Funding Circle reveals 5.6pc quarterly growth in lending

FUNDING Circle lent £377m to small businesses over the three months to September, a 5.6 per cent increase from the previous three-month period.

Figures from the newly-listed peer-to-peer business lender showed that investors backed 4,892 firms and helped to create 3,540 jobs between July and September.

The majority of lending was to firms in the property and construction industries, at 18 per cent, followed by 13 per cent in professional and business support, and 12 per cent in manufacturing, while nine per cent of lending was in retail.

While more money was lent out over the autumn period, it was spread across less businesses than the previous quarter. Funding Circle’s spring review showed that 5,157 businesses borrowed a total of £357m via the platform between April and June.

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It comes after Funding Circle said its new originations grew by 45 per cent in the third quarter of this year globally, as it revealed its UK broker channel has facilitated more than £1bn of lending.

The P2P business lender, which has operations in the UK, US and continental Europe, said that its investors funded a record £564m of new loans in the third quarter and £1.6bn in the year to 30 September 2018.

Of the £1.6bn, £1.08bn of originations were in the UK, £540m in the US, £78m in Germany and £56m in the Netherlands.

Its third-quarter update showed its global loanbook has reached £2.8bn, which excludes property loans.

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