Frontier IP Group PLC (AIM:FIPP) reported interim profits ahead of management expectations and has continued to make progress in the second half.
The intellectual property commercialisation specialist posted a £10.3mln pre-tax profit for the half-year to 31 December, an increase of 239% on a year earlier reflecting a higher gain on revaluation of investments.
The unrealised profit on the revaluation of investments rose 197% to £11.9mln, and the fair value of the company’s portfolio rose 37% to £43.9mln, with net assets per share increasing to 84.7p from 69.8p last June and 56.8p the previous December.
Frontier celebrated the first successful listing of one of its portfolio companies, with Exscientia getting a US$2.9bn valuation as it completed its Nasdaq initial public offer in October.
In the second half, the group said it had sold a quarter of its shareholding in Exscientia, raising a total of £6.1mln, while still holding onto more than 1.17mln shares.
Frontier said it intends to use the cash proceeds to provide further support for its portfolio and for general working capital purposes.
There was other progress across the portfolio, including The Vaccine Group announcing a successful pre-clinical trials of its next-generation COVID-19 vaccine, CamGraPhIC raising £1.6mln to accelerate development and scale up of its graphene-based photonics technology for high-speed telecommunications, and Celerum, in the second half, launching its first commercial product and announing it had signed its first customer.
Chief Executive Neil Crabb said: “These results are ahead of management expectations and reflect an excellent performance for the first half of the year.
“The growth in fair value and unrealised profit on revaluation of investments demonstrates our distinctive business model and innovative approach to commercialising intellectual property continues to deliver.
“The results demonstrate good growth and gathering momentum across the portfolio.”
Crabb said strengthening the team was having an effect on accelerating progress within portfolio companies.
He added: “In these febrile times, it is difficult to predict what might happen in the coming months and how we might be affected. However, the companies in our portfolio are seeking to help tackle some of the most pressing long-term problems we face today. […] The Exscientia share sales mean we have a strong balance sheet. We are well placed to provide additional support to our portfolio companies should it be required. The fundamentals of our business and those of our portfolio companies remain. We are in a good position to weather the highly uncertain climate we are currently experiencing and stay confident in our future prospects."