LONDON (ShareCast) - (Sharecast News) - Funding Circle reported a sharp rise in first-half profit on Thursday, as its lending platform continued to grow, underpinned by stronger demand for term loans and rapid expansion of its FlexiPay products.
The London-listed firm said it extended £1.1bn in credit to UK businesses in the six months ended 30 June, up 21% from £918m a year earlier.

Revenue increased 17% to £92.3m, while profit before tax rose to £6m from just £0.5m pre-exceptional items a year earlier.

Term loans contributed £12.7m in profit, up from £9.2m, reflecting operating leverage and product innovation.

Losses in FlexiPay narrowed to £6.7m from £8.7m as transactions grew 66% year-on-year to £375m, with cumulative transactions since launch now exceeding £1bn.

Balances under management were broadly flat at £2.83bn, reflecting the continued repayment of legacy government-backed Covid loans, though FlexiPay balances climbed 42% to £169m since December.

Unrestricted cash stood at £115m, down from £150.5m at year-end, as the company invested in FlexiPay, R&D for shorter-term lending products and its ongoing share buyback programme.

To date, £53m had been spent purchasing and cancelling 50 million shares of the £75m programme announced in 2024.

"The first half of 2025 demonstrates the clear success of our strategy and execution, delivering another period of strong, profitable growth as we extended £1.1bn in credit to UK businesses across our product suite," said chief executive Lisa Jacobs.

"We achieved 17% revenue growth to £92.3 million and a significant increase in profit before tax to £6m.

"FlexiPay transactions were up 66% year-on-year with cumulative transactions now exceeding £1bn since launch as businesses choose Funding Circle to borrow, pay later and spend."

The company reaffirmed its medium-term targets for 2026 of at least £200m in revenue and at least £30m in profit before tax, equating to 15% to 20% compound annual revenue growth and margins above 15%.

Funding Circle also confirmed several board changes.

In May, Ken Stannard succeeded Andrew Learoyd as chairman, while in June Geeta Gopalan stepped down as senior independent director, succeeded by Helen Beck.

Maeve Byrne was appointed audit committee chair in June, with Richard Harvey becoming chair of the risk committee in August.

At 0906 BST, Funding Circle Holdings shares were down 1.01% at 136.8p.

Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.

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