The Social Investment Business returned to recording a surplus in the year to 31 March 2021 after what it described as a “strong financial performance”.
The social investor recorded a surplus of almost £400,000 for the period, according to its latest accounts, after recording a deficit of more than £560,000 in the previous year.
Fund and grant management income increased significantly year on year from about £1.9m to £4.2m and grant income rose by more than £1m.
Total income increased to more than £9.6m, up from nearly £6.3m, but the upturn was spent on operational costs and more than £5.2m in grants.
The accounts say that Covid-19 was expected to have a serious impact on organisations that had loans from the SIB, but the social investor’s portfolio had performed well and been resilient.
The SIB said: “From the start of the first lockdown, SIB has been in direct contact with its entire portfolio, and offered repayment holidays and freezes for those most in need.”
Total staff costs at the SIB increased from about £1.7m to nearly £2.1m as employee numbers increased from 34 to 39.
Nick Temple, chief executive of the SIB, said: “We are pleased to have had a strong financial performance over the last year, which reflects an extraordinary period of work for Social Investment Business.
“The team has assessed over 3,500 applications, distributing over £29m in loans through the Resilience & Recovery Loan Fund, and an additional £25m plus through emergency grant rounds with Access, Power to Change and the Youth Endowment Fund: all in addition to work that was originally planned before Covid-19.
“We know there are still great challenges ahead for charities and social enterprises as they recover from the pandemic, and we are working hard to support them to build their resilience.
“To do that most effectively in the long term, we continue to work equally hard to ensure SIB’s own financial resilience.”