British lending firm Funding Circle halves 2019 revenue growth forecast

Source: Xinhua | 2019-07-03

British peer-to-peer lending firm Funding Circle announced Tuesday that it expected revenue growth of 20 percent for 2019, half of its previous forecast of 40 percent.
"The increasing uncertain economic outlook has reduced demand for loans and the company has proactively further tightened lending to higher risk band businesses," Funding Circle said Tuesday in a financial report for the first half year and 2019 outlook.
"This affects overall origination volumes, but protects net returns for investors on the platform," the company said.
Samir Desai, Funding Circle's chief executive officer and co-founder, said: "The uncertain economic environment has reduced demand from small businesses and led us to proactively tighten lending criteria."
Meanwhile, figures showed that the company's revenue for the first half year of 2019 grew by around 30 percent, compared with the same period one year earlier.
Funding Circle allows investors to lend money directly to small and medium-sized businesses. It was launched in Britain in 2010 and currently operates in the UK, the United States, Germany and the Netherlands.