HIGHLIGHTS
Financial and Operational highlights
- Net assets increased to £337.0m (2012: £263.1m)
- Net cash and deposits as at 31 December 2013: £24.1m (2012: £47.9m)
- Adjusted profit before tax of £77.6m (2012: £46.7m), excluding £5.0m reduction in fair value of Oxford Equity Rights asset (2012: £6.0m)
- New intellectual property commercialisation agreement signed with The University of Manchester
- £5m investment in Cambridge Innovation Capital plc and Memorandum of Understanding signed to share information on co-investment opportunities
- First US pilot IP commercialisation agreements signed with the University of Pennsylvania and Columbia University
- Launch of £30m IP Venture Fund II in partnership with the European Investment Fund
Portfolio highlights
- Fair value of portfolio: £285.9m (2012: £181.8m)
- Capital provided to portfolio companies: £27.5m (2012: £26.3m)
- Portfolio realisations: £5.5m (2012: £16.7m)
- Value of ten largest holdings: £225.2m (2012: £138.2m)
- Group's portfolio companies raised in excess of £160m of new capital (2012: £110m)
- Applied Graphene Materials plc admitted to AIM, raising gross proceeds of £11m at IPO
- Oxford Nanopore Technologies Limited completed £40m private financing
Post-year-end highlights
- £100m (before expenses) raised through issue of new equity capital in February 2014
- Announced the recommended proposed acquisition of the remaining 79.9% shareholding in Fusion IP plc not currently owned by the Group in an all-paper transaction to be implemented by way of a court-sanctioned scheme of arrangement
- Net unrealised fair value increase in the Group's holdings in quoted portfolio companies of £23.6m between 31 December 2013 and 28 February 2014, including admission to AIM of Actual Experience plc
Commenting on the Group's annual results, Alan Aubrey, Chief Executive Officer of IP Group, said:
"2013 was a record year with the strongest financial performance since the Group was formed in 2001. There was also significant strategic progress with a commercialisation agreement with the University of Manchester, an investment in Cambridge Innovation Capital as well as pilot agreements with two of the US's eight Ivy League universities.
The current year has started well with Actual Experience plc listing on AIM and Xeros Limited also announcing its intention to float on AIM. The Group recently announced the recommended acquisition of the remaining 79.9% of Fusion IP plc that it does not currently own and we look forward to welcoming Fusion IP's staff to the Group. We firmly believe the acquisition will create a stronger UK based IP commercialisation company with greater critical mass including a portfolio valued at over £300m and approximately £140m of cash.
The recent capital raise will enable the Group to accelerate growth by increasing our overall rate of capital deployment into both our existing portfolio and into new early stage opportunities, in the UK and internationally, as well as to broaden our access to world class IP. As such, we remain confident in the Group's ability to deliver significant shareholder value."
