DF Capital structured finance book doubles to £174m in H1 2026

DF Capital has almost doubled its structured finance loan book to £174.1m in a year, as the UK specialist lender expands beyond its core inventory-finance franchise into receivables, invoice finance and other bespoke working-capital lending.

Structured finance balances increased from £87.5m at 30 June 2025 and £112.8m at the end of last year, giving the division 18.7% of DF Capital’s £932.5m gross loan book at the end of June. Its structured portfolio comprised £93.3m of secured business loans, £70.6m of wholesale finance and £10.2m of invoice finance.

The figures provide the clearest measure yet of the expansion of the structured finance business BCR reported when DF Capital launched the division in March 2025. The lender says the proposition includes short-term invoice financing, receivables finance, secured business lending and wholesale funding, with around eight out of every 10 tailored propositions rejected against its risk and return criteria.

Across the group, new loan originations increased 31% year on year to £1.1bn, while the gross loan book rose 27% to £932m. Profit before tax increased 49% to £13.4m and gross revenue rose 26% to £55m. Arrears fell to 0.7% of the loan book from 1.5%, while annualised cost of risk declined to 0.49%.

Some of the headline group growth had already been signalled. A June pre-close update projected roughly £1bn of first-half originations, a loan book above £915m and profit before tax of at least £13m. The 10 September results therefore matter less as a surprise on aggregate profitability than for the final figures and the detailed evidence of how DF Capital’s product mix is changing.

Inventory finance remains dominant at £718.5m, or 77% of the book. However, the shift into structured finance creates a broader working-capital proposition around the manufacturers, dealers and distributors already served by the bank.

The mix is also significant because the products behave differently. Inventory finance principally funds stock before sale, while invoice and receivables finance can release liquidity after a sale has generated a payment obligation.

DF Capital expects structured finance balances to fluctuate because of their shorter tenor and ultimately to represent around 10% to 15% of the group loan book by 2030 as other lending products expand.