Profits up at British Business Investments as fintech portfolio grows
BRITISH Business Investments, the commercial arm of the British Business Bank, has reported a 23 per cent jump in pre-tax profits in its full-year results.
The state-backed lender’s gross annual income of £76.2m delivered a pre-tax profit of £67.9m for the year ending 31 March 2018.
British Business Investments (BBI) also increased its investments in the fintech sector to £92m, with a further £43m committed during the year.
It said it now supports 15,868 businesses through its fintech portfolio, up from 11,275 the year before.
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BBI also reported that its lending through peer-to-peer platforms and invoice finance providers had grown exponentially over the past five years.
It said that lending from these alternative sources of finance was up from under £100m in 2012 to £2.4bn in 2017.
“Our latest investments have enabled us to increase the supply of capital to a broad range of small and medium-sized businesses, recognising their importance to the success of the UK economy,” said Catherine Lewis La Torre, chief executive officer of BBI.
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“In the 2017/2018 financial year we have again produced tangible results, and I look forward to building on this success further as we address the challenges and opportunities of the year ahead.”
Overall the BBI currently has £1.2bn invested, alongside £9.1bn of private sector capital, across 58 investment partners.
It said that it now supports 27,000 businesses across the UK, an increase of 51 per cent on last year.
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