Standard and Poor's Reaffirms Ratings on Two of Newtek Small Business Loan Trusts Under Stricter Rating Methodology

NEW YORK, June 9, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Newtek Business Services, Inc.NASDAQ: NEWT, The Small Business Authority^®, announced today that Standard & Poor's Ratings Services ("S&P") recently reaffirmed its 'AA' rating on the class A notes from Newtek Small Business Loan Trust 2010-1, and its 'A' rating on class A notes from Newtek Small Business Loan Trust 2013-1.  The reaffirmation of these ratings is the result of the Company's disciplined underwriting, and ‎established expertise in the areas of small business loan origination, financing and loan servicing.  S&P recently tightened its rating criteria through revisions in its methodology and assumptions for rating U.S. Small Business loan-backed securitizations.

Barry Sloane, Newtek President, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer commented, "We are extremely pleased that S&P has reaffirmed the 'AA' and 'A' ratings on our 2010-1 and 2013-1 securitizations, respectively, which were issued by our lending subsidiary, Newtek Small Business Finance.   This is quite a notable achievement, particularly in light of the more stringent criteria utilized by S&P to rate these securitizations, coupled with the fact that these securitizations contain a significant amount of seasoned loan originations and have continued to perform. In fact, while our securitizations have received solid reaffirmations, many brand-recognized institutions have received mixed ratings, which included several downgrades, as a result of S&P's stricter guidelines."

Mr. Sloane continued, "The reason we have been able to maintain these ratings even with stricter guidelines, stems from our decade-long experience and expertise with the originating, underwriting and servicing of small business loans coupled with our proven business model.  At Newtek, we deal directly with our clients boarding them through our proprietary web-based referral technology, NewTracker^®. In 2014, we expect to receive approximately $6.0 billion in lending referrals through our NewTracker^® system, from which we expect to fund $250 million in loan originations, which represents a more than 40% increase over 2013.   Having access to such a large amount of referrals enables us to remain extremely meticulous in choosing what loans we will originate, while maintaining our stringent underwriting guidelines and credit quality standards.  As a result, we accept only approximately two percent of the referrals we receive, which is integral to our success, allowing us to fund the loans with the best characteristics, ensuring future solid performance."

Newtek Small Business Loan Trust 2010-1 and 2013-1 are both asset-backed securities transactions collateralized primarily by a pool of unguaranteed portions of U.S. Small Business Administration Section 7(a) loans backed by commercial real estate and other collateral, such as equipment and receivables from various sources.  Since December of 2010, Newtek Small Business Finance has completed four asset-backed securities transactions.  Guggenheim Securities acted as the placement agent for all four securitizations.

About Newtek Business Services, Inc.

Newtek Business Services, Inc., The Small Business Authority^®, is the Authority for the small- and medium-sized business (SMB) market providing a wide range of business services and financial products under the Newtek^® brand. Since 1999, Newtek has provided state-of-the-art, cost-efficient products and services and efficient business strategies to over 100,000 business accounts across all 50 States to help them grow their sales, control their expenses and reduce their risk.

Newtek's products and services include: The Newtek Advantage^™, Electronic Payment Processing, Managed Technology Solutions (Cloud Computing), eCommerce, Business Lending, Insurance Services, Web Services, Data Backup, Storage and Retrieval, Accounts Receivable Financing, Payroll.

The Small Business Authority^® is a registered trade mark of Newtek Business Services, Inc., and neither are a part of or endorsed by the U.S. Small Business Administration.

Note Regarding Forward Looking Statements

Statements in this press release including statements regarding Newtek's beliefs, expectations, intentions or strategies for the future, may be "forward-looking statements" under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All forward-looking statements involve a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from the plans, intentions and expectations reflected in or suggested by the forward-looking statements. Such risks and uncertainties include, among others, intensified competition, operating problems and their impact on revenues and profit margins, anticipated future business strategies and financial performance, anticipated future number of customers, business prospects, legislative developments and similar matters. Risk factors, cautionary statements and other conditions, which could cause Newtek's actual results to differ from management's current expectations, are contained in Newtek's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission and available through http://www.sec.gov.

Investor Relations
Contact: Jayne Cavuoto
Telephone: (212) 273-8179 / [email protected]

Contact: Brett Maas
Telephone: (646) 536-7331 / [email protected]

Public Relations
Contact: Simrita Singh
Telephone: (212) 356-9566 / [email protected]

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SOURCE Newtek Business Services, Inc.