Shares in Caledonian Holdings PLC (AIM:CHP) fell 14% to 0.0025p after the company reported a significantly widened annual loss of £4.4 million, largely driven by a £4 million fall in the fair value of legacy investments.
The markdown included a near-total writedown of its holding in Conduit Pharmaceuticals, which plunged in value from £2.9 million to just £6,079. Post year-end the entire investment was sold.
The legacy portfolio, including Conduit, Aeristech and WeShop, adversely impacted the results, but chairman Brent Fitzpatrick said the setbacks "underline the importance of the decisive shift in strategy now underway".
With a refreshed strategy focused on financial services, and a name change from Vela Technologies, Caledonian raised £2 million of new funds.
A new investment of £1 million was made in August into AlbaCo, which aims to be a new bank focused on supporting small and medium-sized businesses. AlbaCo is now in the final stages of raising its regulatory capital, and Caledonian confirmed that it intends to participate further in that process.
This investment "exemplifies the kind of scalable, technology-enabled financial services business that will define Caledonian's future direction", said Fitzpatrick, who has been joined on the board post year end by Keith Barclay as investment director.