Paragon increases commercial lending by 83%

The commercial lending division reported the largest increase in profits across the Group – a 41% increase to £20 million.

In particular, asset finance lending increased by 61% to £355 million, up from £220 million a year ago.

The Group says its acquisitions of property development finance business Titlestone in July 2018 and legal finance firm Iceberg in December 2017 also provided further capabilities and scale to the commercial division.

The total volume generated from these businesses in their first part year was £96 million (Iceberg) and £49 million (Titlestone).

Richard Doe, managing director of commercial lending at Paragon, said: “Strong growth in lending, particularly to small and medium sized UK businesses, reflects our commitment to improving access to funding for British companies to help them achieve their financial ambitions.

“As a specialist lender financing a variety of industry sectors, the acquisitions of Titlestone and Iceberg have broadened our product reach and will contribute to further diversification of our income streams in the years ahead.”