* Adjusted 2012 pretax profit $34.1 mln vs $15.9 mln yr ago
* Proposes dividend of 4.76 cents/share vs 3.66
* Shares up 3.6 pct
By Clare Hutchison
LONDON, April 11 (Reuters) - Burford Capital, aLondon-listed fund that finances lawsuits in return for a cut ofany payouts, said profit doubled in 2012 as several of the casesit invested in came good.
The company, which competes with Juridica in theUnited States and Britain, plans to raise its dividend forshareholders by one third reflecting a strong outlook.
Litigation finance has gained a higher profile in recentyears as companies turn to the courts to deal with businessfailures, allegations of fraud, whistleblowing and patentdisputes.
"We're obviously feeling very positive about the results,about the business and the industry as a whole," Burford ChiefExecutive Christopher Bogart said on Thursday.
Pretax profit excluding the impact of an acquisition, jumpedto $34.1 million from $16 million a year earlier. The companyplans to raise its dividend to 4.76 cents per share from 3.66the previous year.
Burford's shares, which have climbed almost 14 percent sofar this year, were up 3.6 percent at 106 pence at 1505 GMT.
The company, which has $300 million under management, said 12 litigations finished last year, generating $47 million ingross investment recoveries, a return of 61 percent. That wasmore than the previous two years combined.
It said it has a further $53 million in gross payoutspending and a strong pipeline of nine legal cases that it has commited $72 million to.
"We believe that both the deployment and investmentrecoveries should continue to grow strongly in 2013 and beyond,"RBC Capital Markets analysts said in a note to clients.
Burford has recently sought to smooth out the effect thatlong-term and unpredictable litigation can have on its revenuestream by funding more than one case for a single client.
"When we have corporate clients show up and want much morecapital than a single case, and want to spread that capitalacross a portfolio of ten cases that's very interesting for us,both on growing the business and diversifying the risk," Bogartsaid.
Burford declined to name its clients or the cases it isfunding, citing legal reasons.
The company is discussing with shareholders, which includeInvesco Perpetual and Baillie Gifford, how to adapt its capitalstructure for its new set-up, Bogart added.
It also entered the UK market last year after acquiringFirstassist for $18.75 million on a cash-free, debt-free basis.Bogart said in its first 10 months, Firstassist, now calledBurford UK, has generated $11 million in profit before tax.
