Vector Capital Plc (LON:VCAP), the commercial lending group that offers secured loans primarily to businesses located in the United Kingdom, has provided an update on trading for the year ended 31 December 2021.
During 2021, the Group increased its wholesale bank debt facilities by £10 million to £35 million and raised additional equity of £1.5 million by way of a placing in June 2021. The net proceeds of the equity finance raised, alongside the increase in the wholesale debt facilities, have been used to grow the Group’s loan book and meet the continued demand it is seeing for short term loans.
The Group has delivered a strong performance for the year, which reflects increasing demand from customers and greater utilisation of the expanded business origination network. As a consequence, and as previously announced, the Group’s loan book, a key driver for revenue generation, grew to £46.3 million at 31 December 2021, an annual increase of 27% (31 December 2020: £36.4 million).
The Group had 79 live loans at the year-end (31 December 2020: 63) with an average loan size of approximately £586,000 (31 December 2020: £577,000). As a result of the strong loan book performance, subject to completion of the 2021 audit, revenue for 2021 is expected to be ahead of current market expectations at not less than £5.3million, representing 24% growth over the prior year (FY 2020: £4.3 million revenue).
Vector Capital expects to announce its results and declare its final dividend for the year ended 31 December 2021 in early April 2022.
Agam Jain, CEO of Vector Capital, commented : “We are delighted to report on the excellent performance of the Group for FY 2021, which is above expectations and reflects the increasing demand for our loans generated from an expanding introducer base, and the benefit of strong relationships with supportive wholesale debt providers. Our proven business model has enabled us to continue to deliver on our strategy and to build the foundation to expand the business and support future growth in 2022.”
