3rd Sep 2007 07:01
IP Group PLC03 September 2007 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 03 SEPTEMBER 2007 ("IP Group" or "the Group" or "the Company") Interim results for the six months ended 30 June 2007 IP Group plc (LSE: IPO), the UK's leading intellectual propertycommercialisation company, today announces its interim results for the sixmonths ended 30 June 2007. Financial highlights • Profit after taxation: £18.8m (H106: £30.3m; FY06: £40.1m) • Fair value of equity investments: £107.3m (H106: £72.7m; FY06: £87.4m) • Cash proceeds from sales of equity investments: £2.8m (H106: £3.0m; FY06: £3.1m) • Cash invested in spin-out companies: £3.0m (H106: £1.9m; FY06: £8.5m) • Cash balance at 30 June 2007: £47.8m (H106: £57.0m; FY06: £51.3m) • Total Equity: £200.2m (H106: £166.7m; FY06: £179.2m) Portfolio and Operational highlights • Modern Water plc listed on AIM with a market capitalisation of approximately £70.0m at admission • Green Chemicals plc (formerly Perachem Limited) listed on PLUS Markets • Number of spin-out companies increased to 60 (H106: 44; FY06: 53) • Five successful follow-on funding rounds for spin-out companies • Modern Waste Limited launched to establish and exploit a portfolio of innovative sensing, processing and recycling and control technologies • Photopharmica Holdings Limited announced successful Phase II data Post period end highlights • IP Venture Fund completes second closing with total commitments to the Fund of £31m • IQur Limited and Ilika Technologies Limited complete successful follow-on private funding rounds • Receipt by the Group of £3.9m of cash proceeds from the sale of shares, bringing total cash proceeds from sales of equity investments in the year to date to £6.7m Commenting on the Group's interim results, Alan Aubrey, Chief Executive of IPGroup, said: "IP Group has had another productive six month period with two of our portfoliocompanies achieving listings and significant progress being achieved not onlyacross the rest of our portfolio but also within the Group. The quality of ourspin-out companies has remained consistently high with the breadth and depth ofthe portfolio having considerably improved. While, given the nature of ourbusiness, it will always be difficult to predict the timing of gains from theportfolio, I remain confident that our growing number of spin-outs will generatesignificant returns for our shareholders. The second half of the year hasstarted well with two follow-on private funding rounds and the completion of thesecond closing in IP Venture Fund bringing total commitments to £31m." For more information, please contact: IP Group plc 020 7444 0050 Alan Aubrey, Chief Executive Officer William Turner, Group Financial Controller Liz Vaughan-Adams, Communications 020 7444 0062 / 07979 853 802 Further information on IP Group is available on our website: www.ipgroupplc.com Buchanan Communications 020 7466 5000 Tim Anderson, Mary-Jane Johnson, Mark Court PORTFOLIO REVIEW At 30 June 2007, the Group held equity stakes in 60 companies (H106: 44; FY06:53). In the six months to 30 June 2007, the Group recorded net gains on itsequity holdings of £20.5m (H106: £30.9m; FY06: £40.1m). An analysis of portfolioperformance is provided below: +--------------------------------------------+--------+--------+--------+| |H107 £'m|H106 £'m|FY06 £'m|| | | | |+--------------------------------------------+--------+--------+--------+|Gains on the revaluation of investments | 18.9| 33.1| 47.8|+--------------------------------------------+--------+--------+--------+|Losses on the revaluation of investments | (6.6)| (4.2)| (9.6)|+--------------------------------------------+--------+--------+--------+|Gain on partial disposal of subsidiary | 8.1| -| -|+--------------------------------------------+--------+--------+--------+|Gain on disposal of equity investments | 0.1| 2.0| 1.9|+--------------------------------------------+--------+--------+--------+|Total | 20.5| 30.9| 40.1|+--------------------------------------------+--------+--------+--------+ Quoted portfolio During the period, two portfolio companies