LendInvest posts 20 per cent rise in assets in trading update

Its assets under management account for outstanding loans and advances. 

LendInvest’s trading update said this was driven by growth across all its product categories, which include professional buy to let, bridging and development finance. 

The lender said the pace of growth slowed towards the first half of the year due to rising rates and this was further impacted by the mini Budget in September. 

A confident second half

The second half of the year saw “improved confidence” LendInvest said, and there was a shift in borrowers choosing tracker mortgage products in case rates fell. 

It also said its commercial borrowers saw the weaker market as a buying opportunity and in March, the lender recorded its highest level of applications for bridging loans. 

In the second half of the year, Lendinvest’s assets under management grew by 6.2 per cent. 

The lender’s funds under management, which is the capital available through its funding lines, rose by 45.2 per cent annually and 4.8 per cent in H2. 

This follows an announcement in January where it secured £100m funding from HSBC to support its development finance products, and £300m from Lloyds Bank to back its launch into the residential mortgage market. 

It said there was “resilient demand” from investors for funding and despite economic uncertainty, it had maintained a £1bn lending headroom to support borrowers when market conditions improve. 

LendInvest said its launch into residential mortgages gave it a long-term growth opportunity as its technology would be able to assist with complex applications and serve a “neglected customer base”. 

LendInvest will announce its full-year results in July, which are forecast to be in line with expectations. 

Rod Lockhart (pictured), chief executive of LendInvest, said: “We have continued to deliver on the commitments we laid out at our initial public offering. We are growing and optimising our funds under management accessing strong demand from some of the world’s largest and most sophisticated financial institutions. 

“We are expanding our platform assets under management and we are continuing to invest in our technology platform to further strengthen our competitive advantage as a technology-driven lending and funding platform for mortgages.” 

Lockhart added: “While we remain mindful of the macroeconomic backdrop, we have confidence in our growth strategy. Our technology enables us to continue developing disruptive new solutions in existing and new parts of the mortgage market, giving us a competitive edge with brokers and borrowers and helping us to continue to attract diverse sources of capital.”