Lending growth boosts interest in Funding Circle

INVESTORS cheered solid growth at internet lender Funding Circle amid hopes of a revival in its flagging fortunes.

Traders were wooed by a 55pc jump in loans under management to £3.2bn last year.

This solid growth helped them overlook a £ 51.6m loss, 40pc deeper than in 2017, largely driven by investment in growth.

The business allows savers to lend their cash directly to companies over the internet, making money from the interest. It has suffered since floating at 440p a share in October, with the stock down 17pc since it went public.

Boss Samir Desai exuded confidence, saying that the firm’s strategy is on track and in time the market will see its merits.

The chief executive said: ‘We’re just very much focused on the long term future of the business – it takes time for people to understand it and see how it works.

‘The stock market and tech stocks have gone down since our initial public offering, there’s a lot of market noise in there.’ Shares rose 4pc, or 14p, to 365p. The

FTSE 100 index fell 0.5pc, or 38.45 points, to 7157.55 while the

FTSE 250 was down 0.9pc, or 175.49 points, at 19,183.82 on a tough day for investors.

There was a sale of mining stocks as Rio Tinto (down 7.5pc, or 333.5p, to 4144.5p), BHP Group (off 3pc, or 53.4p, to 1725.6p) and

Evraz (4.8pc, or 29.2p, lower at 580.8p) went ex-dividend – when new buyers of the stock are not entitled to the recently declared dividend payment. Persimmon was hit for the same reason, down 7.5pc, or 183p, to 2250p.

‘With some big names going exdividend, and the general mood dour, the FTSE didn’t stand a chance,’ said Spreadex analyst Connor Campbell. United Arab Emirates’ healthcare provider

NMC Healthcare was the biggest faller, down 11.5pc, or 344p, to 2656p, after its annual results disappointed investors.

Jefferies analysts said NMC’s earnings were lower than expected while financial charges were much higher. Event manager and publisher

Informa went the other way, up 2.3pc, or 16.6p, to 728.2p, as its revenues topped market view. In the second tier, shares in

Inmarsat soared after it unveiled a sharp rise in revenue from its aviation business.

The satellite communications group’s kit allows airlines to offer in-flight internet services to passengers, with partners including British Airways, Emirates, Qatar Airways and Norwegian.

Such is its growing popularity that Inmarsat clocked a 40.9pc rise in revenues from its aviation business last year. And bosses believe this could soon become the firm’s biggest source of income, despite its traditional focus on providing tracking and communications for ships. Shares rose 8pc, or 32.1p, to 431.4p.

Cobham paid a dividend for the first time since 2016, signalling the struggling defence contractor has turned a corner after a disastrous few years. Britain’s third biggest defence company said it will pay 1p per share this year as it revealed profit before tax rose 2pc to £71m compared with 2017, though revenue fell 2pc to £1.86bn.

Chief executive David Lockwood said it was proof that Cobham – which in the last few years has issued five profit warnings, launched two rights issues and cancelled its dividend – was through the hard part of any turnaround and on the way to ‘becoming a normal company’ again.

He said: ‘It’s been an interesting two years – I’ve lost a lot of hair and put on weight.’

Cobham shares fell 1.5pc, or 1.85p, to 117.9p.

Premier Oil gained 7.6pc, or 5.6p, to 79.5p after it swung to a net profit in 2018 from a net loss in the previous year.