Lombard Finance

Lombard reports strong growth in 2008

By IBI Magazine


Lombard Marine Finance, part of the Royal Bank of Scotland Group, has reported a 14 per cent increase in business over the last 12 months — despite a challenging year for many companies in the marine finance sector.

"We did notice some rationalisation of the marine finance market, with some banks either withdrawing from the sector or reducing their activities, but at Lombard we continue to invest in the business," says Ian Braham, head of Lombard Marine Finance. "Although we have noticed sales at the lower end of the market slowing, larger transactions are producing far higher volumes of business," he adds.

"In particular, Lombard has noticed an increase in applications for business over £1m where the volume lent in 2008 increased by 36 per cent on the previous year. Although Lombard has been funding these vessels for a considerable number of years it has seen a significant increase in the levels of demand over the last few years."

Lombard Marine Finance offers personalised packages to meet the needs of its customers, offering a wide variety of payment options and funding in sterling, euro or US dollar currencies. For more information, visit the company website at

www.lombard.co.uk/marine.

(8 January 2009

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