(Adds comments from chairman, detail)
LONDON, May 4 (Reuters) - British private equity firmElectra said on Wednesday it made a total return of 15percent in the six months ended March, helped by profit growthin its portfolio of companies.
The Hotter Shoes owner said it would pay an interim dividendof 44 pence a share.
Electra is undertaking a strategic review, including of theperformance reporting of its companies, after activist investorEdward Bramson, who heads Sherborne Investors, foughthis way onto the board in 2015 after a bitter battle lastingalmost two years.
In January shareholder advisory firm PIRC said Electra'sboard was not independent enough after the appointment ofU.S.-based Bramson and a supporter, Ian Brindle.
Chairman Kate Barker told Reuters in a telephone interviewthat the board was seeking "a couple" more independentnon-executive directors to address the issue.
Electra has already appointed Neil Johnson, chairman ofchemicals firm Synthomer, as non-executive chairmanand director.
Johnson is to join Electra on May 12, replacing Barker, whostood in as interim chair after Bramson's joining the board inNovember prompted the resignation of then Chairman Roger Yates.
Barker added that the strategic review was expected to becompleted in the autumn.
Electra said it had invested 203 million pounds in theperiod, although the UK referendum on an exit from the EuropeanUnion was hampering the pace of some transactions.
"We've observed that the market is a little quieter becauseof it," Alex Fortescue, managing partner of Electra. "I thinkthere are processes and transactions that have been put on holdpending the outcome. In terms of our portfolio, we don't seeareas of key risk from a Brexit vote."
Electra is building up its debt portfolio, which now standsat 59 million pounds, as part of a drive to build up its stable,cash-yielding assets.
($1 = 0.6878 pounds) (Reporting by Freya Berry; editing by Mark Potter and JasonNeely)
