PRICE 210p 10MAR09
Website WWW.icgplc.co.uk

Intermediate Capital Group plc (ICG) announces its first half results for the six months ended 30 September 2015.

Operational highlights
Total AUM up 12% to €20.2bn, with €3.2bn of new money raised; third party fee earning AUM up 18% to €14.4bn

Our strong fundraising start to the year was mainly driven by our European funds - European Mezzanine and Senior Debt Partners - raising a total of €2.2bn. With these funds substantially raised, the pace of fundraising in the second half is expected to be slower

Fundraising across multiple strategies and geographies continues with five first time funds and four successor funds being marketed

All funds investing on target whilst maintaining credit discipline in a competitive market

Resilient portfolio, net impairments at £18.1m (H1 2015: £21.1m), and unrealised capital gains remaining strong

Financial highlights
Group profit before tax down 2% to £93.9m (H1 2015: £95.7m)
Fund Management Company strategy delivering increased profits, up 9% to £29.0m (H1 2015: £26.7m)
Investment company profit is 6% lower at £64.9m (H1 2015: £69.0m)

Return on equity of 12.1% (H1 2015: 9.8%) and gearing of 0.80x (H1 2015: 0.39x), both up on prior year

Interim ordinary dividend up 4.3% to 7.2 pence per share in addition to the £300m special dividend paid in July

The Board reaffirms its commitment to increasing the Group's return on equity to over 13% through growth and, by July 2016, re-gearing the balance sheet to well within the range of 0.8-1.2 times


Commenting on the results, Christophe Evain, CEO, said:
"The first half of the financial year has been another period of successful execution of our strategy. We have generated over €3 billion of new fund inflows, identified and executed further good investment opportunities with discipline in a competitive environment, and continued to demonstrate the resilience of our investment portfolio. We have also returned £300m to shareholders by way of a special dividend, increasing our gearing, which together with our sustained growth are driving return on equity higher.

"ICG's fundraising focus in the second half will be principally on our newer strategies. Although these newer strategies take greater time and resource to raise, they set the foundations for us to increase the diversity and long term profitability of our fund management business.

"Our expectation remains that only those asset managers with proven track records, the deepest origination networks and most differentiated product offerings will continue to be able to deploy capital profitably in the current competitive investment environment. We remain well positioned to deliver our strategic objectives and generate improving returns for our shareholders."

StockMarketWire.com
Intermediate Capital Group has acquired the Graphite Capital Management LLP's private equity funds investment business for GBP20m, subject to regulatory approvals.

The business is responsible for managing and investing the Graphite Enterprise Trust, a London listed investment trust making primary and secondary fund investments and co-investments.

The trust will be renamed the 'ICG Enterprise Trust'. The private equity funds investment business is complementary to ICG's expertise in investing in private markets, combining flexible solutions and local access and insight into investment opportunities. ICG is committed to innovating and pioneering new strategies where value can be delivered for investors.

JP Morgan Cazenove today reaffirms its overweight investment rating on Intermediate Capital Group PLC (LON:ICP) and raised its price target to 660p (from 620p).