12th Mar 2020 14:39
(Alliance News) - Burford Capital Ltd said Thursday it has delayed the publication of its 2019 financial year results by two or three weeks due to the coronavirus outbreak, resulting in the closure of its office in New York.
Burford was initially expected to publish its results on March 24. However the firm said it does not expect the delay to extend beyond Easter.
Shares in Burford Capital were 12% lower at 354.10 pence on Thursday in London.
The litigation financing firm said it has closed its office in the New York following several "locally relevant data points", including companies such as Alphabet Inc's Google, Facebook Inc and Amazon.com Inc asking their employees to work remotely.
"Prudence suggests that we follow suit," Burford said.
Burford said that despite the virus pandemic, it remains open for business, with the signing of two term sheets for new investments on Wednesday.
Although the firm said the disruption will not have any material negative impact on its business, it did say that the closure will take a toll on its finance and in-house legal teams, which work collaboratively with each other.
In addition, Burford said that two of its employees which are "key to its results process" have had to self-isolate themselves.
"We regret the delay in the release of our 2019 results, but these are unprecedented circumstances and the health and safety of our team is our first priority. This is a rapidly evolving situation. Burford is acting on strong medical advice and following the lead of a number of other respected firms," said Chief Executive Officer Christopher Bogart.
By Dayo Laniyan; [email protected]
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