LCF creditors to get smaller dividends as administration costs near £8m

London Capital & Finance (LCF) creditors are set to receive lower dividends due to the declining value of a holding in a North Sea gas company, while administration fees head towards £8m.

The latest update from the administrator Evelyn Partners noted a recent 88 per cent drop in the share price of Aim-listed Independent Oil and Gas, which it said is one of the collapsed mini-bond holder’s “main indirect assets”.

As a result, it has revised down its dividend estimates.

“At the outset of the administration, it was estimated that secured creditors would eventually receive at least 25 per cent of the funds owed to them,” the report said, which was filed with Companies House.

“However, this estimate needs to be adjusted downwards due to the circa 88 per cent reduction in the IOG share price in recent times…it is appropriate for the LCF joint administrators to adjust downwards the estimated total LCF dividend rate to 20 per cent.”

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Administrator fees have risen to £7,921,721, according to the report, which covered the period of 30 July 2022 to 29 January 2023.

Evelyn Partners reiterated its estimate that fees would hit £9,090,855 by the end of the fifth year of the administration, on 29 January 2024.

LCF issued mini-bonds to retail investors, saying the money was to be invested in a large range of small and medium-size companies. It later emerged that it invested in just a handful of firms, some of which were linked to associates of LCF.

The firm went into administration in January 2019 owing £230m-plus to more than 11,500 bondholders.

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