The chief executive of Bath-headquartered specialist funder Time Finance has expressed his “real confidence” in the group’s continued strong growth following a half year in which it achieved record lending.
The group, which provides asset, loan and invoice finance products to more than 10,000 small and medium-sized enterprises across the UK, had a lending book worth £209.4m at the end of the six months on 30 November – and 11% increase in the same date last year.
Pre-tax profit was up by 44% to £3.9m on revenue 16% stronger at £18.2m during the period.
Time, previously known as 1pm and listed on the London Stock Exchange’s AIM market, is closes to the end of a four-year strategic plan to reshape the business by concentrating on own-booking lending.
That has triggered rapid growth while avoiding bad debts – its latest trading statement shows net arrears remained at 5% of the gross lending book, while bad debt write-offs remained at 1% of the average lending book.
Time said a key element of the strategic plan, which runs until next May, was to increase the size of its lending book by primarily focussing on invoice finance and the 'hard' subset of asset finance as they are, typically, both larger in average loan size and more secure.
Reflecting this focus, these core areas accounted for around 85% of new deal volume originated in the first half of its current financial year and made up approximately 77% of the total lending book on 30 November.
This compared to their contribution of 51% of new deal volume origination and 52% of the total lending book at the start of the strategic plan.
Time finance chief executive officer Ed Rimmer, pictured, said: “The board are very encouraged by the performance in the first half of the current financial year.
“In line with our strategy, we have continued to increase the size of our lending book and, crucially, have done so without compromising on credit quality.
“This is borne out by the stable nature of both our arrears and our write-offs. This approach, combined with a renewed focus on margins, has led to significant increases in both revenues and profitability, both of which are record figures for the first half of a financial year.
“We have real confidence that the group is well placed to continue on this growth trajectory, building long-term value for our shareholders.”
