Strong forward momentum at Intermediate Capital

(ShareCast News) - Intermediate Capital Group was reporting strong forward momentum on Tuesday morning, updating the market on its recent trading activities.The FTSE 250 firm reported strong fundraising inflows for the nine months to 31 December 2015, at €4.7bn (£3.6bn), though it said the pace of fundraising was likely to slow as the company focused on new strategies.It also reported new third party money raised in the quarter to 31 December of €1.4bn, resulting in assets under management increasing by 5% to €21.2bn in the quarter, and third party fee-earning assets under management by 6% to €15.4bn."Intermediate Capital Group's strong momentum has continued", said CEO Christophe Evain."We had final closes on our North America Private Debt Fund and our Senior Debt Partners II strategy, both above their target sizes, and our domestic Japanese Mezzanine Fund, demonstrating the success of our organic product expansion", he added.Intermediate Capital said its balance sheet remained well-funded with available cash and unutilised bank lines of £705m at 31 December 2015.The headroom was reduced from £802m at 30 September 2015, with the firm reporting £83m of private placements repaid during the quarter."Despite the prevailing heightened market volatility, the long term market conditions remain favourable for alternative investments and we remain well positioned to deliver our strategic objectives and generate improving returns for our shareholders", Evain said.Intermediate Capital said it continued to target an increasing return on its equity to over 13%, by further growth in the profitability of the business and re-gearing the balance sheet.