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Strongest financial performance since the Group’s formation; well-positioned for future growth

IP Group plc (LSE:IPO), the developer of intellectual property-based businesses, today announces its annual financial results for the year ended 31 December 2015.

2015 Highlights

• Net assets increased by approximately 50% to £781.9m (2014: 526.2m)
• £178.8m (net of expenses) raised through the issue of new equity capital
• Acceleration of US activities with four new portfolio companies created bringing the total portfolio to five
• Acquisition of a £40.0m strategic holding in Oxford Sciences Innovation plc, broadening the Group’s exposure to spin-out companies from the University of Oxford
• Modern Biosciences plc reached the first development-related milestones in its agreement with Janssen Biotech, Inc. triggering gross payments of £8.0m

Financial highlights

• Net assets excluding intangibles increased to £714.3m (2014: £451.3m)
• Adjusted profit before tax of £82.4m (2014: £16.2m), excluding amortisation of intangible assets and reduction in fair value of Oxford Equity Rights asset of £7.3m (2014: £6.7m)
• Net cash and deposits at 31 Dec 2015: £178.8m (FY14: £97.3m)
• New 8-year £30m debt facility negotiated with European Investment Bank

Portfolio highlights

• Fair value of portfolio: £552.2m (2014: £349.9m)
• Net increase in fair value of portfolio, excluding net investment, of £86.2m (2014: £22.3m)
• Capital provided to portfolio companies* and projects: £75.9m (2014: £46.8m)
• Portfolio realisations: £0.6m (2014: £9.7m)
• Group’s portfolio companies raised approximately £300m of new capital in 2015
• Oxford Nanopore completed £70m private financing and its MinION product became fully commercially available
• Diurnal Group plc completed £30m AIM admission and began Phase 3 trials for its Infacort® product

Alan Aubrey, Chief Executive of IP Group, said: “2015 saw the Group’s strongest financial performance since its formation. During the year, we completed a number of key corporate transactions and secured our financial position for growth with successful equity and debt raisings. These funds will be used to grow both our UK and US operations as we continue to internationalise the business. It was also an extremely productive year for our portfolio companies who recorded some impressive achievements which included raising approximately £300m of new capital. In addition, the Group took a strategic stake in Oxford Sciences Innovation plc, providing access to a much wider range of scientific research from the University of Oxford and broadening its exposure to future Oxford spin-out companies.

Major global economies continue to increase expenditure on research and development in the face of macroeconomic trends that continue to cast significant uncertainty over the pace of the global economic recovery. IP Group remains well-positioned to respond to this environment with a healthy pipeline of opportunities across all of our sectors underpinned by a strong cash position. Against this backdrop, we remain cautiously optimistic about the prospects for the current year and beyond and believe we are well-positioned for future growth.”

* in addition to acquisition of £40.0m strategic holding in Oxford Sciences Innovation plc

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 0050 +44 (0) 20 7444 0050
FTI Consulting James Melville-Ross / Simon Conway / Victoria Foster Mitchell	+44 (0)20 3727 1000

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 29th February 2016.

The financial information set out in this Annual Results Release does not constitute the company's statutory accounts for 2015 or 2014. Statutory accounts for the years ended 31 December 2015 and 31 December 2014 have been reported on by the Independent Auditor. The Independent Auditor’s Reports on the Annual Report and Financial Statements for 2015 and 2014 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 2014 have been filed with the Registrar of Companies. The statutory accounts for the year ended 31 December 2015 will be delivered to the Registrar following the Company's annual general meeting.

The 2015 Annual Report and Accounts will be published in April 2016 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