Nine-month old Prosper announced its results to date (press release here):
$20 million in loans originated
4,000 loans booked ($5,000 average)
100,000 registered users
It's a good start for the person-to-person lender, running about 25% to 30% ahead of our projections made when the company launched (see Online Banking Report #127).
However, they are a long way away from profitability, booking just $200,000 in loan fees during the first nine months, plus less than $50,000 in servicing fees and some pocket change in late fees, which are shared with lenders.
The company may need to consider hosting advertisements to prop up the bottom line. With high CPMs in the loan and personal finance market, Prosper could potentially make more on advertising than it does on the loan originations.