Molten Ventures flags solid growth in net asset value

Venture capital firm Molten Ventures said in an update on Thursday that its unaudited net asset value per share was expected to be at least 929p for the financial year just ended, up from 743p a year ago.

The FTSE 250 company said its gross portfolio value was set to come in no less than £1.53bn, up from £984m, with its gross portfolio increase in fair value expected to be at least £360m, or 35% excluding currency movements, over the year, in line with the £359m it reported for 2021.

Following growth in the investments and additional capital raised in the year, the platform's assets under management totalled £1.8bn for the 12 months ended 31 March.

A total of £311m was invested from the group's balance sheet in the year, with a further £45m from EIS and VCT co-investment bringing the total for the year to £356m, up from £162m.

Realisations, meanwhile, generated cash proceeds in the year of £126m, down from £206m for the 2021 financial year.

Available cash as at 31 March totalled £174m, consisting of group balance sheet cash of £78m, £35m undrawn on the existing debt facility, and a further £61m available for investment in the EIS and VCT funds.

Net proceeds in the year totalled £108m, received from a successful equity raise in June.

“Last year was an exceptional year for investing in tech companies, supported by a healthy market environment for dealmaking,” said chief executive officer Martin Davis.

“The 35% growth in fair value reflects the continued strength of the group, and the judgement of our investment team in identifying and developing the technology entrepreneurs that are inventing tomorrow.

“We have achieved our objectives for the last year, and we remain focused on continuing to deliver on our strategy and further strengthen our portfolio of next-generation tech companies.”

Molten Ventures said it would release its final Results for the year ended 31 March on 13 June.