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LONDON (Alliance News) - Small and medium enterprise loan platform Funding Circle Holdings PLC said Thursday full-year revenue growth has exceeded its initial public offering target on higher than expected loans under management.
For 2018, Funding Circle guided to revenue growth of 50% but the FTSE 250-listed lending platform said it delivered a "strong" end to the year, resulting in full-year revenue growth of about 55%.
Funding Circle's loans under management at December 31 stood at GBP3.12 billion compared to GBP2.01 billion last year, which is an increase of 55% and also exceeded the company's IPO target.
The company's total originations at the end of 2018 stood at GBP2.29 billion compared to GBP1.63 billion in 2017, a 40% increase. Funding Circle said it achieved record quarterly originations in the fourth quarter of GBP683 million versus GBP522 million last year, up 31% on the same period the year before.
Funding Circle said its revenue growth exceeded origination due to policy changes for existing US borrowers, reducing overall originations but which unaffected revenue.
"Funding Circle delivered a strong end to 2018 which resulted in exceeding our revenue and loans under management guidance for the year," said Chief Executive Officer Samir Desai.
He continued: "We were pleased to announce a number of new institutional investor transactions in the fourth quarter, which is further validation of the attractive risk-adjusted returns generated on the Funding Circle platform. We enter 2019 with continuing confidence and remain focused on delivering our growth strategy set out at IPO."
Funding Circle is expected to announce its full year results on March 7. The company reiterated its IPO guidance for 40% revenue growth in the medium-term.
Shares in Funding Circle were down 1.5% early Thursday at 325.00 pence each.
