BLN investors paid £7.9m but recovery estimates lowered again
Business Loan Network’s (BLN’s) administrators have paid £7.9m to investors so far, according to the latest update covering the six months to 14 October.
BLN was formerly known as ThinCats, which exited the retail peer-to-peer lending market in December 2019 to focus on institutional funding. It fell into administration in April 2021 following several complaints that it could not afford to pay out.
In the latest update, administrator Kroll lowered its forecast for expected loan recoveries once again, to £17.9m from £20.2m in May 2022. But the administrators advised that this estimate is likely to change again, as it does not include the recovery of accrued interest.
When the administrators were appointed in April 2021, there were 163 outstanding loans to 73 borrowers, worth around £49.5m.
Read more: Business Loan Network appoints administrators
In the period from 15 April to 14 October, a further 10 loans have been redeemed, making a total of 44 loans redeemed since the administrators were appointed.
The administrators paid lender withdrawal requests from client assets of £6m and from the client money pool of £1.9m. There are now 119 loans left with an outstanding balanced of £32.6m.
A total of £14.6m of client assets have been collected and allocated to lenders’ accounts.
Read more: Business Loan Network creditors back administrator’s proposals
There has been £417,773 allocated to the company’s client account, which is subject to the outcome of an ongoing legal review.
There has been £521,495 also allocated to the company’s client account, the majority of which will be shortly moved to the lenders’ accounts.
Based on revised estimates, the administrators said fees and costs are likely to be slightly lower than the previously estimated £1.7m. Over the period, the administrators collected £683,783 of fees and costs, bringing total realisations to £1.1m.
The next progress report is due in April 2023.
Read more: ThinCats announces closure of retail P2P lending platform