution of the corporation?
I so move.
Thank you, Jason. May I have the motion seconded?
I second the motion.
Thank you, Farhan. I will now call for a vote on the motion. If you have already voted by proxy and do not wish to revoke your previously submitted proxy, do not vote again during the online ballot. As described in the Management Information Circular, it is proposed that the corporation's Deferred Share Unit Plan be ratified, and the continued granting of unallocated units thereunder be approved. May I have a motion that a resolution in the form of the resolution attached at Schedule C to the Management Information Circular, approving the ratification of the corporation's Deferred Share Unit Plan and continued granting of unallocated units thereunder, be passed as a resolution of the corporation?
I so move.
Thank you, Jason. May I have the motion seconded?
I second the motion.
Thank you, Hal. I will now call for a vote on the motion. If you have already voted by proxy and do not wish to revoke your previously submitted proxy, do not vote again during the online ballot. As described in the Management Information Circular, it is proposed that the corporation's Articles of Continuance be amended to effect a split of the corporation's common shares. May I have a motion that a resolution in the form of the resolution attached to Schedule D to the Management Information Circular, approving the amendment to the corporation's Articles of Continuance to effect a split of the corporation's common shares, be passed as a resolution of the corporation?
I so move.
Thank you, Jason. May I have the motion seconded?
I second the motion.
Thank you, Hal. I will now call for a vote on the motion. If you have already voted by proxy and do not wish to revoke your previously submitted proxy, do not vote again during the online ballot. As described in the Management Information Circular, it is proposed that the Share Option Plan be amended to change the maximum number of common shares available for issuance from treasury under the Share Option Plan, and it is proposed that the Deferred Share Unit Plan be amended to change the maximum number of common shares available for issuance from treasury under the Deferred Share Unit Plan . May I have a motion that a resolution in the form of the resolution attached to Schedule E to the Management Information Circular, approving the amendment to the Share Option Plan to change the maximum number of common shares available for issuance-...
from treasury under the Share Option Plan and approving the amendment to the Deferred Share Unit Plan to change the maximum number of common shares available for issuance from treasury under the Deferred Share Unit Plan , be passed as a resolution of the corporation.
I so move.
Thank you, Jason. May I have the motion seconded?
I second the motion.
Thank you, Farhan. I will now call for a vote on the motion. If you have already voted by proxy and do not wish to revoke your previously submitted proxy, do not vote again during the online ballot. I confirm the polls are now closed, and I am pleased to confirm that the scrutineers have reported to me that all matters put to a ballot have been passed with the requisite shareholder approval. Accordingly, as a result, I hereby declare the directors elected and the auditors reappointed. A report disclosing the voting results will be filed on SEDAR+ and disclosed in a press release in due course. Is there any other formal business that may be properly brought before this meeting? If not, that concludes the formal business brought before the meeting. I wish to thank you all for attending, and I now declare this meeting to be terminated.
I will now turn the agenda over to Jason Mullins, President and CEO, who will make a presentation regarding business highlights and outlook. He will then take any questions thereafter.
Thank you, David. Good afternoon, everyone, and welcome to Goeasy's Annual General Meeting. Today I will briefly review the highlights of our business results for the year ended December 31st, 2023, and discuss our outlook. 2023 truly highlighted the growth potential of our diversified lending platform and the resilience of our team. Despite the challenging environment, rising interest rates, and turbulent capital markets, Goeasy produced record results, once again demonstrating the ability of our company to adapt and respond to the rapidly changing world around us, as we continued to grow market share and achieve all our commercial targets during the year. Our business initiatives and strong consumer demand led to a record amount of loan originations that exceeded CAD 2.7 billion.
The increase in origination volume resulted in a net increase in the loan portfolio of CAD 851 million for the year. Our core unsecured loan products, home equity lending, powersports financing, and automotive financing, were all part of the most significant contributors. With the elevated loan growth, the year closed with a consumer loan portfolio of just over CAD 3.6 billion, up 30% over the prior year. The larger loan portfolio led to a 23% increase in revenue, which finished at over CAD 1.2 billion for the year. During the year, we also made great progress executing our strategy, with numerous highlights and accomplishments, of which I will highlight just a few. One of our biggest achievements was crossing a milestone of CAD 3 billion consumer loan portfolios.
