Paragon Bank has reported a 7.3% increase in lending within its SME Lending division for the 12 months ending September 2024, alongside a 7.9% growth in the division’s loan book.

The division, which provides asset-based and specialist finance across multiple sectors, increased lending to £480.7 million, while its loan book reached £817.5 million.

Go deeper with GlobalData

Data Insights

The gold standard of business intelligence.

Find out more

Related Company Profiles

View all

Asset leasing volumes climbed 15.4% to £330.7 million, significantly outpacing the 1.1% growth in new leasing business (excluding cars and high-value items) reported by the Finance and Leasing Association over the same period. The division’s short-term lending to professional services firms stood at £135.2 million.

A growing share of the division’s business came via its broker portal, which leverages AI and ‘auto-decisioning’ to speed up proposal responses. The portal now accounts for 69% of the division’s applications, supporting a higher volume of smaller loan proposals.

John Phillipou, Managing Director of SME Lending at Paragon Bank, said: “We’re delighted to have increased our new lending and grown our loan book in challenging market conditions. We have recorded consistent growth since the pandemic, driven by our improved digital offering and the bolstering of our client-facing teams.”

Looking ahead Phillipou noted that Paragon has “ambitious growth plans” and will soon upgrade its back-end systems to facilitate further expansion.

How well do you really know your competitors?

Access the most comprehensive Company Profiles on the market, powered by GlobalData. Save hours of research. Gain competitive edge.

Company Profile – free sample

Thank you!

Your download email will arrive shortly

Not ready to buy yet? Download a free sample

We are confident about the unique quality of our Company Profiles. However, we want you to make the most beneficial decision for your business, so we offer a free sample that you can download by submitting the below form

By GlobalData
Visit our Privacy Policy for more information about our services, how we may use, process and share your personal data, including information of your rights in respect of your personal data and how you can unsubscribe from future marketing communications. Our services are intended for corporate subscribers and you warrant that the email address submitted is your corporate email address.

Paragon Banking Group as a whole recorded a 5.4% increase in operating profits before fair value items to £292.7 million and a 5.6% rise in its net loan book to £15.7 billion.

The Commercial Lending division, which includes SME Lending, Development Finance, Structured Lending, and Motor Finance, achieved a 9.6% rise in new lending to £1.24 billion, representing 45% of Paragon’s total new lending. Its loan book grew by 16.1%, reaching £2.3 billion.