8th Aug 2024 20:32
(Alliance News) - Burford Capital Ltd on Thursday reported a turnaround in second-quarter earnings, but a soft start to the year meant numbers for the first-half were lower.
In its second quarter ended June 30, the litigation finance provider with offices in London, New York, and elsewhere, said revenue more than tripled to USD159.7 million from USD44.6 million a year ago. Net income swung to USD53.7 million from a loss of USD21.5 million.
Second-quarter gains did little to help Burford recover from the sharp revenue drop it had seen in the first-quarter, however. Revenue in the three months to March had dropped 88% to USD44.3 million from USD380.9 million a year prior.
In May Chief Executive Officer Christopher Bogart had said the decline reflected "variable timing of recognition we expect in our business".
As a result, revenue at the six-month mark was USD169 million, only half of the USD382 million it reported last year. Net income at the half was USD23.8 million, down 90% from USD237.9 million.
The company said no individual asset contributed to the second quarter increase, instead pointing to "significantly higher capital provision income of USD119 million". It was more than triple the USD35 million it reported last year.
Chief Executive Officer Bogart commented: "A series of case wins underline the lack of correlation between Burford's cash flows and markets or the economy and demonstrate continued progression in our USD7.4 billion Group-wide total portfolio. New business was also active with new commitments above our recent quarterly average.
"As we've signaled, overall year-to-date results can't compare with last year given the unrealized gains from the 2023 YPF win, but year-to-date net realized gains on our core portfolio were up 36%. After a typically sleepy first quarter, we are very pleased with the performance of the business in the second quarter and in the first half of 2024."
In 2023, Burford had reported USD543 million in unrealized gains due to its ownership of litigation rights in a USD16.1 billion case related to Argentina's 2012 nationalization of oil company YPF.
Burford shares closed down 1.5% at 979.00 pence each on Thursday in London
By Aidan Lane, Alliance News reporter
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