Our automotive financing product more than doubled, with the addition of approximately 900 new dealerships to our network, as we continue on our journey to be the number one non-bank, non-prime auto lender in Canada. We also launched Goeasy Connect, our new digital platform that provides consumers with one-stop access to all of our credit products across our brands, through a simple and easy-to-use digital customer experience. In addition, through our graduated interest rate program and expanded product offering, we continued reducing the cost of borrowing for our customers in 2023, with the weighted average interest rate charged on our loans declining to 30.3% at year-end. Lastly, we continued to build a world-class culture, with employee engagement scores at record levels of 84% and recognition as a great place to work and being named one of the best workplaces in Ontario.
2023 also marked another year of stable credit performance, with a net annualized charge-off rate of 8.9%, directly in line with our target range. Despite the worsening economic environment, a combination of proactive credit and underwriting enhancements and shifting product mix continued to improve the portfolio. Over the last three years, these enhancements improved the quality of future originations as a result of raising our minimum credit tolerance and adjusting the required loan affordability ratios. Furthermore, we have continued to increase the proportion of secured lending volume, which has increased from 12.5% of our loan portfolio entering 2021 to over 42% today. As we continue to invest in AI, machine learning, and data analytics, our capability to monitor, measure, and design credit strategies and accurately predict and produce the desired credit outcomes continues to strengthen during the year.
We also focused on operational efficiencies that produced operating leverage during the year. With a rising interest rate environment and a strategy to lower the cost of borrowing for customers, it is imperative that we fully leverage our cost structure. In 2023, our efficiency ratio, operating expenses as a percentage of revenue, declined from 33.6% to 30.2%, improving nearly 340 basis points. To support our accelerated growth, we also made material enhancements to our balance sheet, including upsizing our securitization facility for our automotive financing program from CAD 200 million to CAD 500 million, and completing a $550 million USD senior unsecured note offering.
After normalizing for unrealized losses associated to our investments and non-recurring expenses, adjusted net income was a record CAD 243 million, up 27%, while adjusted diluted earnings per share increased to CAD 14.21, up 23%. As mentioned, we experienced a significant increase in the organic loan growth of the portfolio, which is highly accretive and will help fuel earnings growth into the future. Adjusted return on assets for the year was 6.5%, leading to adjusted return on equity of 25.4% above our targeted level of return. The results in 2023 helped continue our long track record of producing industry-leading returns for shareholders, with earnings that have compounded nearly 30% over the last 10 years.
Within the last five years, Goeasy's adjusted EPS growth ranks among the top 60 companies on the TSX and the highest among the 29 companies in the TSX Financials Index. The strong earnings growth also enabled us to lift the dividend in 2023 to CAD 4.68 per share, the tenth consecutive annual increase. With a large and underserved CAD 200 billion non-prime consumer credit market in Canada, we are incredibly excited about the future. As we have said many times before, we still feel like a small company in the early stages of our growth journey. Many of our product lines, such as automotive financing and point-of-sale lending, are in the early stages of development. We believe our new consumer-facing mobile app, which provides access to all our products in one simple digital interface, will transform the way non-prime consumers obtain credit.
Lastly, we have still yet to fully monetize our platform by exposing all the pre-approved credit offers available to our customers across all our lending brands. As we continue to scale our business and expand the loan portfolio, we remain committed to continuing our multi-decade track record of generating industry-leading returns for shareholders. We are confident that the momentum and scale of our business, combined with the multi-year journey we have been on to reduce the cost of borrowing for customers, has well-positioned us to capture the market opportunity that lies ahead. In fact, the current macroeconomic conditions, favorable competitive environment, and regulatory changes will only serve to create more opportunity for Goeasy. We remain well on track to grow the consumer loan portfolio to approximately CAD 6 billion by the end of 2026, with yields gradually declining and credit losses gradually improving.
All combined, we remain confident that we can continue to grow annual earnings for years into the future. In closing, I want to thank the entire Goeasy team for their unwavering commitment to our vision. Our 2,500 team members across Goeasy are smart, hungry, and humble. They care deeply about providing an exceptional experience for our customers and improving their financial health. They work tirelessly to make our organization successful and to ensure the 9.3 million Canadians with non-prime credit scores have access to a trusted and reliable source of borrowing to finance their life. Together, we are on a mission to be the largest and best-performing non-prime consumer lender in Canada, and we still believe we are just getting started. With the prepared remarks completed, we will now open it up for any questions.