Investing.com -- Petershill Partners (LON:PHLL) posted an 11% rise in Partner Distributable Earnings to $323 million in 2024 on Monday, alongside strong asset growth and acquisitions, sending its shares up by over than 2% on Monday.
The British investment company completed four acquisitions totaling $205 million and executed three disposals that generated nominal consideration of $575 million.
During the year, $563 million was returned to shareholders, including an interim dividend of $54 million, a proposed final dividend of $114 million, special dividend payments totaling $287 million, a $103 million tender offer, and a $6 million buyback.
After the financial year ended, another acquisition and disposal were completed, along with the announcement of a $151 million special dividend.
Adjusted profit after tax for the year was $216 million, up from $200 million in 2023. Adjusted EBIT rose to $293 million, maintaining a high margin of 88%, while IFRS profit after tax increased to $832 million from $321 million the previous year. IFRS earnings per share climbed to 75.8 cents from 28.4 cents in 2023.
Acquisitions included a stake in Kennedy Lewis (JO:LEWJ) Investment Management and additional interests in three existing partner firms.
Stake sales in partner firms generated $575 million in nominal consideration, a 19% premium to their carrying value at the time of the transactions.
The Board proposed a final dividend of 10.5 cents per share, bringing the total dividend for the year to 15.5 cents per share, up from 15.0 cents in 2023.
A special dividend of 14.0 cents per share, amounting to $151 million, was also announced, primarily returning proceeds from the sale of a stake in General Catalyst, which was completed in early 2025.
The sale of the majority of the General Catalyst stake was finalized at a total nominal consideration of $726 million, a 62% premium to the last reported carrying value before disposal.
In 2024, Partner Fee Related Earnings rose by 11% to $225 million, with net management fees up 10% year-over-year. Partner Realised Performance Revenues grew by 33% to $73 million, representing 15% of total Partner Revenues.
Partner Private Markets Accrued Carried Interest increased by 14% to $702 million.
The company’s partner firms saw asset growth, with aggregate assets under management reaching $337 billion, an 11% increase, and fee-paying assets under management rising to $238 billion, up 8%.
Petershill also raised $32 billion in gross fee-eligible assets during the year, exceeding its target range.
Petershill’s investments at fair value increased by 11% to $5.8 billion. The company ended the year with $23 million in cash and money market fund investments, down from $305 million in 2023 due to capital returns during the period.
Free cash flow conversion was reported at 82%, and the book value per share increased to 471 cents from 431 cents.
For 2025, the company aims to raise between $20 billion and $25 billion in fee-eligible assets and realize $5 billion to $10 billion in fee-paying assets.
Partner Fee Related Earnings are projected to be between $180 million and $210 million, with Partner Realised Performance Revenues expected to account for 15% to 30% of total Partner Revenues.
The company expects acquisitions above its medium-term target range of $100 million to $300 million per year and an adjusted EBIT margin between 85% and 90%.
After the year-end, Petershill Partners acquired a stake in Frazier Healthcare Partners for $330 million, with an initial $16 million funded at closing and the remaining $314 million deferred primarily to 2026 and 2027.
Frazier Healthcare Partners is a healthcare-focused private equity firm with $5.5 billion in assets.