Manolete Partners (MANO ) has appointed the former PwC Director, Annie Devoy, as an independent Director and Chair of the Audit Committee with effect from 5 January 2022.

The UK-listed insolvency litigation financing company says Lee Manning, who has been an independent Non-Executive Director and Chair of Manolete’s Audit Committee since November 2018, is also stepping down from the Board with effect from the same date.

As a qualified Chartered Accountant, Annie Devoy joined the professional services firm PwC in 1985, specialising in international tax matters, and became a partner of the firm in 2002. 

Prior to retiring from PwC in 2020, Devoy had latterly undertaken a variety of leadership positions within PwC’s Tax, Legal and People Advisory business, Manolete told investors.

Steven Cooklin, Chief Executive Officer of Manolete Partners, said: “We are delighted to have appointed Annie to the Board.  She will bring a vast amount of experience to our governance and, in particular, to the Audit Committee’s oversight of our risk and financial controls.”

He added: “Today we also bid farewell to Lee Manning, who has skilfully led our Audit Committee since our IPO in 2018.  His contribution to our success has been considerable and we offer him our sincere thanks for the commitment and insight he brought to the role.”

Commenting on her upcoming appointment, Annie Devoy outlined that Manolete’s “innovative approach” to the litigation finance sector “has already established it as a well-respected leader in the market”, adding that she is “looking forward” to helping to grow the business further.

Commenting, Manning said: “It has been a pleasure to be part of the Manolete Board and to contribute to its success since IPO.  With her extensive financial and leadership experience, I have no doubt that Annie will be an excellent member of the Board and Chair of the Audit Committee and I wish her, and all my colleagues at Manolete, all the best for the future.”

In November 2021, Manolete described the six months to 30 September 2021 as a period of “resiliency” with case completions in line with expectations and 23% higher than in 1H21.

The insolvency litigation financing company saw revenues rise by 15% to £10.2m from 2H21 (£8.9m) and fall 46% below 1H21 (£19m), a period that had benefited from an exceptionally large single case settlement of £9.3m and that was impacted less from the pandemic. 

It said results reflect its operations during a time when the UK insolvency market was artificially suppressed by the UK Government action initiated in June 2020. The Board has proposed an interim dividend of 0.39p per share (1H21: 1.17p), payable on 6 January 2022.

“Despite the effect of the Government actions the business has continued to perform strongly, particularly in terms of case completions which were 23% higher than the comparable period last year and in line with management expectations,” said Chief Executive, Steven Cooklin.

Profit rose by 38% to £5.4m from 2H21 (£3.9m) and was 43% below 1H21 (£9.5m), with the decline largely due to reduced unrealised profits reflecting the decline in the number of new case investments which was suppressed due to the Covid-19 related temporary measures.

In 1H22, 76% of revenues were from realised completed cases (1H21: 71%) while cash generated from completed cases increased 3% to £4.3m compared to £4.2m in 1H21.

64 case realisations occured in 1H22 representing a 23% rise from the 52 case realisations in 1H21), generating gross proceeds of £7.9m, over an average duration of 11.5 months.

Manolete said new case investments declined by 39% to 78 (1H21: 110) as a result of unprecedented Government support to the economy during the Covid-19 pandemic.

At the time, and with the expectation of sustained higher operational activity, Manolete said it would increase the number of new in-house lawyers to increase its business capacity. 

“These are resilient results, produced against a back-drop of an extraordinary market, and they demonstrate the strength of the Manolete business,” added Cooklin of the results.

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