achieved an IPO. Modern Water plc("Modern Water"), a company established to source, develop and deploytechnology-based solutions to meet the growing demand for the economicavailability of fresh water and treatment of waste water, listed on AIM in Juneraising £30m (before expenses) of new capital and valuing the business atapproximately £70m. At the period end, Modern Water had generated total gainsfor the Group of £16.1m. In addition, Green Chemicals plc ("Green Chemicals"), acompany set up to develop specialty chemicals with enhanced safety andenvironmental profiles to existing products, listed on PLUS Markets in Januarythrough a reversal. At 30 June 2007 Green Chemicals had a market capitalisationof approximately £27m having achieved a six-fold increase in shareholder valuesince listing, generating a gain of £6.1m for the Group during the period. Aside from IPOs, the quoted portfolio has generated net fair value losses of £5.2m over the period which the Board believes is, in general, more a reflection of the stage of development and lack of news-flow from these companies than a result of underlying commercial and technical progress. The Board remains confident that there is sufficient breadth and quality within the quoted portfolio such that it will generate shareholder returns over the medium term. Private portfolio Within the private portfolio there were five follow-on private funding roundsduring the period. Total gains on the private portfolio amounted to £3.7m (H106: £17.2m; FY06:£19.6m) whilst total losses during the period were £0.3m (H106: £3.0m; FY06:£4.2m). Subsequent to the period end, two further private funding rounds have completed:Ilika Technologies Ltd and IQur Ltd generated fair value gains of £1.3m and£1.1m respectively for the Group. Analysis of portfolio An analysis of IP Group's portfolio is as follows: Fair value of IP Group holding at: Company Description % 30 June 2007 30 June 2006 31 December 2006 stake at 30 June 2007 % £'m £'m £'mQuoted portfolio Modern Water plc Water technologies 23% 17.3 - - to address problems of the availability of freshwater and the treatment and disposal of wastewater Oxford Catalysts Group plc Specialty 24% 10.7 13.9 12.9 catalysts for the generation of clean fuels, from both conventional fossil fuels and renewable sources such as biomass Avacta Group plc Advanced molecular 23% 9.6 0.4 10.4 detection and analysis technologies for the biopharmaceutical, homeland security, defence and medical diagnostics industries Green Chemicals plc Environmentally 24% 6.5 0.4 0.4 friendly textiles and bleaching chemicals Summit Corporation plc Using whole 8% 4.8 6.7 5.4 organism phenotypic screens for drug discovery and development Proximagen Neuroscience plc Developing drugs 24% 4.0 5.6 4.2 for the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases Synairgen plc Developing drugs 30% 3.8 7.1 5.0 for respiratory diseases with a focus on asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary diseaseOther 8.5 7.0 10.7 65.2 41.1 49.0 Unquoted portfolio Oxford NanoLabs Limited Diagnostic company 42% 11.6 11.6 11.6 developing highly innovative products for applications in genomics, pharmacogenomics and high throughput drug discovery Ilika Technologies Limited Development and 23% 5.7 5.7 5.7 application of high throughput, combinatorial R&D techniques for the discovery of new materials IQur Limited Diagnosis and 18% 3.0 1.3 1.2 treatment of liver disorders Other 21.8 13.0 19.9 42.1 31.6 38.4 Grand Total 107.3 72.7 87.4 Proceeds on disposal of equity stakes In the six months to 30 June 2007, the Group generated cash proceeds of £2.8m ondisposals of equity stakes in portfolio companies (H106: £3.0m; FY06: £3.1m)following the sale of 1,645,000 ordinary shares in Offshore Hydrocarbon Mappingplc ("OHM"). Subsequent to the period end, the Group has generated a further£1.3m of proceeds following the sale of 500,000 ordinary shares in OHM. TheGroup is now beneficially interest in 851,765 ordinary shares in OHM,representing 2.3% of the company. Subsequent to the period end the Group has also sold 2,136,664 ordinary sharesin Oxford Catalysts Group plc ("OCG") generating proceeds of £2.6m. The Group isnow beneficially interested in 6,782,568 ordinary shares in OCG representing16.7% of the company. OPERATIONAL REVIEW University partnership business The Group did not seek to establish further university partnership during theperiod, with focus being placed on developing the five new partnershipsestablished in 2006. An individual partnership director has now been appointedto each university. 