(Alliance News) - Funding Circle Holdings PLC on Thursday hailed a "solid" performance for 2023 as it looks to further grow this year.
The small and medium enterprise loans platform said pretax profit widened to GBP33.2 million in 2023 from GBP12.9 million a year prior.
Net profit however rose 8.0% to GBP168.2 million from GBP155.8 million. Total income grew 7.4% to GBP162.2 million from GBP151.0 million. Fair value gains jumped 81% to GBP8.7 million from GBP4.8 million.
Funding Circle shares jumped 53% to 42.78 pence each on Thursday afternoon in London.
Chief Executive Officer Lisa Jacobs said: "I'm pleased with our 2023 performance. We delivered a solid set of results in FY 2023, in line with our expectations, and made good progress against our multi-product strategy. In the UK, we have expanded our product range with the rollout of our Card product so customers can now borrow, pay and spend with Funding Circle. Our UK Loans business was profitable and our FlexiPay business grew strongly with transactions nearly quadrupling. We continue to deliver a superior experience for our customers."
Further, the company announces a share buyback programme for up to GBP25 million. It said that it considered its current trading price "materially" undervalued its business, with the repurchase aimed at improving the balance sheet.
Looking ahead, Funding Circle expects net income growth of 15% to 20% on a compound annual growth rate over the next three to four years, with pretax profit margins of over 15%.
Further, for its UK Loans business in 2024, it anticipates over 10% total income growth with pretax profit margins of 8% to 12%. For FlexiPay, it expects total income to treble, with pretax loss at a similar level to 2023.
By Tom Budszus, Alliance News slot editor
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Funding Circle (FCH)