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Burford Capital Ltd

For the period ended Sep 30, 2026. Filed Nov 4, 2026.

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About this filing

A company's report for each of its first three quarters. The financial statements are not audited. It shows how the business has moved since the last annual report, and what management says changed.

Sep 30, 2026 · Filed Nov 4, 2026

BUR$3.65-1.6%Stored close · as of Nov 10, 2026

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Liquidity and capital resources and off-balance sheet arrangements

Liquidity and capital resources

Overview

The table below sets forth our cash and cash equivalents and marketable securities as of the dates indicated.

September 30, 2026 · December 31, 2025
Total · Total
Third-party · segments · Third-party · segments
($ in thousands)Consolidatedinterests(Burford-only)Consolidatedinterests(Burford-only)
Cash and cash equivalents$463,756$(16,992)$446,764$566,437$(35,246)$531,191
Marketable securities67,406—67,40689,486—89,486
Total531,162(16,992)514,170655,923(35,246)620,677

As of September 30, 2026, our cash and cash equivalents and marketable securities decreased 19% on a consolidated basis and decreased 17% on a total segments (Burford-only) basis. The net decrease in cash and cash equivalents and marketable securities on both the consolidated and total segments (Burford-only) bases primarily reflects (i) the redemption of the 2026 Bonds and the 2028 Notes and (ii) the funding of capital provision assets, partially offset by the issuance of the 2029 Notes and the 2034 Notes, and the proceeds received from capital provision assets. On the consolidated basis, the net decrease in cash and cash equivalents and marketable securities was also impacted by third-party net capital distributions.

Our marketable securities primarily consist of short-duration and generally investment-grade fixed income assets, the bulk of which are held in separately managed accounts, managed by a third-party asset manager that specializes in short-duration and money market investments.

Debt

During the nine months ended September 30, 2026, we issued the 2029 Notes and the 2034 Notes and redeemed in full the remaining 2026 Bonds and the 2028 Notes. As of September 30, 2026, we had five series of debt securities outstanding, all of which were issued through private placement transactions under Rule 144A and Regulation S under the Securities Act. See note 10 (Debt) to our unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements contained in this Form 10-Q for additional information with respect to our outstanding debt securities. As of September 30, 2026, Moody’s had affirmed our existing credit ratings and negative outlook and assigned a senior secured note rating, while S&P had affirmed our senior unsecured note rating and stable outlook and assigned a senior secured note rating.

We manage our business with appropriate levels of leverage and have laddered debt maturities with an overall weighted average maturity in excess of the expected weighted average life of our legal finance assets. As of September 30, 2026, the weighted average maturity of our outstanding debt securities of 5.3 years continued to be longer than the weighted average life of our concluded assets, weighted by realizations, of 2.7 years.

Going forward, we expect to continue to be an opportunistic issuer of debt securities and may issue new debt securities from time to time to fund our growth, or refinance future debt maturities, among other things. In addition, from time to time, we may acquire our debt securities through open market purchases, redemptions, privately negotiated transactions, tender offers, exchange offers or otherwise, upon such terms and at such prices as we may from time to time determine, for cash or other consideration.

The indentures governing our outstanding debt securities contain certain restrictive covenants that, among other things, limit our ability to incur additional indebtedness (but generally do not limit our ability to refinance our existing indebtedness) or undertake certain other specific actions, such as making restricted payments. These restrictive covenants have many exceptions, referred to as “baskets”, including certain “baskets” that are based on our debt-to-equity ratio. As of the date of this Quarterly Report, while our debt-to-equity ratio impairs our use of some “baskets” based on that ratio, we continue to have other “baskets” available to us that are not predicated on our debt-to-equity ratio that we believe provide us with adequate flexibility to manage our business operations.

We are required to provide certain information pursuant to the indentures governing the 2029 Notes, the 2030 Notes, the 2031 Notes, the 2033 Notes and the 2034 Notes. The tables below set forth the total assets and third-party indebtedness as of the dates indicated and total revenues for the periods indicated, in each case, of (i) us and our Restricted Subsidiaries (as defined in the indentures governing the 2029 Notes, the 2030 Notes, the 2031 Notes, the 2033 Notes and the 2034 Notes, as applicable) and (ii) our Unrestricted Subsidiaries (as defined in the indentures governing the 2029 Notes, the 2030 Notes, the 2031 Notes, the 2033 Notes and the 2034 Notes, as applicable).

($ in thousands)September 30, 2026December 31, 2025
Burford Capital Limited and its Restricted Subsidiaries
Total assets$3,521,480$5,941,410
Third-party indebtedness2,300,1332,127,829
Unrestricted Subsidiaries
Total assets681,270699,762
Third-party indebtedness——
Three months ended September 30,Nine months ended September 30,
($ in thousands)2026202520262025
Burford Capital Limited and its Restricted Subsidiaries
Total revenues$133,803$69,542$(1,484,223)$352,389
Unrestricted Subsidiaries
Total revenues13,10726121,44227,559

Dividends

We do not intend to declare interim dividends for the year ending December 31, 2026; we will evaluate the potential for future dividends as our portfolio matures and our leverage level reduces. See “Risk factors—Risks relating to our ordinary shares—There can be no assurance that we will pay dividends or distributions” in the 2025 Form 10-K for additional information with respect to our declaration and payment of dividends.