'Modern' businesses The Group has established a strategy of creating businesses, run by highlyexperienced specialist management teams, to address particular issues affectingthe global economy through the creation and management of a portfolio ofintellectual-property based investments leveraging the Group's experience andexpertise in the identification and assessment of such opportunities. In May 2007, the Group announced the launch of a new subsidiary, Modern WasteLtd ("Modern Waste") to establish and exploit a portfolio of innovative sensing,monitoring and control technologies and apply them to the waste and recyclingmarkets. IP Group has committed £2m in cash to Modern Waste. Modern Waste isheaded by Executive Chairman John Shepherd who has successfully bought and soldbusinesses in the technology sector. The Group's drug development subsidiary, Modern Biosciences plc ("ModernBiosciences"), has made progress with its two drug development programmes atpre-clinical phase and the appointment of both a Chief Executive and a Chairman.In June 2007, Dr Clive Dix, the former CEO of PowderMed Ltd, who negotiated thebusiness' acquisition by Pfizer Inc, was appointed Non-Executive Chairman whileDr Sam Williams, an award-winning biotechnology analyst from Lehman Brothers,was appointed CEO of Modern Biosciences in April 2007. Fund management Total income from fund management activity during the period amounted to £0.4m(H106: £0.5m; FY06: £1.5m). IP Venture Fund invested £2.6m (H106: £nil; FY06: £0.7m) in six (H106: nil;FY06: two) IP Group portfolio companies during the period. Subsequent to theperiod end, IP Venture Fund completed its second closing with total commitmentsof £31 million. IP Group's fund management subsidiary, Top Technology Ventures Limited, managestwo further funds, HATT III LP and Top Technology Ventures IV LP contributing£0.2m of fund management income during the period (H106: £0.5m; FY06: £1.3m) FINANCIAL REVIEW Income statement A summary analysis of the Group's performance is provided below: +----------------------------------------------+--------+--------+--------+| |H107 £'m|H106 £'m|FY06 £'m|| | | | |+----------------------------------------------+--------+--------+--------+|Portfolio gains | 20.5| 30.9| 40.1|+----------------------------------------------+--------+--------+--------+|Other income | 0.6| 0.8| 1.9|+----------------------------------------------+--------+--------+--------+|Administrative expenses | (3.6)| (2.3)| (4.2)|+----------------------------------------------+--------+--------+--------+|Finance income | 1.3| 0.9| 2.3|+----------------------------------------------+--------+--------+--------+|Profit for the period | 18.8| 30.3| 40.1|+----------------------------------------------+--------+--------+--------+ Portfolio gains were mainly attributed to gains on Modern Water (£16.1m) andGreen Chemicals (£6.1m). Other income is derived principally from fundmanagement activity and consultancy services. The Group's administrativeexpenses were £3.6m for the period (H106: £2.3m; FY06 £4.2m) due to additionalsalary cost and associated overhead consistent with the establishment ofeconomic issues driven businesses and the additional cost of drug developmentproof of concept work within Modern Biosciences and Photopharmica. Cash The principal constituents of the movement in cash in the period can besummarised as follows: +----------------------------------------------+--------+--------+--------+| |H107 £'m|H106 £'m|FY06 £'m|| | | | |+----------------------------------------------+--------+--------+--------+|Net cash used in operating activities | (0.7)| -| (1.4)|+----------------------------------------------+--------+--------+--------+|Net cash used in investing activities | (3.0)| 0.5| (6.2)|+----------------------------------------------+--------+--------+--------+|Issued share capital | 0.2| 16.6| 19.0|+----------------------------------------------+--------+--------+--------+|Movement during period | (3.5)| 17.1| 11.4|+----------------------------------------------+--------+--------+--------+ The Group invested £3.0m in spin-out companies and follow-on funding roundsduring the period and generated £2.8m of proceeds from sales of equity stakes.However, there was a net cash outflow on investing activities of £3.0m (H106:£0.5m inflow; FY06: £6.2m outflow) as a result of the deemed disposal of ModernWater and the acquisition of Photopharmica. The Group received cash of £0.2m following the exercise of employee unapprovedshare options. Taxation The Group's directors continue to believe that the Group qualifies for theSubstantial Shareholdings Exemption ('SSE') on chargeable gains arising on thedisposal of qualifying holdings. During the period the Group receivedconfirmation from Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs that the Group's disposal ofordinary shares in OHM qualifies for SSE, and, as such, the Group has notrecognised a provision for deferred taxation in respect of uplifts in value onequity stakes. OUTLOOK The Board anticipates that the overall level of investment in new spin-outcompanies will increase as the university partnerships added over the previous18 months develop. As the Group enters the second half of 2007, the pipeline oftransaction activity and new spin-out creation remains healthy and the directorsare confident that 2007 will be a significant year in the Group's development. CONSOLIDATED INTERIM INCOME STATEMENT For the six months to 30 June 2007 Unaudited Unaudited Audited 6 months to 6 months to Year to 30 June 30 June 31 December 2007 2006 2006 £'m £'m £'m NoteRevenueChange in fair value of equity investments 12.3 28.9 38.2Gain on partial deemed disposal of subsidiary 8.1 - -Gains on disposal of equity investments 0.1 2.0 1.9 20.5 30.9 40.1Change in fair value of limited partnership investments 0.1 - -Dividends - - 0.1Revenue from services 0.5 0.8 1.8 21.1 31.7 42.0Administrative expensesEmployee bonus costs (0.5) (0.4) (0.3)Research and development expenses (0.2) - -Share based payment charge (0.2) - -Other administrative expenses (2.7) (1.9) (3.9) (3.6) (2.3) (4.2)Operating profit 17.5 29.4 37.8Finance income - interest receivable 1.3 0.9 2.3Profit before taxation 18.8 30.3 40.1Taxation - - -Profit for the period 18.8 30.3 40.1 Profit attributable to:Equity holders of the parent 18.8 30.3 40.1Minority interest - - - 18.8 30.3 40.1Basic earnings per ordinary share (p) 2 7.56 13.06 16.84Diluted earnings per ordinary share (p) 2 7.56 12.83 16.81 CONSOLIDATED INTERIM BALANCE SHEET As at 30 June 2007 Unaudited Unaudited Audited 30 June 30 June 31 December 2007 2006 2006 £'m £'m £'m NoteASSETSNon-current assetsProperty, plant and equipment 0.3 0.1 0.1Intangible assets:Goodwill 22.7 18.4 18.7Acquired intangible asset 0.4 0.5 0.5Equity rights and related 20.2 20.2 20.3acquisition costsEquity investments 3 107.3 72.7 87.4Financial asset 1.1 1.2 1.1Investment in Limited 0.6 0.1 0.3PartnershipsTotal non-current assets 152.6 113.2 128.4Current assetsTrade and other receivables 1.7 1.7 2.2Cash and cash equivalents 47.8 57.0 51.3Total current assets 49.5 58.7 53.5Total assets 202.1 171.9 181.9EQUITY AND LIABILITIESEquity attributable to equityholdersCalled up share capital 4.9 4.8 4.9Share premium account 96.6 89.7 92.0Merger reserve 12.8 12.8 12.8Retained earnings 87.2 59.4 69.2Total shareholders' equity 201.5 166.7 178.9Minority interest in equity (1.3) - 0.3Total equity 200.2 166.7 179.2Non-current liabilitiesTrade and other payables - 2.9 -Provisions - 0.3 0.1Total equity and non-current 200.2 169.9 179.3liabilitiesCurrent liabilitiesTrade and other payables 1.9 2.0 2.6Total equity and liabilities 202.1 171.9 181.9 CONSOLIDATED INTERIM CASH FLOW STATEMENT As at 