Last close As at 05/08/2026
GBP0.69
▲ 1.40 (2.08%)
Market capitalisation
GBP607m
Research: TMT
IP Group’s NAV per share came in at 132.9p at end 2022, down 20% year-on-year in total return terms but only 2% below the end-June 2022 level. The NAV decline during 2022 was primarily due to the £428.5m loss from listed holdings (before FX changes, mostly Oxford Nanopore Technologies, ONT), while private holdings contributed gains before FX of c £101.4m (or 5.8% of opening NAV). Excluding ONT, IP Group posted a £25.2m profit in 2022. The company will focus on driving short- to medium-term returns from its more developed holdings and devote resources to its ‘priority companies’, which it believes will underpin its self-sustaining model (its top 20 holdings make up 71% of portfolio value).
IP Group |
Focus on high-conviction plays to drive returns |
FY22 results |
Listed venture capital |
21 February 2023 |
Share price performance
Business description
Analysts
IP Group is a research client of Edison Investment Research Limited |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
IP Group’s NAV per share came in at 132.9p at end 2022, down 20% year-on-year in total return terms but only 2% below the end-June 2022 level. The NAV decline during 2022 was primarily due to the £428.5m loss from listed holdings (before FX changes, mostly Oxford Nanopore Technologies, ONT), while private holdings contributed gains before FX of c £101.4m (or 5.8% of opening NAV). Excluding ONT, IP Group posted a £25.2m profit in 2022. The company will focus on driving short- to medium-term returns from its more developed holdings and devote resources to its ‘priority companies’, which it believes will underpin its self-sustaining model (its top 20 holdings make up 71% of portfolio value).
Period |
Net cash* |
Portfolio fair |
NAV |
NAV/share |
(Discount)/premium |
06/21 |
249.4 |
1,246 |
1,440 |
135.4 |
(14) |
12/21 |
270.1 |
1,508 |
1,738 |
167.0 |
(26) |
06/22 |
191.6 |
1,266 |
1,414 |
136.7 |
(49) |
12/22 |
160.1 |
1,259 |
1,376 |
132.9 |
(58) |
Note: *Includes restricted cash but not funds held on behalf of EIS/VCT investors. **Includes US platform and other LP interests. ***Based on share price at respective period end.
While ONT’s share price fell by 65% in 2022, in its January 2023 trading update it said that it expects revenue of £147m from Life Science Research Tools in FY22, within guidance of £145–160m issued in March 2022, which implies 25% y-o-y underlying growth (excluding FX, the Emirati genome programme and COVID-19 sequencing). IP Group has already realised £106m from ONT (more than the £77m it invested in total). Meanwhile, several of IP Group’s private holdings saw valuation uplifts in 2022: First Light Fusion (£57.3m after achieving fusion), Oxbotica (£45.4m on its Series C round in December 2022), Hysata and Nexeon (£8.4m each, following funding rounds in August 2022). We also note that Istesso commenced its Phase IIb trial for rheumatoid arthritis.
IP Group has built a sizeable liquidity buffer, with gross cash and deposits of £241.5m at end 2022 (£160.1m net of debt) and total liquidity (including listed holdings and £60m in undrawn debt) of more than £500m. Its portfolio companies raised £1.0bn in funding in 2022 (of which 9% was from IP Group), less than the £2.4bn in 2021 but similar to 2020 and above the level of earlier years.
IP Group now trades at a c 54% discount to end-2022 NAV versus 26% and 21% at end 2021 and end 2020, respectively. This likely reflects the recent pressure on VC deal volumes and valuations from macroeconomic headwinds. That said, we note that 18% of IP Group’s holdings at end 2022 are listed. Another 23% closed funding rounds in the last 12 months (some even in the tougher conditions in H222). Only 10% of these were down rounds (62% were carried out at higher valuations and 28% at flat prices). Another 36% of its portfolio are nine of its top 20 holdings valued externally at end 2022. IP Group noted that the fair values of several later-stage holdings (eg Hinge Health) were marked down at end 2022.
Click here to enter text.
|
|
Research: TMT
4iG’s FY22 results reflect the changing profile of the group as it has transitioned via a series of acquisitions from a business focused on IT services in Hungary to a regional technology-infocommunications provider in Hungary and the West Balkans. The post year-end acquisition of Vodafone Hungary reshapes the business further, which when included results in telecoms making up 87% of revenue and 94% of EBITDA on an FY22 pro forma basis. The group now has all the building blocks in place to take advantage of digitalisation and telecoms convergence trends in its chosen markets.