SME lender, Fiduciam, has revealed that 75% of the loans it provided through the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS) have now been fully repaid.

Fiduciam also confirmed that no defaults have occurred.

The British Business Bank’s CBILS was designed to support the continued provision of finance to SMEs across the UK during the COVID pandemic. The scheme enabled lenders to provide facilities of up to £5m to smaller businesses who were experiencing lost or deferred revenues, leading to disruptions to their cashflow.

Over the duration of the scheme, 109,877 loan facilities were approved for a total £26.39bn. Fiduciam was accredited for CBILS by the British Business Bank in July 2020, and as it increased its CBILS lending, its allocation was increased to £175m, with funds advanced to businesses throughout the UK and across a broad range of sectors.

The lender has now reached a landmark with 75% of its CBILS loans successfully redeemed, equating to £126m of repaid CBILS lending.

Fiduciam said its remaining CBILS loan book is “performing well” and that borrowers have been punctual with interest payments, with only a limited number of CBILS borrowers requesting a loan extension.

“It is easy to forget what horrible state the economy was in during the first 12 months of the pandemic,” commented Fiduciam CEO, Johan Groothaert. “Many of the SMEs that approached us found themselves in serious financial and operational difficulties. Our accreditation by the British Business Bank for CBILS allowed us to help them get through this very challenging trading environment.

“Without CBILS, many of those SMEs would not have survived the pandemic, as the liquidity generating efforts by the central banks were taking too much time to trickle down.  It was hugely rewarding to assist a variety of great businesses, suffering short-term cashflow difficulties, and enable them to support future growth and employment.

“CBILS made it possible for lenders like Fiduciam to keep lending, as the government effectively underwrote the ‘catastrophe risk’ through the CBILS guarantee, and hence kept the SME sector afloat.

“With 75% of Fiduciam CBILS loans now successfully redeemed, and the continued performance of the outstanding facilities, our team can take tremendous satisfaction from the high-quality underwriting delivered throughout the pandemic.”

Share Story: