Folk2Folk Q1 profit rises by 125pc
Folk2Folk has reported a 125 per cent year-on-year rise in first-quarter profits, boosted by a bumper March when it facilitated £15.7m of loans.
The peer-to-peer lending platform, which has recently repositioned itself as a national marketplace lender, posted pre-tax profits of £534,000 in its first financial quarter, which encompasses February to April.
This first-quarter profit equates to almost half of Folk2Folk’s profits for the whole of 2020.
Folk2Folk made a £1.1m profit in the 12 months to January 2021, up 460 per cent from £198,043 the previous year. This came as the lender surpassed £400m of lending during the year.
Folk2Folk said that the platform and its investors have injected more than £436m into small- and medium-sized enterprises across regional Britain.
Read more: Folk2Folk IFISA inflows up 200pc thanks to RateSetter transfers
Read more: Farmers are increasingly looking to alternative finance
“We were resolute in our determination to remain a stable support for our borrowers and investors last year and so were very proud of our performance in 2020, against all odds,” said Roy Warren (pictured) managing director of Folk2Folk.
“So, to have achieved around half of last year’s profit already this year, in just the first quarter, is quite astounding and spurs us on with even greater enthusiasm.
“Our folks are motivated to help as many small businesses as we can across regional Britain. We are a rural born and bred business and we want to help those businesses outside of city centres get the finance they need to start, grow and ‘level up’.
“We understand them and the challenges they face, and that is why we take an holistic approach to lending and are often able to help when other funders cannot. We’ve made it our mission to help the under-served regional businesses and have the backing and support of our loyal investor-base.”
Folk2Folk revealed in March that it was looking to attract between £50m and £100m in institutional funding as it shifts its lender base towards a hybrid model of both retail and institutional investors.
As a result, the company will no longer identify as a P2P lending platform, but will describe itself as a marketplace lender instead.