Last checked at 
(Alliance News) - Duke Royalty Ltd said Friday its revenue more than doubled during the first half, boosted by investments in royal partners.
The royalty financing company said for six months ended September 30, its revenue jumped to GBP5.9 million from GBP2.7 million in comparable period a year ago, while pretax profit tax increased to GBP3.7 million from GBP1.1 million a year ago.
The company said increase in revenue, cash and profitability was boosted by extensions to investments made in existing royalty partners and new credit facility.
The company said it made extensions to three senior loan agreements with existing royalty partners - telecommunications services company Welltel Ltd, media company Step Investments Ltd and technology solutions company Xtremepush Ltd - increasing the amount of cash that Duke can expect to receive back from these investments over their life.
The company said it paid quarterly dividends of 0.7 pence in April and July. Additionally, for September the company increased quarterly dividend to 0.75p.
Nigel Birrell, chair of the company, said: "Although we continually assess the geopolitical uncertainties facing the UK and European business community, the company is well-positioned to cope with challenging macroeconomic events due to the consistently low operating costs and tight controls which are central to our business model."
"As such, the future remains bright for the company and I am looking forward to the additional positive news flow expected for the remainder of financial year 2020," Birrell said.
In September, Duke Royalty had said it secured a new five-year GBP30 million revolving loan from existing lender Honeycomb Investment Trust PLC on improved terms. The new loan, which replaced previous GBP15 million agreement, would support Duke in delivering its growth strategy by providing access to additional capital, at a reasonable cost, without relying solely on equity markets, the company noted.
Duke Royalty shares were 0.9% up in London at 48.14 pence each on Friday.
By Loreta Juodagalvyte; loretajuodagalvyte@alliancenews.com
Copyright 2019 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
