British Business Bank meets targets but reports loss in latest financial year
The British Business Bank met its objectives last year but reported a loss due to a drop in valuations across its portfolio.
The state development bank said that it channelled £12.4bn of funding to more than 90,000 businesses in the 12 months to the end of March 2023, significantly exceeding its £10.7bn funding target.
It also met its target for deploying funds across all parts of the UK, with £1.27bn going outside of London.
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And 99 per cent of the Bank’s finance was deployed outside of the largest UK banks, exceeding a 97 per cent target.
The British Bank also revealed that it achieved an adjusted return of 6.5 per cent over 2022/23, exceeding its 1.3 per cent target.
However, it reported a £135.3m loss over the 2022/23 financial year, due to “an expected drop in valuations”.
“The British Business Bank has continued to build momentum in 2022/23, making a total of £1.6bn of commitments despite the challenging economic environment,” said chief executive Louis Taylor.
“As reported in our 2022/23 annual report and accounts, there has been an expected drop in valuations across our portfolio, producing a £135.3m loss this year. Given the longer-term 10-year horizon for most of our investments we would expect an overall upward trajectory despite these in-year fluctuations.
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“After the pandemic, we have re-focused on the UK’s future economic growth as we deliver against our new strategic objectives from 2023/24. These are: driving sustainable growth, backing innovation, unlocking potential, and building the modern, green economy. We will continue to put our customers at the heart of everything we do, investing through the cycle to support the UK’s smaller businesses as they start up and grow.”
Lord Smith of Kelvin, chair of the British Business Bank, said: “There can be no doubt that the prevailing market conditions during 2022/23 have been both demanding and extraordinary. Our role, as the UK’s economic development bank, is especially important at the more difficult points of the economic cycle and this is why we have continued to invest during the last year. In doing so, we have built further our support for our ultimate end-customers – the UK’s smaller businesses.”
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