15th Oct 2020 10:55
(Alliance News) - Allied Minds PLC on Thursday said it swung to a loss in the first half of the year, but its portfolio companies are making good progress on their objectives.
The IP commercialisation company swung to a pretax loss in the half year ended June 30 of GBP14.8 million from a profit of GBP9.5 million a year prior.
Net finance cost increased by USD7.5 million to USD2 million, going from an income of USD5.5 million a year before.
Revenue was down to GBP110,000 from GBP1.5 million a year before. This decrease is primarily attributable to deconsolidation of one of the company's subsidiaries in the second half of 2019, Allied Minds said.
The company said most of its portfolio made good progress in their objectives. BridgeComm Inc secured USD1.0 million from Boeing HorizonX in the form of convertible debt financing as part of a note purchase agreement. Federated Wireless Inc announced a new connectivity-as-a-service offering that lets US enterprises buy and deploy private 4G and 5G networks.
Allied Minds said: "While Covid-19 has had some commercial impact on the portfolio in the past few months, such impact has not been significant and the actions and mitigation put in place by the group have enabled day-to-day operations to continue effectively across the portfolio."
Going forward, the company said: "The board believes that the shareholder returns to date and completion of successful fundraisings throughout its portfolio, together with achieving portfolio company milestones, have positioned Allied Minds as well as possible to maximise returns for its shareholders."
In a separate announcement Allied Minds announced portfolio company Orbital Sidekick Inc has been awarded a contract for up to USD16 million by the US Department of the Air Force's commercial investment group and in conjunction with the Space & Missile Systems Center and the Air Force Research Laboratory.
The contract will allow Orbital Sidekick to accelerate the deployment of six advanced hyperspectral imaging satellites with edge processing capabilities to provide daily targeted monitoring for the defense and commercial markets.
Allied Minds shares were down 4.3% at 38.73 pence each in London on Thursday morning.
By Greg Roxburgh; [email protected]
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