The Asset Based Finance Association has today announced new figures from its members showing advances to business have grown 8% in the past year with SMEs increasingly using invoice finance to answer their funding needs.
Total advances from members at the year end was £14.9 billion, up from £13.9 billion a year ago. Turnover from companies using invoice finance this quarter also shows a healthy rise of 12% and annualised figures are now at a pre-recession record level of £212.2 billion.
Export invoice discounting has continued to grow over the past year, with client sales up 39% to £3.5 billion, as firms continue to focus on and exploit opportunities abroad. With George Osborne's recent comments on the British economy focusing on developing in a way that is more export driven this trend seems set to continue.
Kate Sharp, chief executive of the Asset Based Finance Association, said: "With
invoice finance often offering higher levels of funding, but with lower risks
to the financier, invoice finance will have a major role to play in achieving
the lending targets of Project Merlin. It's great to see that funding to SMEs
and larger businesses from members is rising and, even better, that turnover
from clients using invoice finance is at pre-recession levels. What is needed
now is more education to help make UK enterprise aware that funding is available
and that invoice finance can help them grow their businesses."
To view the full report on the statistics for Quarter Four 2010 please click here.