Frontier IP returned to profitability following solid progress across the portfolio during the first half of the year and beyond. Alusid, CamGraPhIC, Fieldwork Robotics, Nandi Proteins, Pulsiv and The Vaccine Group are among the companies picking up pace. You can see the full results here.
KEY POINTS
- Pre-tax profit of £1.4 million (31 December 2022: pre-tax loss of £0.5 million)
- Basic earnings per share of 2.67p (31 December 2022: 0.49p)
- Net assets per share of 84.2p as at 31 December 2023 (30 June 2023: 81.8p; 31 December 2022: 88.2p)
- Unrealised profit on the revaluation of investments increased to £2.8 million (31 December 2022: unrealised profit of £0.4 million)
- Fair value of the equity portfolio increased by c.6 per cent to £35.1 million at 31 December 2023 (30 June 2023: £33.0 million; 31 December 2022: £36.1 million) reflecting disposals of £0.8 million, additions of £0.1 million and fair value increases of £2.8 million
- Part disposal of holding in Exscientia generated cash of £0.8 million in the period under review (30 June 2023: £4.9 million; 31 December 2022: £3.4 million)
- Cash balances of £2.7 million at 31 December 2023 (30 June 2023: £4.6 million; 31 December 2022: £5.8 million)
- Significant commercial and technical progress across the portfolio
PORTFOLIO AND OPERATIONAL HIGHLIGHTS
- PORTFOLIO AND OPERATIONAL HIGHLIGHTS
- The six months to 31 December 2023 saw companies across the portfolio either achieve or make strong progress towards meeting commercial, technical and funding goals. Developments included:
- Pulsiv appointed Dr Mark Gerhard as Chairman and Dr Tim Moore as Chief Product Officer. Mark is a serial entrepreneur and technology pioneer with a long history of growing and exiting businesses. Tim joined the company full time from his role as Chief Technology Officer for SharkNinja, a Nasdaq-listed consumer electronics group. Post period end, the company announced plans to launch a highly efficient 65W USB C for adapters, chargers and in-wall sockets
- Alusid raised £500,000 through equity funding from Octopus Investments via the Octopus AIM VCT plc and Octopus AIM VCT 2 plc funds as part of wider funding round raising £1.13 million from existing and new investors. The company is exploring options for an initial public offering
- One company joined the portfolio. Deakin Bio-Hybrid Materials (“DeakinBio”) makes sustainable materials from natural materials such as organic waste and inorganic powders. Initial applications provide alternatives to traditional ceramic tiles. Frontier IP took a 33.3 per cent equity stake in the company
- CamGraPhIC put in place a new loan facility to provide funding of up to £1.5 million to support progress. The company has since strengthened existing industry relationships, developed new partnerships and is actively seeking to raise further funds
- Fieldwork Robotics completed a fundraising of £2.1m with Elbow Beach Capital investing £1.5 million and the remainder being procured from Seedrs and existing shareholders. They also won a UK government grant and appointed David Fulton as the new Chief Executive Officer
- GraphEnergyTech was selected as part of the Swiss National Start-up Team as one of the 10 most promising Swiss start-ups. Strengthened team with two expert hires, one post period end
- The Vaccine Group created an Advisory Board to support scale up of its novel herpesvirus-based vaccine platform. This board consists of three high-ranking veterinary experts with strong business experience and connections to major companies and other organisations in the animal health sector
- Nandi Proteins signed a commercial license with a leading global food ingredients business who will take Nandi’s meat/fat replacer to market worldwide
- Jim Fish is to step down as Chief Financial Officer by the end of May 2024 after 10 years of service. Following the appointment of a new Group CFO and his resignation from the Board, Jim will take up a new position in the Group as Portfolio Finance Director to support portfolio companies. Discussions on the appointment of a new Group CFO are at an advanced stage and we anticipate a successor will be announced shortly.
POST PERIOD END
- The Group sold the remaining 324,991 American Depositary Shares in Exscientia plc for net proceeds of approximately £1.7 million. In total, the Group sold 1,564,800 Exscientia ADSs between 10 January 2022 and 29 February 2024 for net proceeds of approximately £14.0 million. The original cost for these shares was less than £2,000
