On Wednesday, online lending platform Funding Circle announced its FY results for the year, ending December 31, 2016. While sharing details about the results, Samir Desai, CEO at Funding Circle, stated:
“2016 was another record breaking year for Funding Circle. We were pleased to achieve our objectives of generating positive cashflow for the UK business whilst continuing to deliver significant topline growth. These results, coupled with accelerated growth during the first half of 2017, reinforces our position as the leading lending platform for small businesses globally. We continue to invest substantially in our international markets in the US, Germany and the Netherlands which represent a market opportunity seven times the size of the UK, and expect to enter additional international markets in due course.”
See the results below.
Financial Highlights
- Revenue rose by 59% to £50.9m (2015: £32.0m)
- Total loans outstanding rose 61% to £1.37bn (2015: £845.6m)
- Total comprehensive loss fell to £35.7m (2015: £36.9m) due to continued investment in technology, marketing, and staffing – overall loss margin narrowed to 70% (2015:116%).
- UK business was cashflow positive in Q4 2016 and has continued to generate positive cashflow through the first half of 2017
- Group operating results for H1 2017 – revenue accelerated and approximately doubled year-on-year
Business Highlights
- April 2016, Funding Circle facilitated the first securitization of small business loans originated via a lending platform in Europe, these were rated by Moody’s and Standard & Poor’s
- June 2016, Funding Circle UK secured £100 million investment from the European Investment Bank
- Approximately 10,000 businesses accessed funding from investors in 2016, creating an estimated 25,000 new jobs across the UK, US, Germany, and the Netherlands
- Approximately 15,000 retail investors joined Funding Circle UK in 2016; in total 63,000 UK retail investors have now earned £135m in net interest
Post Year-End Highlights
- January 2017 Funding Circle raised £82m equity capital
- April 2017 Funding Circle SME Income Fund which purchases loans through the Funding Circle platform raised net proceeds of £140m through a C share issue
- August 2017 Funding Circle and Aegon announced £160m investment in UK small business loans
- August 2017 Funding Circle launched new brand identify and rolled out a substantial advertising campaign in the UK
