A number of business and consumer lenders put the brakes on their originations over the past year, in response to rising credit risks and funding costs, but SME finance company Butn went the other way and continued to push for growth. Butn increased originations from A$274 million in 2021/22 to $441 million in the year to June 2023. Receivables at June 30 were $79.8 million – up from $55.4 million the previous year. The company provides a form of invoice financing that it calls “transactional funding”. According to its 2021 prospectus, it has a significant point of difference from other finance companies in the field. “Typically, funders require SMEs to commit to minimum volumes – a whole of book approach – or minimum facility fees as a prerequisite to providing financing,” the prospectus said. “Butn’s approach is to provide finance to its customers on a transaction-by-transaction basis for a fixed fee per transaction.” Revenue grew from $5.4 million in 2021/22 to $11.8 million in the year to June. Bad debts increased from $331,264 to $480,853. Finance costs grew from $3.5 million to $6.4 million. The company reported a loss of $6.5 million for the year, compared with a loss of $8.7 million the previous year. Butn is funded through a series of bond issues. It secured $23 million of additional funding during the year, increasing its annual origination capacity to $500 million.  The funding is not cheap. Some of the notes are priced at margins of more than 10 per cent over the three-month bank bill swap rate (currently over 4 per cent). But co-chief executive Rael Ross said demand for the company’s product remained strong. He said the company was aiming to maintain its growth rate in the current financial year.