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Law360 (March 13, 2020, 4:15 PM EDT ) Pointing to disruptions from the coronavirus outbreak, litigation funding giant Burford Capital said it will hold off releasing its year-end financial results.
In an investor-focused statement Thursday, the funder said it was open for business, even as its New York office was closed and two employees "key to our results process" were in self-quarantine.
Those and other coronavirus-related difficulties will mean a delay of the 2019 fiscal results for two to three weeks. The release had been scheduled for March 24.
"We will announce a firm date for our results as soon as we are able; as things stand presently, we certainly do not expect the delay to extend beyond Easter," the company said. "We are also not offering an in-person investor roadshow this year."
The company added that its progress thus far on the year-end review process "affirms our view that we expect to release financial statements that are consistent" with a Feb. 3 trading update.
"We regret the delay in the release of our 2019 results, but these are unprecedented circumstances and the health and safety of our team is our first priority. This is a rapidly evolving situation," said CEO Christopher Bogart. "Burford is acting on strong medical advice and following the lead of a number of other respected firms."
The February statement, which offered an incomplete look at the year past, said Burford had $1.6 billion in new commitments in 2019, a 24% increase over 2017, and cash proceeds of $997 million, up 23%. Burford also deployed $1.1 billion to investments in 2019, a near-match with the outlay from the previous year.
Despite the rosy numbers, Burford has had a rocky several months.
Last August, U.S. short-seller Muddy Waters Research publicly accused Burford of overvaluing the litigation it backs and bad governance practices. The London-listed funder's stock subsequently fell by more than half, and an investor class action lawsuit was filed. The case was withdrawn in December.
Following the Muddy Waters attack, Burford replaced its then-chief financial officer Elizabeth O'Connell with Jim Kilman, a former vice chairman of Morgan Stanley Investment Banking. O'Connell is married to Bogart, a relationship Muddy Waters called a conflict of interest ripe for governance trouble.
More leadership changes were made in January, with former senior managing director Aviva Will and managing director David Perla becoming co-chief operations officers.
--Additional reporting by Hailey Konnath, Aebra Coe and Richard Crump. Editing by Alanna Weissman.
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