Treasury Technology
Published  3 MIN READ

TUHF Leverages Kyriba for Mission-Critical Debt Management

Headquartered in Johannesburg, South Africa, TUHF Limited is an inner-city commercial property financing company that lends to local business owners with the vision and tenacity to develop affordable rental accommodations. However, due to its successful growth facilitating the regeneration of neighbourhoods in urban decline, TUHF has had to face its own financial challenges. As a non-banking financial services organisation that relies on borrowing capital to on-lend, not having sufficient debt to fund the business is still the company’s biggest challenge as it continues to grow.

In spite of the lending criteria being stringently based on the financial assessment and character of the entrepreneur, their rights to build and trade, property management experience, loan to value and affordability, the broad range of products available – including unsecured short-term loans, bridging loans, mixed-use loans to incorporate retail space and refinancing – means that business is booming with some clients borrowing and developing multiple properties.

TUHF in Numbers:

  • 40500 units financed
  • R3bn loan book
  • 5 offices across SA
  • R425m Net Asset Value (TUHF Holdings Group)

At the start, TUHF would receive lending from development finance organisations such as DBSA and NHFC to help fund the business, but since 2007 following a restructure bringing in new shareholders, it relies on having a more diversified funding base in order to not be so reliant on single investors.

So with more complex operations and growing loan portfolios, TUHF Chief Financial Officer Ilona Roodt made the decision two years ago to shift away from spreadsheets and invest in a dedicated financial management solution to integrate with their CRM and loan workflow system. With 600 loans funded purely by debt capital, and with terms offered by banks and asset managers reduced to 10 years, it was particularly critical to have more sophisticated risk management functionality, with scenario planning and stress testing. Following a formal evaluation, local Pretoria-based Kyriba partner and established treasury outsourcing provider TreasuryONE was selected.