The Scottish National Investment Bank has made “clear progress” in its inaugural year and is “well positioned” to deliver environmental, social, and financial returns for the people of Scotland.
Today, Tuesday 4 October, the Bank has published its first full year accounts.
Launched in November 2020, it was established to be a development investment bank, delivering patient, mission impact investment to the Scottish economy.
In the year to March 31st, millions of pounds of support have been invested diversely in different sectors and geographies across the country.
Companies such as Highland Coast Hotels, Lothian Broadband Group and Aberdeen Harbour have all been backed by the Bank, each of which delivered against one or more of the Bank’s missions.
The focus for 2022 has been to build on the foundations laid since launch and has seen the Bank:
- Invest over £140 million in 12 businesses and projects across Scotland
- Leverage a further £327 million of backing from other private and public sector investors
- Increased net assets from £31.4 million to £165.4m at year end
- Recruit a diverse and talented team, more than doubling the headcount
Interim Chief Executive Sarah Roughead said: “The Bank has demonstrated its ability to be a catalyst for private investment into businesses and projects aligned to its missions. In doing so the Bank has established itself as a credible financial institution within Scotland’s finance community.”
The Bank’s investments have ranged from £1 million to £50 million across a variety of deal structures– debt, equity, and fund investments. All opportunities the Bank considers are aligned to its missions and are commercial investment opportunities.
Looking forward Sarah Roughead added: “As our portfolio and networks grow, the Bank aims to offer deeper insights, working as a conduit between both policy makers and business leaders.
“This, together with continuing to increase awareness of the Bank in the wider ecosystem, will be an area of focus for next year.”
An unrealised loss of £3.4 million has been recognised in the financial year, largely due to the early valuation profile of fund investments where unrealised losses are entirely expected followed by capital appreciation in later years.
As a development bank, it is required to take increased risk with investments to prove the commercial viability of new markets and technologies, or to bridge an investment gap where the risk is perceived to be too high for private sector investors.
Chairman of the Bank Willie Watt said: “This has been a year in which investment activity has ramped up and tangible impacts are manifesting themselves with our portfolio.
“The Bank is acting as a catalyst to encourage investment in businesses or projects in the private and third sector in which it may otherwise be challenging to obtain funding.
“I am excited about the future; we have a strong team in place and are well placed to continue to deliver impact investment which has a material impact on the Scottish economy.”