A listed insolvency litigation funder has blamed the government’s temporary restrictions on insolvency proceedings as it today reported a 36% slump in profit before tax last year.

Manolete Partners posted revenues of £20.4m in the year to 31 March, down 27% from £27.8m last year, and profit before tax of £4.5m – lower than the £5-£6m, itself ‘below market expectations’, that the company predicted in April.

Manolete did, however, report a 28% rise in gross cash receipts from completed cases, which were up to £15.5m. It also boosted its retained share of gross cash receipts from completed cases after payments to insolvency practitioners and legal costs by 31% to £8.9m and completed a record 139 cases.

It said the ‘widespread but temporary restrictions on the UK insolvency and restructuring industry’ imposed during the pandemic created ‘very challenging trading conditions’. ‘Widespread UK government support across the UK economy’ has also led to ‘significantly fewer insolvencies’.

But Manolete added that the UK insolvency industry is ‘returning to more normal operating levels’ and said that it received 61 new case enquiries in May 2022, ‘the highest monthly level since July 2020’.

Chief executive Steve Cooklin said: ‘In what was a very challenging year, the company has delivered a resilient performance demonstrating the robustness of our business model. As we return to more usual trading conditions, I am pleased to report that we are seeing strong growth in new case enquiries.’

Shares in Manolete Partners plc slipped 3.45% to 280p following this morning’s announcement.

 

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