Specialist lender Distribution Finance Capital (LON:DFCH) delivered a 49% jump in H1 pre-tax profits to £13.4 million. That was materially ahead of expectations at the beginning of the year.
And the AIM-listed bank insisted it remains on track to deliver its 2030 targets. These include a loan book north of £1.5 billion, a cost-income ratio of 45% to 48% and return on equity of roughly 20%.
Profits up almost 50%
This speciality lender provides flexible financing solutions that support the sales and growth of manufacturers, dealers and distributors operating in underserved retail markets.
For the six months to June 2026, new loan originations reached a record £1.1 billion for a six month period, up 31% year-on-year.
| Performance | H1 2026 | H1 2025 | Change |
| Deposit book (£m) | 999 | 688 | 45% |
| Loan book (£m) | 932 | 732 | 27% |
| New loans advanced (£m) | 1,083 | 828 | 31% |
Source: DF Capital, H1 results
The loan book grew by 27% to £932 million. This lending was funded through retail savings balances, which passed the £1 billion milestone during H1. And tangible net asset value per share grew by 17% to 82.2p.
Growth story continues
CEO Carl D’Ammassa said: ‘These results show the strength of our business as we build a larger and more diversified lending franchise. Our growth story continues with strong and sustainable levels of returns.’
He added: ‘Our recently launched asset finance proposition, DFRNT, is gaining significant traction, structured finance is growing well, and the investments we have made in our platforms and customer journeys allow us to serve customers more quickly and effectively.’
Why Panmure Liberum is bullish
‘This is a business doing precisely what it said it would,’ enthused Panmure Liberum. The broker reiterated its buy recommendation and increased its target price to 95p.
Panmure Liberum continued: ‘Growth came from across the franchise, tilted increasingly away from core inventory finance, which speaks to the breadth of lending options available, and to a willingness to deploy capital wherever returns are highest. Operating leverage is becoming visible in the numbers, and we expect the cost to income ratio to continue falling.’
We think Distribution Finance Capital is an interesting way for investors to gain exposure to small cap UK companies.
It specialises in providing structured loans to underserved, capital intensive retail sectors. And the company has a much higher net interest margin than the big banks and low arrears thanks to its disciplined lending approach.
D’Ammassa is passionate about the business. And these forecast-beating H1 figures support our view the firm is on a strong growth trajectory, especially as it rolls out new products.
