(Alliance News) - GLI Finance Ltd on Tuesday reported a narrowed loss for 2019, due to a smaller loss on the fair value of its fintech investments, despite a dip in revenue.
For the year, the small and medium enterprise lender's pretax loss narrowed to GBP9.7 million from GBP22.7 million the year before.
This was due to a narrowed loss in the fair value of GLI's fintech ventures to GBP7.5 million from GBP18.7 million, as well as a drop in operating expenses to GBP7.0 million from GBP8.5 million.
Group revenue for the year dipped slightly to GBP13.1 million from GBP13.2 million the prior year.
GLI's main operating unit, Sancus BMS, saw revenue decline by 17% to GBP9.6 million from GBP11.7 million, as its total loan book in 2019 increased by 12% to GBP233 million from GBP208 million, with an actual loss rate remaining under 1% reflecting strong underwriting procedures.
The group's fintech ventures meanwhile suffered from increased competition and several holdings in the portfolio ceasing trading due to enforcements or a failure to raise fresh equity.
As a result, the carrying value of the fintech venture portfolio was GBP6.3 million as at December 31, more than halved from GBP13.8 million the same date the year before. GLI Finance's net assets also dropped to GBP40.4 million from GBP50.3 million.
"We reported an overall loss for 2019, in spite of making good progress in our core business, with continued growth in the Sancus loan book and loan deployments, and a continued reduction in group costs, resulting in improvements towards our long-term strategic targets," said Chief Executive Officer Andy Whelan.
"The board is optimistic but acknowledges we still have a way to go to reach our targets. I am pleased that we are making continued progress on the execution of our strategy and expect the strong Sancus BMS growth rates to continue into 2020," Whelan added.
Shares in GLI Finance closed up 1.5% at 3.5 pence on Tuesday in London.
By Dayo Laniyan; dayolaniyan@alliancenews.com
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