IP Group news 0

Strong return, significant cash realisations, capital recycled for growth alongside interim dividend and share buyback

IP Group plc (LSE: IPO), the developer of intellectual property-based businesses, today announces its financial results for the six months ended 30 June 2021.

Half-year highlights

• Strong Return on Hard NAV¹ of £117.9m, or 9%, (HY20: £14.2m; FY20: £189.5m)
• Hard NAV² of £1,439.3m or 135.4 pence per share (HY20: £1,156.4m or 108.8pps; FY20: £1,331.5m or 125.3pps)
• Cash realisations of £111.4m (HY20: £113.7m; FY20: £191.0m)
• Sustained investment into portfolio: £69.5m into 41 companies (HY20 £36.9m; FY20: £67.5m)
• Interim dividend of 0.48p per share and £20m allocated to buying back the Group’s shares

Portfolio highlights

• Fair value of portfolio: £1,246.4m (HY20: £1,025.0m; FY20: £1,162.7m)
• Net portfolio gains of £143.1m (HY20:  £34.9m; FY20: £231.4m)
• Sales of Inivata Ltd to NeoGenomics, Inc, WaveOptics Ltd to Snap, Inc and Kuur Therapeutics Ltd to Athenex, Inc.
• Oxford Nanopore announced it has begun preparations for a potential IPO
• Total funds raised by portfolio companies: Approximately £1.0bn (HY20 £365m; FY20: £1.1bn) including Oxford Nanopore Technologies Ltd (£202m), Centessa Pharmaceuticals Ltd (US$630m/£457m), Pulmocide Ltd (US$92m/£67m committed, US$25m/£18m invested) and MOBILion (US$60m/£43m)³

Other financial and operational highlights

• Net assets £1,439.7m (HY20: £1,156.8m; FY20: £1,331.9m)
• Profit of £116.5m (HY20: £11.7m; FY20: £185.4m)
• Strong liquidity with gross cash and deposits at 30 June 2021 of £308.9m (HY20: £245.3m; FY20: £270.3m) and Net Cash⁴ of £249.4m (HY20: £170.5m; FY20: £203.0m)
• North American platform, IP Group, Inc secured additional funding, bringing total raised in H1 to US$59m (£43m³)
• Joint venture formed with China Everbright Ltd to launch first third-party fund in China

Alan Aubrey, Chief Executive of IP Group, said: “IP Group has continued to make strong headway in 2021 with much activity in the portfolio. Three companies have been sold for significant returns, one company has floated on Nasdaq and Oxford Nanopore Technologies, our largest holding, has confirmed it is planning an IPO in the second half of the year.

The Group has delivered strong financial performance in the first half with a Return on Hard NAV of 9% and cash realisations of £111.4m. As a result, we are following our maiden full year 2020 dividend with an interim dividend and have allocated £20m of our capital to commence a buyback of the Group’s shares.

I am delighted to report that the company is in a strong financial position with Net Cash of £249.4m. This financial strength provides important flexibility in the face of uncertainty caused by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and enables us to support our portfolio with scale-up capital alongside co-investors. We continue to be excited by the prospects for the second half of the year including the opportunities our portfolio businesses have from the renewed focus on innovation and sustainability.”

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

¹ Return on Hard NAV is defined as the profit for the period, excluding amortisation of intangible assets, share-based payment charge and IFRS3 charge in respect of acquisition of subsidiary (see Note 9)
² Hard NAV is defined as Total Equity, excluding Other Intangibles (see Note 9)
³ Based on a USD/GBP rate of 1.38
⁴ Net Cash is defined as gross cash and deposits less EIB debt (see Note 9)

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
Adam Shaw Andrew Wilson	+44 (0) 7824 096155 +44 (0) 7810 636995

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

This half-yearly report 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 that 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 portfolio companies within the Group’s portfolio of investments. Throughout this Half-Yearly Report the Group’s holdings in portfolio companies reflect the undiluted beneficial equity interest excluding debt, unless otherwise explicitly stated.

Half-yearly results can be viewed in the PDF file format