Why the Judo share price is defying the ASX selloff to charge 6% higher today

The challenger bank was the first new bank to join the ASX in 30 years.

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Key points

  • Judo share price lifts on strong loan growth 
  • The bank stands to benefit from rising interest rates 
  • The specialist bank has a strong focus on risk management 

The Judo Capital Holdings Ltd (ASX: JDO) share price is charging higher today.

Judo shares closed yesterday at $1.58 and are currently trading for $1.67, up 5.6%.

The challenger bank listed in the ASX in November last year, with a focus on lending to small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs).

Here's what's piquing ASX investor interest today.

What did the bank report?

The Judo share price is gaining following two price-sensitive announcements released in recent days.

First, on Friday, Judo updated the market on its loan book, as at 30 April. The bank reported a closing balance for gross loans and advances (GLAs) of $5.56 billion. That equates to lending growth of $220 million for April, up 4.1% from March.

Commenting on the result, Judo deputy CEO Chris Bayliss said, "We remain confident in achieving our prospectus forecast for GLA of $6.0 billion by 30 June 2022, underpinned by our current lending balance and our pipeline of approximately $1.1 billion."

Judo share price lifts amid investor day presentation

In this morning's release, the bank reported it is holding its inaugural investor day in Sydney today.

Among the core results. The bank said it expects to achieve or beat all of its prospectus metrics for the 2022 financial year.

In the current environment of rising inflation and interest rate hikes, investors may also be bidding up the Judo share price on its report that it has "significant positive leverage" to rising interest rates.

Addressing the investor day presentation, Judo's CEO and co-founder, Joseph Healy said:

We believe specialists beat generalists every time. Judo is a specialist SME bank which operates with risk management at its core…

Along with our lending growth, our team at Judo is also growing as we continue to attract talented bankers who want to be part of Judo as we scale towards becoming a world class SME business bank.

Bayliss added, "The outlook for ongoing cash rate increases provides a significant tailwind for our margins given our lending portfolio is largely floating-rate, while our funding costs are predominantly fixed."

Judo share price snapshot

It's been a rough year for the Judo share price. Despite today's boost, shares in the ASX bank remain down 22.9% since 4 January. That compares to a year-to-date loss of 8.2% posted by the All Ordinaries Index (ASX: XAO).

The Motley Fool Australia's parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has positions in and has recommended Judo Capital Holdings Limited. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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