(Alliance News) - Petershill Partners PLC on Friday reported a swing to a profit in the first half of the year, but said lower partner realised performance fees caused its total income to fall.

Last year was Petershill's first full-year as a London listing. It listed in London back in September 2021 with an initial public offering price of 350 pence per share.

Shares in Petershill were down 8.8% at 160.00 pence each in London on Friday morning.

The London-based investment vehicle is operated by Goldman Sachs Asset Management and invests in alternative asset managers.

In the six months that ended June 30, Petershill swung to a pretax profit of USD129.3 million from a USD420.1 million loss a year ago. It reported a fair value gain on assets and liabilities of USD48.3 million, swung from a loss of USD612.5 million the year before.

Total income including interest, however, fell by 23% to USD138.0 million from USD179.0 million, driven by lower partner realised performance fees as well as partner fee related earnings.

Nonetheless, Petershill upped its interim dividend by 40% to 4.9 US cents from 3.5 US cents in the first half of 2022.

Looking ahead, the investment group said acquisitions in 2023 are expected to be at or below the bottom end of the medium-term range of USD100 million to USD300 million per year, as it continues to "remain selective" on mergers and acquisitions, having made no acquisitions during the first half of 2023.

Managing Director Ali Raissi and Robert Hamilton Kelly commented: "Our portfolio of partner-firms remains robust with the carrying value of our partner-firms broadly stable while our high profitability margin and cash conversion underpins our strategy for growth and capital return to shareholders.

"Our partner-firms' capital raising activity underpins our ongoing confidence about our medium-term prospects and provides the platform to enable significant future distributions to shareholders."

By Sabrina Penty, Alliance News reporter

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