Litigation fund eyes special dividend
Britain’s first quoted litigation investment fund, which bankrolls lawsuits in return for earning a share of awards, plans to pay a bumper dividend to investors after winning a further four cases worth £23m.
The board of Juridica Investments Ltd is scheduled to meet on 6 September, before its September half-year results, to discuss a special dividend distribution, payable to investors at the end of year when the proceeds are received.
“We committed Juridica to invest in bigger cases with a desire to generate significant returns for our investors over the long term,” chief executive Richard Fields said in statement, referring to its four latest victories.
Investors were paid a 7p special dividend in February, after cash receipts from successful actions reached $17.1m (£10.9m) in 2011. Peel Hunt analysts expect the fund to pay out an additional 10 pence per share from its latest wins.
Peel Hunt has moved Juridica’s target price to 116 pence from 111p and rates shares a ‘buy’ based on their prospects for providing attractive returns that are not correlated with the market.
Juridica’s lifetime gross proceeds have reached $85m on $210m of capital invested. It has returned a total of £16m to shareholders via a combination of dividends and share buybacks.