Profits soar at Intermediate Capital

Intermediate Capital, the mezzanine financing company, has hiked its dividend and grown profits despite strong Eurozone headwinds.Adjusted profits before tax in the 12 months to the end of March were £198.8m compared to £190.1m in the prior year. Earnings per share increased from 32.6p to 47.7p leaving the company headroom to announce a final dividend of 13p per share, bringing the total to 19p, up from 18p in 2010/2011.Third party assets under management declined 3% to €11.4bn, which Intermediate claims is due to the run off of old funds exceeding funds raised.It's quite easy to understand why, with the Eurozone debt crisis making investors panicky about putting their money anywhere - although Intermediate Capital argues its model of providing different forms of credit at a time when credit from orthodox sources, like banks, is drying up, ought to stand it in good stead.Commenting on the results, Christophe Evain, the Chief Executive Officer said:: "Our portfolio has shown resilience in uncertain economic times and our investment pace has picked up in recent months. "We have recently acquired our third portfolio of discounted senior loans from a European bank and we have made our second sponsorless investment in Australia. In addition, we are at advanced stages in a number of new transactions. The economic outlook remains uncertain and we will continue to be extremely vigilant when making investment decisions."The market was clearly impressed, Intermediate Capital shares were 7.3% up at 08:27.