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- Revenue: GBP50 million for Feature Space, up from GBP32 million.
- Cash Realizations: GBP30 million from the sale of Garrison, plus GBP1 million in deferred payments.
- Net Asset Value (NAV): GBP1.1 billion, aiming to grow to GBP1.5 billion.
- Cash Balance: GBP161 million at period end, increased to GBP184 million by end of August.
- Fair Value Loss: GBP110 million, primarily due to Oxford Nanopore.
- Buyback Program: Completed GBP20 million buyback, announced additional GBP10 million buyback.
- Overheads: Reduced to GBP8.7 million from GBP10.3 million last year.
- Investment in New Companies: 15 new companies in the first half.
- Top 10 Holdings: 75% of the portfolio value.
- Feature Space Holding: 20%, with GBP23 million invested to date.
- First Light Fusion Holding: 27%, with GBP18 million invested to date.
- Oxford Nanopore Holding: Just under 9%, with GBP78 million invested to date.
- Cash Flow: GBP160 million at period end, increased to GBP180 million by end of August.
- Overhead Reduction: 25% annualized run rate reduction expected by year-end.
For the complete transcript of the earnings call, please refer to the full earnings call transcript.
Positive Points
- IP Group PLC (IPZYF) reported strong cash realizations, surpassing the total achieved in both full year '23 and '22.
- The company has maintained its commitment to shareholder capital returns, completing a GBP20 million buyback and announcing a further GBP10 million buyback.
- Positive momentum is building in the second half, with significant progress in key portfolio companies like Oxford Nanopore, which saw a 60% share price increase since June.
- The company has reduced overheads from GBP10.3 million to GBP8.7 million and anticipates a further 25% reduction in net overhead run rate by the end of the year.
- IP Group PLC (IPZYF) has a strong pipeline with about 80 companies in the portfolio, excluding platform companies, indicating a rich future value creation opportunity.
- The company reported a fair value loss of about GBP110 million in the first half, primarily due to a 50% reduction in the value of Oxford Nanopore.
- Despite positive developments, the share price continues to trade at a significant discount to NAV, indicating market skepticism.
- The delay in the Phase 2b trial data from portfolio company Espresso has been frustrating and has not yet provided the expected update.
- The company has yet to complete its Series C funding for First Light Fusion, reflecting challenges in the current funding environment.
- There is a need for further exits and uplifts to demonstrate the appropriateness of the portfolio's valuation, as indicated by market concerns.
A: We do have options, and the actual fact is that if they get when you can't calculate NAV per share, if you exclude those shares in treasury, they won't actually happen after share, too. And we use a relatively small amount of shares just to satisfy any shares issued under our asphalt bonus scheme. So we do, but we will better use a fraction as ambitious for buying. So I mean, the answer is practically that make a practical difference, but it is an option that we could take some time, certainly at the moment is not our intent to increase the share in total. And I guess Greg, mentioned we have now fallen below a billion shares and hopefully a very progressive share buyback in Q4.
Q: Why does the market imply that your net asset value figure is not trusted by the market? Should the Board consider acquisitions to mitigate the ongoing and prolonged discount?
A: I would say thanks and very pointed questions. And a couple of questions -- valid answer. But I hope as we've demonstrated in the presentation today, we think our portfolio is very appropriately valued and this will be demonstrated by further exits and uplifts. And I think than Warren Buffett (Trades, Portfolio) say that the market is a short-term voting machine in the long term weighing machine and our asset class has definitely been. I'd just say that with the electric Electra, I mean, as evidenced by the performance of us and our peers, but I guess it sort of fair to say that acquirers of our portfolio companies are definitely coming along with their scales and they are concurring with the and the weights that we've that we've gotten our companies at. So and yes, hopefully it will be delayed will deliver some some further evidence on that in the coming months.
Q: Can you outline the strategy for crystallizing the value of its shareholding in First Light Fusion and give some sense of a realistic time frame?
A: Okay. So again, we'll type timing and harder to call on this one the most and I sort of tried to give an update in the presentation around the new business model that the company is following. This is much more capital light and with the company aiming to partner with various providers of initial confinement fusion technology and really leverage this sort of the particularly unique thing about first slide, which is the amplifier technologies. If you're interested when the shock wave hits, you amplify and focus to Shockwave down to create the very high areas of temperature and pressure. And that's the sort of that's the real magic sauce. And within the first slide, that should enable first like to get to revenues more quickly. As the technology becomes established, has there been a sort of unique value adding component within Fusion will pick up Fusion scales. So there should be an opportunity for us to realize value from this and through exit to trade and unlike maybe many other Fusion energy start-up to occur following that path of building a a sort of a commercial Fusion power plant. And we anticipate that means we could achieve an exit before that. And through demonstration of the high gain from it, some from its target technology. So I hope that gives you an idea. I can't give you much in terms of the timeframe, but hopefully quicker than other Fusion companies. Given that partnering approach and the capital-light approach.
Q: What is the timeframe for the results of the Phase three trial being undertaken by pulmonary?
A: End of '25 could --
Q: What is the likely level of turnover that's a feature space in '24 and timeframe for EBITDA breakeven?
A: I won't comment on the latter that the timeframe for EBIT breakeven, although as I said in the presentation, the Company is funded to breakeven and level of turnover while they fixed the Company has been growing at or above the level of the market growing. So the market is growing sort of 20% to 30% per annum and the rate of growth sort of varies from year to year is quite high in 2023, nearly 50%. And so I guess you could as you could you could envisage it will be sort of at or above the level of the market again and in terms of increase during 2024 and continues to trade very healthily and very well so we're very, very pleased with that and that business and the progress that they're making.
Q: Does the Board agree that the focus of returns to shareholders from the realization that should be in the form of share buybacks above the, say, tender at all?
A: I think the answer to that is at the moment, our policy to do and share buybacks the time when and that is our shares are trading at a discount to more than 20% to NAV and it doesn't mean that we completely discount other alternative methods. So it is a tender offer was more appropriate, for example, has a nice sizable buyback of a large asset. That's something we would consider. And if there was a lower discount than that, I think dividends is something we would consider. But at the moment, the company is to do share buybacks. And I said that we don't discount any I think it's fair to say the --
Q: Are you contemplating any changes to the structure and or competition of the management in order to address market negative perception of the company?
A: Well, we definitely look to address the structure and we're also by segment, you will be the judges, but I think we are now delivering on the strategy that I set out to focus capital on to these maturing companies to deliver realizations to use a proportion of those realizations to deliver value to shareholders. And I guess it's encouraging to see the share prices sort of getting positive momentum rather than negative And so yes, I would I mean, we're confident in the in being able to deliver on the value opportunity here. And I think there is beyond this sort of period that really is a very big opportunity for us to address, and we'll probably do that through and private funds in addition to the balance sheet and which will add sort of smoothed out our earnings and make the cost base and lower in total as well. So I think that there is a really big opportunity here. And I would like to think we're delivering on what we said we would do.
Q: Do you think there is scope for further cost cuts beyond what's already been done at Lima, the 25% that you expect by year end?
A: I guess mindset with as always, I'm not in any company you can you can choose to structure it you think is appropriate and you can obviously do a lot less new already do such a the answer is no. Not at the moment. There isn't a plan to defer those plans we have put into place and then there isn't a compact anymore than that
For the complete transcript of the earnings call, please refer to the full earnings call transcript.