15th Oct 2014 10:05
LONDON (Alliance News) - Imperial Innovations Group PLC Wednesday posted a jump in pretax profit for the year to end-July as the value of its portfolio rose, boosted by the listing of its largest investment Circassia Pharmaceuticals PLC.
The intellectual property company posted a pretax profit of GBP27.4 million, multiplying from GBP3.8 million a year before, boosted by a GBP40.5 million fair value gain on investment as the company's net portfolio value rose 38%, mostly on the back of the successful initial public offering of Circassia.
The company's net portfolio value rose to GBP252.0 million from GBP182.6 million a year before.
Circassia raised GBP200.0 million in its IPO, which Imperial Innovations said is "widely believed to be the biggest ever biotech fundraising at IPO in the UK market".
Three other companies in its portfolio also listed during its recent financial year, with Abzena PLC listing on AIM in July, Ixico PLC listing on AIM last October, and Oxford Immunotec Ltd listing on the NASDAQ in November last year.
Imperial Innovations posted revenues of GBP3.6 million in the financial year, compared to GBP3.3 million a year before.
The company added 13 new companies to its portfolio during the year. It reviewed 402 invention disclosures, compared to 386 a year before, and signed 27 commercial agreements.
It filed 57 patents during the year, compared to 43 a year before.
Imperial Innovations raised GBP150 million during the year, and the company said following this fundraising and given the "increasing maturity" of its portfolio, it will begin to deploy more capital into its investment portfolio. It does "not envisage a significant increase in the number of new companies invested in."
"We have the capital, proven operational and managerial expertise, as well as access to the intellectual property from the academic and research community in the 'Golden Triangle' - home to the UK's four leading research-intensive Universities," said Chairman Martin Knight in a statement. "This all bodes well for the future and further value creation."
Shares in Imperial Innovations are trading up 5.4% at 470.00 pence Wednesday morning.
By Hana Stewart-Smith; [email protected]; @HanaSSAllNews
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