Bibby Financial Services recorded a 24% growth in new business year-on-year bringing its year-end total client base to 4,738 - an increase of 16% on the previous year - and a Group profit of £19m. With the UK and Ireland concerns remaining strong and the Asia Pacific offices delivering a record-breaking performance, Bibby has emerged from the recession commercially agile. Having triumphed over the adverse conditions of 2009, the invoice financier is now supporting a historically high number of small and medium-sized firms across a variety of industry sectors.
In addition to increasing its client numbers, the UK business ended a strong year whereby one in six new deals in the market was landed by Bibby Financial Services, continuing to outperform its industry rivals and resulting in an increased domestic market share to 8.1% during the course of the year. The company was also awarded industry accolades as Best Factor and Discounter 2009 at the NACFB awards and Factor and Discounter of the Year at the Credit Today awards.
Following on from a successful 2009 and continuing on a strategic path to sustainable global growth, Bibby Financial Services acquired FreightCheck LLC, an established transportation business based in Atlanta USA which sits alongside Bibby Financial Services existing Nashville-based Transportation Finance company.
Bibby Financial Services has also recently announced a commitment to further expand its presence in Asia-Pacific with the appointment of Ian Watson as chief executive in the region. With global growth in mind, Watson's focus will be to capitalise on potential opportunities for small and medium-sized businesses presented by the weak Pound and increasing trade flows across the World.
Robertson commented: "We are rightly proud of our products and services which represent our responsive approach to our clients and passion for keeping the client at the heart of our business.
"Remaining focused on this ethos has meant that we have negotiated our way through a difficult time for both us and the businesses we work with.
"Certainly some of our regions have felt the impact of the downturn more than others, coupled with market place attrition and domestic banking failure. But I am very proud of the position we have achieved and the high level of customer service delivered to clients whether in domestic markets or trading cross borders. We will continue to progress our already strong position within the global factoring marketplace and look forward to the rest of 2010 and the future in terms of driving increased market share, and our global aspiration to become the world's largest independent factoring company."
