Losses halved at CreditShelf as German Lender eyes break-even

CreditShelf is racing towards break-even and maybe even profitability in the next year or so, according to the company’s Q3 results which cover the first nine months of 2021.

During this period the German SME alternative lender saw its revenues rise over 32 per cent to €4.8m year-on-year, boosted by a huge increase in CreditShelf’s partner network of institutional investors and customer-facing lenders.

Total loan originations during the first three quarters of the year reached €110.9m, up from €70.3m this time last year.

"Partnerships are one of the most important levers for us and enabled us to reach a new level of arranged loan volume on the creditshelf platform,” said chief operating officer Dr. Daniel Bartsch.

Earlier this year CreditShelf deepened its high-profile partnership with Commerzbank, which it said would see more of the banking giant’s customers passed over to CreditShelf for borrowing.

“This underlines the importance of alternative sources in SME finance,” Bartsch said on the Q3 results. “At the same time, it is an important signal toward our financing partners: We can offer a relevant volume of high-quality SME assets with very stable portfolio performance."

CreditShelf halved its losses during the period, from €4.14m in the first nine months of 2020, to just €2.07m this year, which the company declared was a “large step” towards reaching break-even for the business.

Part of the reduction came from a reigning in of marketing spend, which more than halved to €526,200 and CreditShelf said was driven by a tighter focus on those SME groups not benefitting from the German government’s Covid-19 support.

In July the lender extended an existing debt funding agreement with Amsterdam Trade Bank by €20m, taking the total credit line with the bank this year to €60m.