SBCI primarily provides finance to SMEs and mid-caps
At the end of 2023, the SBCI had a total of €38m in funding and borrowings
The Strategic Banking Corporation of Ireland (SBCI) has tapped the European Investment Bank for €200m in funding that will be used to provide loans to SMEs and mid-cap firms.
It will be the latest in a long line of funding streams the European Investment Bank (EIB) has provided for the State-backed SBCI.
The bank was founded in 2014 following the financial crash, and designed as a vehicle that would be able to provide low-cost loans to Irish businesses where traditional lenders were unwilling or unable to provide finance.
The EIB was a founding funder of the SBCI and currently has a fresh €200m funding request from the SBCI under appraisal.
The EIB notes that the fresh financing being sought will be earmarked for SMEs and mid-cap firms in Ireland, by providing finance to the SBCI and other non-bank lenders including leasing companies, asset financiers and credit unions.
“The SBCI routinely reviews its funding requirements and seeks to ensure that SBCI always has access to adequate funding to enable it meet current and future funding requirements,” said the institution.
It added: “This proposed facility is being entered into in the normal course of business and it is not specifically allocated towards any particular future funding scheme or purpose.”
At the end of 2023, the SBCI had a total of €38m in funding and borrowings, down from €111.8m at the end of 2022.
The outstanding amount at the end of last year was sourced from both the EIB and the National Treasury Management Agency. At December 2023, the SBCI also had €405m in undrawn funding facilities.
The Irish bank has worked with the EIB in relation to a number of loan funds.
They include the Agriculture Cashflow Support Loan Scheme, the Brexit Loan Scheme, the Covid-19 Working Capital Loan Scheme, the Future Growth Loan Scheme and the Energy Efficiency Loan Scheme.
Its Home Energy Upgrade Loan Scheme is aimed at making residential energy upgrades more affordable for homeowners. That was launched earlier this year and is also backed by the EIB.
The SBCI said that last year it supported 3,913 businesses with the provision of €356m in loans through risk-sharing guarantee schemes and low-cost liquidity. The average loan size was just under €91,000.
The top three sectors securing finance from the SBCI are construction, retail and manufacturing.