30 June 2007 Unaudited Unaudited Audited 6 months to 6 months to Year to 30 June 30 June 31 December 2007 2006 2006 £m £m £mOperating activitiesProfit before taxation 18.8 30.3 40.1Finance income - interest receivable (1.3) (0.9) (2.3)Fair value movement in equity investments (12.3) (28.9) (38.2)Fair value movement on limited partnership investments (0.1) - -Amortisation and impairment of intangible non-current assets - 0.1 0.2(Increase) decrease in debtors and accrued income 0.1 0.3 (0.7)Increase (decrease) in creditors (0.3) (0.3) (2.6)Gain on disposal of fixed asset investments (0.1) (2.0) (1.9)Gain on partial disposal of subsidiary (8.1) - -Share based payment charge 0.2 - -Equity allocated to staff 0.5 0.4 2.1Dividends classified as investing activities cash flows - - (0.1)Interest received 1.9 1.0 2.0Net cash inflow from operating activities (0.7) - (1.4)Investing activitiesPurchase of property, plant and equipment (0.3) - -Purchase of equity investments (3.0) (1.9) (8.5)Acquisition of subsidiaries net of cash acquired (0.8) (0.7) (0.8)Payment for participation in limited partnerships (0.2) - (0.2)Deemed disposal of subsidiary net of cash disposed (1.5) - -Proceeds from sale of equity investments 2.8 3.0 3.1Financial asset - 0.1 0.1Net cash inflow from investing activities (3.0) 0.5 (6.2)Financing activitiesProceeds from issue of share capital 0.2 16.6 19.0Net (decrease) / increase in cash and cash equivalents (3.5) 17.1 11.4Cash and cash equivalents at the beginning of the period 51.3 39.9 39.9Cash and cash equivalents at the end of the period 47.8 57.0 51.3 CONSOLIDATED INTERIM STATEMENT OF CHANGES IN SHAREHOLDERS' EQUITY For the six months to 30 June 2007 Attributable to equity holders of the Company Share Share Merger Retained Minority Total Capital Premium Reserve earnings Total Interest Equity £m £m £m £m £m £m £mAt 1 January 2006 4.6 73.3 12.8 29.1 119.8 - 119.8Consolidated profit for the period to 30 June 2006 - - - 30.3 30.3 - 30.3Issue of share capital in period to 30 June 2006 0.2 16.4 - - 16.6 - 16.6At 30 June 2006 4.8 89.7 12.8 59.4 166.7 - 166.7Consolidated profit for the period to 31 December 2006 - - - 9.8 9.8 - 9.8Issue of share capital in period to 31 December 2006 0.1 2.3 - - 2.4 - 2.4Non-controlling interest - - - - - 0.3 0.3At 31 December 2006 4.9 92.0 12.8 69.2 178.9 0.3 179.2Consolidated profit for the period to 30 June 2007 - - - 18.8 18.8 - 18.8Partial disposal of subsidiary investments to minority interests - - - (0.8) (0.8) 0.8 -Issue of share capital in period to 30 June 2007 - 4.6 - - 4.6 - 4.6Non-controlling interest - - - - - (2.4) (2.4)At 30 June 2007 4.9 96.6 12.8 87.2 201.5 (1.3) 200.2 NOTES TO THE INTERIM RESULTS 1. BASIS OF PREPARATION The interim consolidated financial statements of IP Group plc are as at and forthe six months ended 30 June 2007 and comprise the results, assets andliabilities of the Company and its subsidiaries ("the Group"). These interim financial statements have been prepared in accordance with theListing Rules of the Financial Services Authority. They have not been preparedin accordance with IAS34 - "Interim Financial Reporting". They do not includeall of the information required for full annual financial statements and shouldbe read in conjunction with the audited financial statements of the Group as atand for the year ended 31 December 2006. These interim financial statements wereapproved by the Board and authorised for issue on 3 September 2007. The accounting policies applied by the Group in these interim consolidatedfinancial statements are the same as those applied by the Group in its auditedconsolidated financial statements as at and for the year ended 31 December 2006and which will form the basis of the 2007 annual report. The basis ofconsolidation is set out in the Group's accounting policies in those financialstatements. The preparation of interim financial statements requires management to makejudgements, estimates and assumptions that affect the application of accountingpolicies and the reported amounts of assets and liabilities, income andexpenses. In preparing these