The Liberum AltFi Volume Index (Continental Europe) ex Auxmoney trail blazed to its fifth consecutive month of marketplace lending volume origination growth in January. In this short period, monthly origination has increased significantly by 66% from €25.6m in August 2015 to €42.4m in January of this year.
Delving into consumer lending in particular (ex Auxmoney) shows a sector which grew positively in January (18% yoy). However, this is rather subdued relative to the flourishing business lending segment (73% yoy). Year-on-Year industry origination growth across continental Europe has fluctuated since the beginning of 2015, a year which saw 5 months of negative year on year origination growth. This lack of consistent growth and scale being achieved by platforms is a concern for an industry that is tipped as being on the cusp of taking off. This is particularly the case in consumer lending which is a more established segment and currently a larger part of the picture than business lending. Established platforms, such as Bondora and Auxmoney are ceding market share to newcomers such as Mintos and Twino. Both of which posted record origination in January and based on their growth trajectories for the last 6 months, it is likely these records will be surpassed before long.
Overall industry growth has largely been fuelled by persistent high growth in business lending. January saw a record month for the business lending segment, with €14.3m of finance to SMEs facilitated. Notably, over half of this figure was contributed by Funding Circle’s continental European operations (formerly Zencap). January saw the platform set a high water mark, with a 32% increase from its last record month in November 2015. The growth would suggest that strong synergies are being exploited by the Funding Circle team.
