Intellectual property commercialisation specialist Frontier IP Group Plc (LON:FIPP) said the fair value of its portfolio rose by 45% in the year to June 30.
At the end of June, the fair value of its portfolio companies stood at £6.73mln, compared to £4.65mln at the end of June 2016.
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The valuations of the companies tend to only change when they raise fresh capital or a sector peer does likewise, and in Frontier’s case the completion of fund-raisings for portfolio companies Nandi Proteins and Exscientia contributed significantly to the increase in the value of the portfolio.
Total revenue increased by 14% to £2.31mln from £2.03mln the year before, reflecting an unrealised profit on the revaluation of investments of £2.05mln (2016: £1.81mln).
Revenue from services rose by 19% to £264,000 from £221,000 the previous year.
Profit before tax was 9% higher at £1.23mln from £1.13mln the previous year.
Net assets per share at the end of June stood at 30.7p, up 23.3% from 24.9p a year earlier.
The group's cash balances increased during the year by £1.56mln to £2.33mln as a result of a placing of new shares that raised £2.81mln.
The group welcomed four new additions to the portfolio during year, which included Tarsis Technology Limited, Frontier’s third spin-out from the Department of Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology at the University of Cambridge, plus three additions from the University of Plymouth.
The technology-focused intellectual property (IP) group also concluded a second commercialisation partnership in Portugal with the Universidade NOVA de Lisboa, Faculty of Science and Technology.
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"I am pleased to report on another year of progress as we continue to develop our portfolio and lay the foundations for future value creation," said Neil Crabb, chief executive of Frontier IP.
Chairman Andrew Richmond said the group had seen an encouraging start to the new financial year with “a very high level of activity”.
“While technology development is an inherently uncertain process, we are optimistic that our Core Portfolio will show another year of good progress and growth and that we will continue to see strong, commercialisable IP arising from our partnerships and build on our developing relationships in Cambridge and Portugal,” he said.