IP Group news 0

Record returns and cash realisations, strong financial position, maiden dividend.

IP Group plc (LSE: IPO), the developer of intellectual property-based businesses, today announces its annual financial results for the year ended 31 December 2020.

Portfolio highlights

• Strong growth, realisations and ongoing investment
• Fair value of portfolio: £1,162.7m (2019: £1,045.6m)
• Net portfolio gains of £231.4m or approximately +22%¹ (2019: reduction of £43.9m)
• 140% increase in cash realisations² to £191.0m (2019: £79.5m)
• Sustained investment into portfolio: £67.5m (2019: £64.7m)
• Proving the model – from investment to exit
• Total funds raised by portfolio companies £1.1bn (2019: £430m) including Oxford Nanopore (£162.1m), Hinge Health ($392m), Oxbotica (£27m), MobilION (£40m), Featurespace (£30m), Inivata ($25m).
• Exited Ceres Power for £128m at seven times cost
• 20 years of impact investing – supporting world-changing businesses
• Portfolio has created three ‘unicorns’: Oxford Nanopore, Ceres Power, Hinge Health
• A number of our portfolio companies, most notably Oxford Nanopore, are actively involved in the response to COVID-19
• Appointment of Prof. Gordon Clark as Chair of ESG Ethics Committee

Financial and operational highlights

• Hard NAV³ £1,331.5m or 125.3 pence per share (2019: £1,141.5m or 107.8 pence per share)
• Net assets £1,331.9m (2019: £1,141.9m)
• Profit of £185.4m (2019: loss of £78.9m)
• Record positive Return on Hard NAV³ of £189.5m or 17% (2019: -73.7m or -6%)
• Strong liquidity with gross cash and deposits at 31 December 2020 of £270.3m (2019: £194.9m) and net cash (gross cash and deposits less EIB debt) of £203.0m (2019: £112.4m)
• Recommended maiden dividend of 1pps, including scrip alternative

Post period-end update

• North American platform, IP Group, Inc., secured an additional $50.0m (£36.5m*) of funding, including $40.0m from a new US blue-chip institutional investor alongside $10m from IP Group.

Alan Aubrey, Chief Executive of IP Group, said: “IP Group made excellent progress in 2020, achieving both record returns and cash realisations totalling £191m. This financial strength, combined with the prospects in our maturing portfolio, gives us the confidence to recommend a maiden dividend of 1 pence per share.

We have great pride in the contribution of many of our companies to the response to COVID-19. The pandemic has focused attention on the importance of innovation of science, accelerating key thematic trends in health, digitisation, and the transition to net zero. We remain confident that IP Group is well positioned to benefit from both the increased focus and these thematic trends.

This year, as IP Group celebrates 20 years of generating innovation, we are excited about the prospects for the portfolio as well as the impact the Group can have from the renewed focus on innovation and sustainability. The current year has started strongly, with much activity in the portfolio including significant fundraisings, and we remain excited by the prospects for 2021.”

¹ 23% return on opening portfolio value of £1,045.6m
² Proceeds from sale of equity and debt investments per Group Cash Flow Statement
³ Alternative performance measure, see note 29 for definition and reconciliation to IFRS primary statements

Webinar

IP Group will host a webinar for analysts and investors today, 10 March, at 10:00am GMT. For more details or to register as a participant please visit https://www.ipgroupplc.com/events.

For more information, please contact:

IP Group plc	www.ipgroupplc.com
Alan Aubrey, Chief Executive Officer Greg Smith, Chief Financial Officer Liz Vaughan-Adams, Communications	+44 (0) 20 7444 0050 +44 (0) 20 7444 0062/+44 (0) 7979 853802
Charlotte Street Partners
David Gaffney Andrew Wilson	+44 (0) 7854 609998 +44 (0) 7810 636995

Further information on IP Group is available on our website: www.ipgroupplc.com

Notes

(i) Nature of announcement                                                                                                     

This Annual Results Release was approved by the directors on x March 2021.

The financial information set out in this Annual Results Release does not constitute the company's statutory accounts for 2019 or 2018. Statutory accounts for the years ended 31 December 2020 and 31 December 2019 have been reported on by the Independent Auditor. The Independent Auditor’s Reports on the Annual Report and Financial Statements for 2020 and 2019 were unqualified, did not draw attention to any matters by way of emphasis, and did not contain a statement under 498(2) or 498(3) of the Companies Act 2006. Statutory accounts for the year ended 31 December 2016 have been filed with the Registrar of Companies. The statutory accounts for the year ended 31 December 2020 will be delivered to the Registrar following the Company's annual general meeting.

The 2020 Annual Report and Accounts will be published in April 2021 and a copy will be posted on the Group's website (www.ipgroupplc.com). In accordance with Listing Rule 9.6.1 a copy of the Annual Report and Accounts will also be submitted to the National Storage Mechanism on or around this date and will be available for inspection at: www.Hemscott.com/nsm.do from that time.

Throughout this Annual Results Release the Group’s holdings in portfolio companies reflect the undiluted beneficial equity interest excluding debt, unless otherwise explicitly stated.

(ii) Forward looking statements

This Annual Report and Accounts may contain forward looking statements. These statements reflect the Board’s current view, are subject to a number of material risks and uncertainties and could change in the future. Factors which could cause or contribute to such changes include, but are not limited to, the general economic climate and market conditions, as well as specific factors relating to the financial or commercial prospects or performance of individual companies within the Group’s portfolio.

Annual Results can be viewed in the PDF file format