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Burford Capital Ltd reported on Tuesday its first annual loss in the company's history but nonetheless called 2021 an ‘excellent’ year.
The New York-based litigation financier swung to a net loss of $56.4 million in 2021 from a profit of $173.3 million the previous year. This was in line with previous expectations.
The company said its group-wide portfolio grew 34% to $5.1 billion at December 31 from $3.8 billion year-on-year.
This, it continued, was driven by new business growth which saw a record-breaking $1.1 billion in new commitments in 2021. In 2020, new commitments totalled $758 million, representing a 32% increase year-on-year.
Chair Hugh Wilson said: ‘Burford turned in an excellent 2021. This may seem odd to say as we report the first loss in our history, but that is a matter of timing. We wrote significant new core legal finance business in 2021. Even in an era of slower case progress, we generated significantly more cash than needed to cover all of our expenses.’
The company declared a final dividend of 6.25 US cents, bringing the total dividend for the year to 12.5 cents and in line with the previous year.
Shares in Burford were down 1.5% at 730.00 pence on Tuesday afternoon in London.
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