Sancus sees lending rise by 62pc to £87m in first half
Property bridging and development lender Sancus has seen lending rise 62 per cent year-on-year to £87m in the first six months of 2022.
According to the lender’s latest trading update, published on Friday (15 June), £53m of new loan facilities had been written at the same six-month point in 2021.
The figure for the six months to 30 June 2022 represents a £2m increase on lending of £83m for the full year of 2021.
Sancus reported that the results were in line with expectations and forecast revenue growth for the second half of the year, due to a lag in fee generation as the loanbook grows.
The firm highlighted its diversified pool of funding lines, including institutional funding, co-funders and the loan note programme. It said it will continue to increase the proportion of its loanbook funded off balance sheet.
Sancus Lending Group rebranded from GLI Finance in May 2021, citing an increased focus on the alternative property finance sector as the reason for the change.
At a similar time, shareholders voted in favour of a restructuring of the business, which included the refinancing of existing bonds and a £4m equity fundraise.
The latest trading update said the firm has had initial discussions with some ZDP shareholders on its long-term finance strategy, including a potential re-financing, part repayment or extension of the ZDPs, which have a maturity date of 5 December 2022.
Any restructuring plan could involve the launch of a formal tender offer process, by way of a part repayment of the ZDP shares, the update said, although it emphasised that no formal decision has been made.
Sancus has appointed Liberum Capital to manage a ZDP share buyback programme to purchase up to £0.5m of the ZDP Shares after shareholders voted in favour of the move at the firm’s annual shareholder meeting in May.
Purchases made via the buyback programme must be at a maximum price (exclusive of expenses) per ZDP share of 105 per cent of the average of the middle market quotations five business days immediately preceding the date of purchase and at a minimum price paid per ZDP share of £0.01.
The firm has 19,101,384 ZDP shares in issue, of which 12,235,748 are held in treasury. ZDP shares purchased pursuant to the buyback programme will be held in treasury.
The buyback programme is expected to continue until the end of August, when the firm will enter a close period prior to the interim results.
Sancus’ full interim results for the period to 30 June 2022 will be issued at the end of September 2022.
Sancus legacy firm GLI Finance reported an operating loss of £5.5m in 2020, after the pandemic hit its portfolio.