Last year Allied Minds (ALM) appointed a new chief executive, Jill Smith, who wasted little time in rationalising the portfolio of start-up companies, with the primary emphasis on six subsidiaries. The other major development was raising funds for further investment, $64.5m (£45.8m) of which came through subsidiary fundraisings and $35.1m from co-investment partners. This was topped up with $29.4m from the company itself. Losses narrowed, but general and administrative expenses swallowed $55.2m and research and development a further $49m, with the net effect of a 25 per cent decline in the cash pile to $158m.
Having spent time rejigging the existing portfolio, the current year is expected to see a return to building and supporting new businesses. Attention is likely to focus on medical institutions and federal laboratories, working in regulated industries and with the US government.
Within the existing portfolio, funding was completed for Hawkeye, BridgeSat and Signature Medical, each of which included an external strategic investor, thus helping to de-risk the path to commercialisation. The plan here is to accelerate the progress made by its top six companies, as well as investing in new ones.
Analysts at Numis Securities are forecasting net asset value, which is defined as the portfolio value plus cash, of 196¢ a share at the December 2018 year-end, down from 200¢ in 2017.
| ALLIED MINDS (ALM) | ||||
| ORD PRICE: | 110.2p | MARKET VALUE: | £264m | |
| TOUCH: | 110.2-111.6p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 360p | LOW: 104p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | nil | PE RATIO: | na | |
| NET ASSET VALUE: | 30¢ | NET CASH: | $158m | |
| Year to 31 Dec | Turnover ($m) | Pre-tax profit ($m) | Earnings per share (¢) | Dividend per share (¢) |
| 2013 | 2.94 | -43 | -24.0 | na |
| 2014 | 7.72 | -58 | -24.0 | nil |
| 2015 | 3.30 | -98 | -36.0 | nil |
| 2016 | 2.66 | -129 | -44.0 | nil |
| 2017 | 5.00 | -111 | -32.0 | nil |
| % change | +88 | - | - | - |
| Ex-div: | - | |||
| Payment: | - | |||
| Group listed in June 2014 £1=$1.411 | ||||
