Molten Ventures is a London-based venture capital (VC) firm that invests in the European technology sector. It has a portfolio of c 70 investee companies and includes a range of funds (seed, EIS and VCT) within the group, as well as its flagship balance sheet VC fund.
After a strong run in 2021, the technology sector faced a challenging macroeconomic environment triggering market rotation towards value and out of growth (impacting valuations of listed high-growth tech companies). Q123 venture capital (VC) deal volumes were down 32.1% q-o-q to €11.8bn (and VC exit volumes fell 69.6% versus Q422) across the European VC market, according to PitchBook. That said, Molten’s CEO highlighted recently that ‘landmark’ deals have still been completed. At the same time, the market downturn is likely to create opportunities for long-term investors. Public equities (including tech stocks) have rallied in early 2023.
Ben Wilkinson
CFO
Martin Davis
CEO
Forecast net debt (£m)
N/A
Forecast gearing ratio (%)
N/A
% | 1M | 3M | 12M |
---|---|---|---|
Actual | (0.9) | (25.6) | (48.2) |
Relative | 2.9 | (22.5) | (47.9) |
52 week high/low | 555.0p/247.0p |
Molten Ventures released its FY23 trading update (to end-March 2023), with its NAV per share down c 17% in FY23 to c 775p. That said, it posted only a minor 2% decline in its gross portfolio fair value in H223 (excluding foreign exchange impact), which indicates some stabilisation after the 17% decline in H123. Molten’s ‘Core’ portfolio (c 62% of total portfolio) saw a robust 40% value-weighted revenue growth in the calendar year to end-December 2022 (though below the expected 60-65%, partly due to greater focus on cash preservation). The company expects continued high top-line growth of its ‘Core’ holdings in 2023 at over 65%. Management highlighted that its ‘Core’ holdings remain well funded, with over 80% of them having a cash runway of more than 18 months.
Y/E Mar | Revenue (£m) | EBITDA (£m) | PBT (£m) | EPS (fd) (p) | P/E (x) | P/CF (x) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2021A | 288.8 | N/A | 268.9 | 207.3 | 1.3 | 1.3 |
2022A | 351.2 | N/A | 331.1 | 218.0 | 1.2 | 1.2 |
2023E | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
2024E | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
Get access to the very latest content matched to your personal investment style.