interim consolidated financial statements, thesignificant judgements made by management in applying the Group's accountingpolicies and the key sources of estimation uncertainty were the same as thoseapplied to the audited consolidated financial statements as at and for the yearended 31 December 2006. The comparative figures for the full year ended 31 December 2006 are not theCompany's full statutory accounts for that year. A copy of the Group's statutoryaccounts for that year has been delivered to the Registrar of Companies. Theauditors' report on those accounts was unqualified, did not include referencesto any matters to which the auditors drew attention by way of emphasis withoutqualifying their report and did not contain a statement under section 237(2) or237(3) of the Companies Act 1985. 2. EARNINGS PER SHARE The basic earnings per share has been calculated by dividing the profit for theperiod of £18.8m (for the period ended 30 June 2006: profit £30.3m; for the yearended 31 December 2006: profit £40.1m) by the weighted average number of sharesof 248,952,170 in issue during the six month period to 30 June 2007 (for the sixmonth period ended 30 June 2006: 231,957,355; for the year ended 31 December2006: 238,155,846). There were no potentially dilutive share options over ordinary shares in theGroup outstanding at the period end and therefore the dilutive earnings pershare is equal to the basic earnings per share. 3. EQUITY INVESTMENTS - DESIGNATED AS 'AT FAIR VALUE THROUGH PROFIT ORLOSS' Quoted Unquoted spin-out spin-out Other companies companies investments Total £m £m £m £mAt 1 January 2006 24.6 18.3 1.4 44.3Investments during the period to 30 June 2006 - 1.9 - 1.9Reclassifications during the period to 30 June 2006 1.1 (1.1) - -Change in fair value in period to 30 June 2006 14.5 14.2 0.2 28.9Shares transferred to staff in period to 30 June 2006 - (1.4) - (1.4)Disposals during the period to 30 June 2006 (0.5) (0.5) - (1.0)At 30 June 2006 39.7 31.4 1.6 72.7Investments during the period to 31 December 2006 0.7 5.9 - 6.6Reclassifications during the period to 31 December 2006 0.4 (0.4) - -Change in fair value in period to 31 December 2006 8.0 1.2 0.1 9.3Shares transferred to staff in period to 31 December 2006 - (0.7) - (0.7)Disposals during the period to 31 December 2006 (0.1) - - (0.1)Adjustment arising on consolidation of Poseidon Water Limited - (0.4) - (0.4)At 31 December 2006 48.7 37.0 1.7 87.4Investments during the period to 30 June 2007 0.4 2.6 - 3.0Reclassifications during the period to 30 June 2007 0.4 (0.4) - -Reclassifications of equity investments as subsidiaries - (0.2) - (0.2)during the period to 30 June 2007Reclassifications of subsidiaries as equity investments 9.3 - - 9.3during the period to 30 June 2007Change in fair value in period to 30 June 2007 8.3 3.4 0.6 12.3Shares transferred to staff in period to 30 June 2007 (0.3) (1.3) (0.2) (1.8)Disposals during the period to 30 June 2007 (2.7) - - (2.7)At 30 June 2007 64.1 41.1 2.1 107.3 4. POST BALANCE SHEET EVENTS IP Venture Fund completed a second closing with total commitments to the Fund of£31m. Two further successful follow-on funding rounds were completed for IlikaTechnologies Ltd and IQur Ltd generating fair value gains of £1.3m and £1.1mrespectively for the Group. The Group received £2.6m of cash proceeds from the sale of ordinary shares inOxford Catalysts Group plc and £1.3m of cash proceeds from the sale of ordinaryshares in Offshore Hydrocarbon Mapping plc. Independent review report to IP Group plc Introduction We have been instructed by the company to review the financial information forthe six months ended 30 June 2007 which comprises the Consolidated InterimIncome Statement, Consolidated Interim Balance Sheet, Consolidated Interim CashFlow Statement, Consolidated Interim Statement of Changes in Equity and therelated notes. We have read the other information contained in the interimreport and considered whether it contains any apparent misstatements or materialinconsistencies with the financial information. Our report has been prepared in accordance with the terms of our