Cash flows

We primarily generate revenues and cash flows from our capital provision assets. Based on our historical experience and current expectations, we believe that our existing liquidity, together with cash generated from our business operations, will be sufficient to meet our anticipated operating expenses, debt service obligations and other working capital requirements for at least the next 12 months.

Over the longer term, we expect to continue to fund our business operations principally through proceeds realized from our capital provision assets, supplemented as appropriate by access to the capital markets and other financing arrangements.

Our expected primary uses of cash over the next 12 months include:

funding new and existing investments to support the growth of our business;

paying operating expenses, including compensation and general and administrative costs;

servicing our indebtedness, including interest payments;

paying taxes; and

repurchasing ordinary shares.

Our expected primary uses of cash over the longer term include:

continuing to support the growth of our business and expansion of our portfolio;

pursuing strategic investment opportunities;

servicing and repaying outstanding indebtedness;

paying cash dividends, as declared; and

repurchasing ordinary shares.

We believe that the growth of our portfolio will, over time, generate increased revenues and cash flows sufficient to meet our long-term liquidity requirements.

Set forth below is a discussion of our cash flows for the periods indicated on a consolidated basis, unless noted otherwise.

The table below sets forth the components of our cash flows for the periods indicated.

Nine months ended September 30,
($ in thousands)20262025
Net cash provided by/(used in) operating activities$(211,628)$50,889
Net cash provided by/(used in) investing activities(4,388)(8,442)
Net cash provided by/(used in) financing activities113,670163,624
Net increase/(decrease) in cash and cash equivalents(102,346)206,071

Net cash provided by/(used in) operating activities

The table below sets forth the components of our net cash provided by/(used in) operating activities for the periods indicated.

Nine months ended September 30,
($ in thousands)20262025
Net cash provided by/(used in) operating activities before proceeds from/(funding of) operating activities$(277,453)$(109,861)
Net proceeds from/(funding of) marketable securities24,4507,325
Proceeds from capital provision assets391,838606,950
Funding of capital provision assets(350,463)(453,525)
Net cash provided by/(used in) operating activities(211,628)50,889

Net cash used in operating activities was $211.6 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2026. The period-over-period change in net cash provided by/(used in) operating activities reflects primarily lower proceeds received from capital provision assets.

Net cash provided by/(used in) investing activities

Net cash used in investing activities was $4.4 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2026. The period-over-period change in net cash provided by/(used in) investing activities was primarily due to lower acquisitions of equity method and other investments in 2026 compared to 2025.

Net cash provided by/(used in) financing activities

Net cash provided by financing activities was $113.7 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2026. The period-over-period change in net cash provided by/(used in) financing activities was primarily due to higher value of debt redemptions in 2026 compared to 2025, partially offset by higher value of debt issuance in 2026 compared to 2025 and the impact from third-party net distributions.

Cash receipts (non-GAAP financial measure)

Cash receipts represent cash generated during the reporting period from our capital provision assets, asset management income and certain other items, before any deployments into financing existing or new assets. See “Non-GAAP financial measures and KPIs—KPIs and non-GAAP financial measures relating to our operating and financial performance—Non-GAAP financial measures—Cash receipts” for additional information with respect to our cash receipts. See “—Cash flows” for a discussion of our cash flows on a consolidated basis prepared in accordance with US GAAP.

The table below sets forth the components of our cash receipts for the periods indicated on a Burford-only basis.

Burford-only (non-GAAP)Nine months ended September 30,
($ in thousands)20262025
Proceeds from capital provision assets$298,478$389,431
Proceeds from asset management income13,55016,743
Proceeds from other items(1)23,93617,314
Cash receipts335,964423,488
1. See “—Reconciliations—Cash receipts reconciliations” for additional information with respect to the components of this line item.

On a Burford-only basis, our cash receipts decreased 21% for the nine months ended September 30, 2026, reflecting primarily lower cash receipts from realizations during 2026 as compared to 2025. Of the $164.8 million of due from settlement of capital provision assets receivables as of December 31, 2025, 65% was collected in cash during 2026.

See “—Reconciliations—Cash receipts reconciliations” for a reconciliation of cash receipts to proceeds from capital provision assets, the most comparable measure calculated in accordance with US GAAP.

Off-balance sheet arrangements

As of September 30, 2026 and December 31, 2025, we had off-balance sheet arrangements relating to legal finance assets with structured entities that aggregate claims from multiple parties in the amount of $21.8 million and $23.4 million, respectively. See note 12 (Variable interest entities) to our unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements contained in this Form 10-Q for additional information with respect to structured entities.

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