London Capital & Finance creditors to recoup less funds than expected

London Capital & Finance (LCF) secured creditors are set to receive 10 per cent to 18 per cent of the funds owed to them, a significant downward revision from initial estimates.

The mini-bond platform collapsed in January 2019 owing more than £230m to more than 11,500 bondholders.

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.

However, an update from administrator Evelyn Partners, released in March this year, warned that this would need to be revised down due to a decline in the value of LCF’s indirect investment in a North Sea gas producer, Independent Oil and Gas (IOG).

In a new update, for the period from 30 January 2023 to 29 July 2023, Evelyn Partners attributed the reduction to “the valuation of certain assets which the administrators are working to realise” and “the need to expend very substantial further costs in order to realise certain assets for the benefit of the secured creditors”.

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“The creditors are reminded that, regrettably, there were very few assets of any value [among LCF’s borrowers],” the report said.

At the time of Evelyn Partners’ previous progress report, the IOG share price had dropped by 88 per cent to a low of 5p. Since then, the share price has further declined to a low of 1.96p, due to IOG’s failure to meet operational targets and lower gas prices.

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Evelyn Partners also said that any further distributions will mostly be paid to the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS), who is administering the two LCF compensation schemes.

One of the schemes was for investors who were eligible for FSCS protection. The other one was a one-off scheme on behalf of the Treasury.

The Treasury’s scheme, launched in November 2021, was deemed a unique event by legal experts as it is highly unusual for the Treasury to step in and repay investors.

The scheme closed on 31 October 2022, having paid out £115m.