FRP Advisory reports ‘strong’ trading as company administrations jump
FRP Advisory, one of the country’s leading restructuring firms, said today it expected to report revenue growth of 19 per cent for its half year to the end of October. The company said the growth is partly due to “an increase in activity levels” in the restructuring market as businesses struggle with debt and higher interest rates.
It noted: “Companies with significant borrowings who have rolled off lower interest rate arrangements are now subject to much higher debt service costs.”
On top of this, many firms have struggled with cost inflation. FRP noted construction, property, casual dining and food service, retail, administrative and support services sectors have been finding it particularly difficult to navigate the challenging environment.
Company administrations had now approached “pre-pandemic levels”.
To build on its presence in the UK restructuring market, in September FRP acquired Wilson Field for £4.8m. The deal added a team of 63 licensed insolvency and debt advisory specialists to the group.
FRP said its corporate finance team had also seen a slowdown in the UK mergers and acquisitions market. It closed 25 transactions in the first half of its financial year, with a total value of £537m and it helped raise £209m of debt. In the same period last year, it worked on 40 deals worth £1.2bn and £552m of debt.
The company said it will see earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) for the period of £15.5m, up 34 per cent year-on-year.
Geoff Rowley, chief executive said: “Looking ahead, we remain confident of making further progress, with leading positions in our core markets and a team and structure that leaves us well positioned to support corporates through the business cycle and respond to increased demand for our services.”