Syncona asset values fall after Autolus shares plunge
Syncona Limited NPV
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16:40 25/04/24
Syncona reported a 13% fall in net asset value as the value of its life sciences division dropped by a quarter in its most recent financial year.
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The healthcare investor's net asset value (NAV) fell to £1.25bn from £1.46bn a year earlier in the year to the end of March. NAV per share dropped to 185.6p from 216.8p.
The value of Syncona's life science portfolio fell 25% to £479.5m as gains from the sale of Blue Earth Diagnostics for $476m and a financing in Achilles Therapeutics was outweighed by an 81% plunge in the share price of Autolus, the cell therapy company that floated in the US in January.
The FTSE 250 company said it believed in Autolus's strong fundamentals and long-term future. Autolus shares have more than doubled since the end of March and the company has made progress on its blood cancer treatments. Autolus shares fell from their flotation price of $17 to $6 at the end of March but have partly recovered to close at $14.14 on Wednesday.
Martin Murphy, chief executive of Syncona Investment Management, said: Our portfolio made good progress over the year including the generation of positive clinical data. The decline in Autolus's share price has clearly impacted our financial performance in the year and whilst this is disappointing … we believe Autolus has the potential to deliver next generation CAR-T therapies to patients over the long-term."
Syncona shares fell 1.6% to 219.50p at 09:51 BST, making them little changed in 2020.