Bahrain-based alternative asset manager Investcorp has recorded a 5% rise in annual profit for the last financial year.
According to the firm’s chief financial officer, Jan Erik Back, the $131 million profit was generated through higher fee income which rose by 17%.
Meanwhile assets under management (AuM) rose by $1.9 billion to $28.2 billion, which is just over half of Investcorp’s medium-term target to raise $50 billion in AuM across its hedge fund, real estate, credit and private equity businesses
Back added that Investcorp also decided to cut the number of co-investments in the private equity (PE) market by 19% to $505 million in order to reduce balance sheet risk. “That is another way of saying we have more dry powder,” said Back.
As a result of the private equity (PE) exits and the creation of a European PE fund with UK-based Coller Capital, Investcorp now has access to $1.1 billion of liquidity while its capital adequacy ratio has risen from 31.5% to 33.8%.
Investcorp is also finalising its conversion from a wholesale bank to a holding company, a structure more in line with its peers, said Back. The central bank of Bahrain has approved the delicensing of its wholesale banking license and the move should be completed before the end of the summer, according to Investcorp.
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