While stocks of all types, shapes and sizes continue to get hammered week after week, two Australian companies are reporting surging earnings and bright prospects in the current economic crisis. What industry are these stocks in? The Australian securities class action industry.
Last week, IMF (Australia) Ltd., the dominant class action litigation funder in Australia, told shareholders at its annual general meeting that net profit in fiscal 2009 was expected to come in at $20 million, following $17.16 million the prior year. Class actions in Australia are growing in popularity and because there is no contingent fee model in Australia, IMF has emerged as the leading source of funding for these suits. Among IMF’s recent successes is the Aristocrat case (discussed here), in which it was awarded $37 million of the $144 million settlement (with the law firm Maurice Blackburn getting about $8.5 million of IMF’s take).
