Authorisation to conduct consumer lending

Distribution Finance Capital Holdings plc, a specialist bank providing working capital solutions to dealers and manufacturers across the UK, is pleased to announce that it has received authorisation from the Financial Conduct Authority to conduct consumer lending.

Following its application to the Financial Conduct Authority in the summer of 2024 and having responded to the FCA's due diligence requests, the Group is pleased that its subsidiary, DF Capital Retail Finance Limited, is now authorised to conduct consumer asset finance. This enables the Group to provide finance to the customers, at inception, of its leisure dealers as well as directly to businesses wanting to fund the purchase of other products across its commercial sectors. Having demonstrated to the FCA that it can meet the expected standards for consumer lending and in light of recent enquiries into motor finance and commission disclosure, the Group is confident that it can scale this new product in line with prevailing legal, regulatory and customer expectations.

As previously announced, the Group remains on track to launch this asset finance/hire purchase capability during H1 2025, giving it access, through its existing dealer customers initially, to adjacent markets several times larger than the Group's existing core lending product and positioning the Group firmly as a multi-product lender in its chosen markets.

Carl D'Ammassa, Chief Executive, commented: "Today represents a significant step forward in our growth strategy. Becoming a multi-product lender has been a key element of our medium-term growth plan and strategic ambition for some time. Now having the required permissions from the FCA to launch a consumer asset finance product unlocks sizeable opportunity for the Group and one that is in significant demand from our dealer and manufacturer customers."