Duke Royalty (DUKE), the £140m provider of alternative finance to mid-sized companies in Europe and North America, is considering a name change to broaden its appeal to both borrowers and investors.

After a year that has seen the problems of Hipgnosis Songs (SONG ) somewhat tarnish the concept of royalties, Duke – an AIM-listed investment company that views itself as a provider of 30-year corporate mortgages that can be repaid after three years – is reviewing its brand and market positioning.

Chief executive Neil Johnson, who has previously described the alternative income fund’s proposition as halfway between private equity and private credit, said the company hired two associates to strengthen its four-strong investment team to take advantage of the current strong market conditions.

A trading update last week showed Duke achieved its 13th quarter of rising recurring revenues, which hit £6.3m in the last three months of 2023 – the third quarter of its financial year. 

This was 12% up on a year ago, and an increase on the second quarter when the company announced record recurring cash revenue of £6.2m. The interims in November showed adjusted earnings rose 23% to 1.95p per share covering dividends of 1.4p per share. 

‘We are pleased to report that despite the ongoing macroeconomic uncertainties, we continue to deliver revenue growth, with the third quarter on course to maintain this upward trend, underpinning our stable dividend, which at the current share price represents an approximate 9% yield,’ said Johnson. 

‘We believe the company’s rebrand, alongside our expanded investment team, will position Duke to take advantage of the abundance of new opportunities in the private credit market, which has become increasingly mainstream in the SME lending space,’ he added.

With nine-month revenue of £18.5m in the bag, Shore Capital analyst Gary Greenwood said Duke was on track to hit his full-year forecast of £25.2m. He maintained his ‘buy’ recommendation, believing the shares at 33p – on an 18% discount to net asset value of 40p – could re-rate to a small premium at 43p. 

Duke also revealed it had invested a further CA$8.6m (£5.1m), its third follow-on, into Canadian construction engineering company Creō-Tech, taking its total exposure to £16m. The investment will be used to facilitate the refinancing of its existing senior lender.

This makes the company the fourth largest position after InTec, Miriad and Tristone, with the fund investing £22m over the course of the three quarters. Duke has 15 royalty partners to which it has extended senior, secured loans in the UK, Canada, Ireland and Switzerland.