An office building for Goeasy in Mississauga in March, 2026.Nick Iwanyshyn/The Globe and Mail
Shares of Goeasy Ltd. GSY-T took another tumble Wednesday as investors reacted to the subprime lender’s disappointing fourth-quarter results and a larger-than-expected impairment charge, delivered less than a month after the company suspended its dividend amid surging loan losses.
Mississauga-based Goeasy’s stock fell as much as 11 per cent in early trading on Wednesday before recovering to $37.36 per share by market close, a decline of 2.3 per cent. The stock lost 57 per cent of its value in a single day on March 10 after Goeasy withdrew its financial outlook after problems with its LendCare division, which provides automotive and powersport product loans.
Late Tuesday, the company announced a net loss of $8.93 per share, bigger than the $8.14-per-share loss that Bay Street was expecting. The company also took on a $160-million impairment charge related to its LendCare business, which was far more than some analysts were anticipating.
“We’ve taken decisive steps in recent weeks, initiated structural changes to our business and defined a road map to get Goeasy back on track,” Patrick Ens, who was promoted to chief executive officer of Goeasy in December, said on a Wednesday morning conference call.
“We have work to do, but we have a clear plan we’re executing with urgency and we’re committed to building back stronger than ever.”
The company laid off roughly 9 per cent of its staff in March, mostly from the LendCare unit, which equates to more than 220 people who lost their jobs. Mr. Ens said the staff cuts should generate $30-million in annual savings.
Goeasy acquired LendCare in 2021 for $320-million. At the time, the company said it wanted to expand beyond its core business of providing personal and home equity loans to higher-risk borrowers by offering automotive financing as well.
On its website, LendCare promises “accelerated approvals and flexible payment plans” to help people purchase “RVs, Sea-Doos, snowmobiles and everything in between.”
Mr. Ens said the company’s “healthy core” of unsecured personal loans, secured home equity loans and easyhome lending products – the latter being the division he led before being named CEO – account for 57 per cent of its roughly $5.5-billion loan portfolio. The remaining 43 per cent are LendCare loans.
In a note to clients on Wednesday, TD Cowen analyst Graham Ryding called the $160-million LendCare charge “a new development,” while Scotia Capital analyst Phil Hardie told clients the amount was roughly double his expectations.
Mr. Ryding added that Goeasy’s new outlook for its next quarter was “underwhelming” and that the company’s total loan portfolio could contract by as much as $200-million over the coming months because of a slower pace of loan originations through LendCare.
Last week, Goeasy managed to strike a deal with its own lenders to amend or waive various covenants in order to avoid being in breach of its debt agreements. Mr. Ryding said that suggests “lenders appear to be working with Goeasy during this fluid period.”
RBC Capital Markets analyst Bart Dziarski predicted Goeasy shares would likely trade down on Wednesday in his own note to clients. He also warned that the risk of the company facing potential litigation is increasing.
Over all, National Bank Financial analyst Jaeme Gloyn told clients on Wednesday that the latest update from Goeasy “tilts negatively,” as loan delinquency rates are more than double where they were as recently as the third quarter of 2025, which Mr. Gloyn said was “significantly higher than previously thought.”
Mr. Gloyn also told clients he was “concerned by elevated macro risk (higher inflation) and execution risk (did management scrub the entire loan book?).”
Despite Mr. Ens acknowledging “the challenges we’re currently navigating” with LendCare, he insisted Goeasy was not giving up on that division.
“Although we are significantly pulling back on our originations at LendCare, we see potential in these product verticals to be unlocked down the road,” he said.
Editor’s note: A previous version of this article incorrectly referred to Goeasy's first-quarter results. The company's most recent results are for its fourth quarter.