engagement toassist the company in meeting the requirements of the Listing Rules of theFinancial Services Authority and for no other purpose. No person is entitled torely on this report unless such a person is a person entitled to rely upon thisreport by virtue of and for the purpose of our terms of engagement or has beenexpressly authorised to do so by our prior written consent. Save as above, we donot accept responsibility for this report to any other person or for any otherpurpose and we hereby expressly disclaim any and all such liability. Directors' responsibilities The interim report, including the financial information contained therein, isthe responsibility of, and has been approved by, the directors. The directorsare responsible for preparing the interim report in accordance with ListingRules of the Financial Services Authority which require that the accountingpolicies and presentation applied to the interim figures should be consistentwith those applied in preparing the preceding annual accounts except where anychanges, and the reasons for them, are disclosed. The interim report has been prepared in accordance with the basis set out inNote 1. Review work performed We conducted our review in accordance with guidance contained in Bulletin 1999/4issued by the Auditing Practices Board for use in the United Kingdom. A reviewconsists principally of making enquiries of group management and applyinganalytical procedures to the financial information and underlying financial dataand based thereon, assessing whether the accounting policies and presentationhave been consistently applied unless otherwise disclosed. A review excludesaudit procedures such as tests of controls and verification of assets,liabilities and transactions. It is substantially less in scope than an auditperformed in accordance with United Kingdom Auditing Standards and thereforeprovides a lower level of assurance than an audit. Accordingly we do not expressan audit opinion on the financial information. Review conclusion On the basis of our review we are not aware of any material modifications thatshould be made to the financial information as presented for the six monthsended 30 June 2007. BDO Stoy Hayward LLPChartered AccountantsLondon3 September 2007 Notes: a) The maintenance and integrity of the IP Group plc website is theresponsibility of the Directors; the work carried out by the auditors does notinvolve consideration of these matters and, accordingly, the auditors accept noresponsibility for any changes that may have occurred to the interim reportsince it was initially presented on the website. b) Legislation in the United Kingdom governing the preparation anddissemination of financial information may differ from legislation in otherjurisdictions. NOTES FOR EDITORS IP Group plc is an intellectual property (IP) commercialisation company thatspecialises in commercialising university technology. Founded in 2001, IP Grouplisted on AIM in October 2003 and moved to the Official List in June 2006. Ithas made two acquisitions to date - Techtran, a company set up to commercialiseuniversity intellectual property under a long term contract with the Universityof Leeds, in 2005 and Top Technology Ventures, an investment adviser to earlystage technology venture capital funds, in 2004. IP Group has formed long-term partnerships with ten universities - theUniversity of Oxford, King's College London, CNAP/University of York, theUniversity of Leeds, the University of Bristol, the University of Surrey, theUniversity of Southampton, Queen Mary (University of London), the University ofBath and the University of Glasgow. As at 30 June 2007, 60 spin-out companies had been created among IP Group'suniversity partners. Of those, eight have listed on the AIM market of the LondonStock Exchange, one on PLUS Markets and there have been two trade sales. IPGroup also has three 'Modern-themed' subsidiaries - Modern Biosciences, ModernWater and Modern Waste. Modern Water was the first of these subsidiaries tofloat on AIM in June 2007. ENDS This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
Ip Group