LONDON (ShareCast) - (Sharecast News) - Mercia Asset Management said in an update on Wednesday that it expects EBITDA for the year ended 31 March to be materially ahead of market expectations, driven by increased scale, improved operating efficiency and strong fund-raising activity.
The AIM-traded company cited growing benefits from its platform model and a resilient direct investment portfolio.

In the final quarter of the year, Mercia secured £250m in additional capital across existing mandate increases, new fund management contracts and successful VCT and EIS fundraises.

The firm reported no redemptions during the year, underlining the stability of its asset base, while assets under management remained above £1.8bn.

Mercia said its direct investment portfolio continued to show solid technical and commercial progress, despite challenging conditions in the venture market, which the group said reflected the strength of its underlying holdings.

The group ended the period with around £40m in cash and remained debt-free.

Mercia also announced that Julian Viggars had stepped down from the board after seven years as chief investment officer.

He would now focus exclusively on managing the performance of the group's equity portfolios.

"We are pleased to update that Mercia has had an excellent finish to the financial year," said chief executive officer Dr Mark Payton.

"Our second successive year of significant fourth quarter organic fund inflows, coupled with a strong trading performance, is testament to our clear strategy of focusing on growing our profitable specialist asset management capabilities.

"It also reflects Mercia's increasing ability to effectively deploy equity and debt funding across the UK, through our established regional footprint of 11 offices and our extensive deal flow networks, to generate attractive returns over time for our investors."

Dr Payton said the company's debt free cash position as at 31 March of £40m meant that Mercia had entered the new financial year in a "very healthy" position.

"We look forward to announcing our 2025 full year results on 1 July."

At 1021 BST, shares in Mercia Asset Management were up 14.82% at 29.28p.

Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.

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