Court finds against LCM's funded party, shares fall

(Sharecast News) - Shares in Litigation Capital Management fell sharply on Wednesday, after a judge found against its funded party in an Australian class action. The AIM-listed asset manager, which specialises in financing legal disputes, said the Federal Court of Australia had found against its funded party, Queensland users of electricity, in a class action brought against Stanwell Corporation and CS Energy.

LCM said it was considering appealing and that it remained confident about the claim's strength.

The stock still fell sharply, however, losing 8% to 108.81p as at 0845 GMT. The firm has so far invested A$25m (£12.7m) in the case.

Patrick Moloney, chief executive, said: "We were carefully review the Federal Court's decision and, with the legal team, will assess the prospects of a successful appeal.

"Our expectation has always been that an appeal in this case was likely, regardless of the initial outcome.

"We remain confident in the strength of the underlying claim."

The case is Australia's largest energy class action, representing around 40,000 customers. The state-owned generators had been accused of artificially inflating energy market prices between 2015 and 2021. Both deny all the allegations against them.

LCM is headquartered in Sydney.