Shares in AIM-listed insolvency litigation financing firm Manolete Partners (LON:MANO) climbed by 7.45% to 548p (as of 15:00 BST) after it reported that revenues rose by 36% during the year ended 31st March. Profits before tax were up by 38% and the board has proposed that the final dividend be doubled.
CEO Steven Cooklin commented: “We have delivered another set of strong financial and operating results, with impressive double-digit growth in revenue and EBIT during the period. We continue to deliver outstanding investment returns, yielding an average Money Multiple of 2.7x and ROI of 174% on 257 completed cases since inception.
“Despite the large expansion of the infrastructure overhead required for the rapid expansion of the business in FY20, Company net cash receipts from completed cases (after all payments to Insolvency Practitioners and lawyers’ fees on those cases) exceeded all Company overhead costs. We are currently running a record 201 live cases and foresee no requirement for any further material increase in overhead costs, so the outlook for cash generation is very positive.
“Despite the challenges of COVID-19, the activity levels within the business are at record levels, highlighted by the 47 new case investments (124% more than the same period last year) and 23 case completions (up from four in the same period last year) that the team has transacted in the first quarter of FY21. New case enquiries are also at all-time record levels, running at around double the rate we had this time last year. We entered FY21 with £8.4m of gross cash, a positive net cash balance and £12m of our HSBC Revolving Credit Facility unutilised. All these factors firmly underpin our confidence in the current and future trading performance of the business.
“With the widely reported economic disruption likely to ensue, we expect new case enquiries to increase over the foreseeable future and we will continue working to deliver outstanding returns to both insolvent estates and investors“.