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One of the European projects that Cambridge Raman Imaging (26.8% owned) are involved with, Crimson, posted a tweet this week that suggests the project is progressing nicely.
hTTps://twitter.com/crimsoneu?lang=en
hTTps://www.crimson-project.eu/2023/05/09/crimson-latest-findings-presented-at-the-2023-anakon-conference-in-vienna/
Great announcement today and nice comments from Topps Tiles:
"This is only the start of our relationship with Alusid, and we look forward to developing new products with the company in the years to come."
And FIPP's CEO is unusually bullish:
"Frontier IP Chief Executive Neil Crabb said: "Alusid's agreement with Topps Tiles represents strong validation of the Company's technology and the high quality of the tiles produced - and at industrial scale. We are very excited by the company's potential, given the size of the global tile market, successful trials of mass-made floor tiles and the unique nature of the patented technology."
Https://uk.advfn.com/stock-market/london/frontier-ip-FIPP/share-news/Frontier-IP-Group-plc-Topps-Tiles-launches-first-A/90993285
Exciting news from today's Times (FIPP own 38.9%).....
Https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/recycled-waste-firm-alusid-weighs-up-uk-float-x8swsw53v
"Recycled waste firm Alusid weighs up UK float
Alusid, a company that makes high-quality tiles from recycled waste, is considering a flotation in London.
The plans are at an early stage and the timing has yet to be confirmed but London is the preferred location for the market debut, which could raise about £2 million for expansion.
Alusid, which could be valued at about £10 million if it joins the London market, has just produced its first range of mass-manufactured tiles with Topps Tiles as part of a multi-year deal signed last year.
Alasdair Bremner, the company’s chief executive, said: “Alusid is exploring options to float. Although we are a UK green technology company the opportunity is global: the tile market alone is worth nearly $380 billion a year.
There is strong demand worldwide for more sustainable building materials and an IPO would help us expand, in terms of broadening the applications for our technology and support growth in the UK and beyond.”
He and David Binns, now the creative director, founded the company after being awarded an Arts Council grant to explore the “aesthetics of waste” while working as academics in the ceramics department at the University of Central Lancashire.
Alusid has a small factory in Preston producing handmade tiles and surfaces such as table tops. Customers include Parkside Architectural Tiles, the commercial arm of Topps Group, Starbucks, Pret a Manger, H&M, the BBC and the Stonehenge visitor centre. The company is developing a range of floor tiles following a collaboration with the global minerals group Imerys.
The innovative manufacturing process grew out of Binns’s work creating sculptures from ceramic aggregates combined with recycled crushed glass. Its patented processes require less energy than conventional tiles and use waste that would otherwise go to landfill.
The recycled content in the tiles is an industry-leading 91 per cent, according to the company. For every square metre of tiles, this means that 8kg of waste is saved from landfill and 14kg of raw material such as clay from extraction."
There's a new note on FIPP on Research Tree from VSA Capital. It concludes "The current discount to NAV represents an ideal opportunity to gain exposure to technology companies that are approaching commercialisation and, if they are successful, this would see distinct appreciation in FIPP’s NAV."
There's a nice summary of progress at Pulsiv and Alucid which are highlighted as being at commercialisation inflection points:
"Pulsiv (stake 18.3%) has developed patented, high energy efficiency, power conversion technology that converts electricity from AC to DC and vice versa. Products have been developed for mains powered products, battery chargers,
lighting applications, DC motors, and solar panels. The valuation of the Group’s investment at 1H23 close was £9.5m. FIPP notes that during 1H23, Pulsiv made solid technical and commercial progress, securing strategic distribution agreements with Astute Electronics, Digikey Electronics, the (world's fifth largest electronic components distributor), ISMOsys and Pankaj Electronics. Pulsiv, also entered a collaboration with U.S. based Salom, a major manufacturer of power supplies whose customers include Dyson, Lenovo, Motorola, Panasonic and Philips. As we have previously noted, the market opportunity for Pulsiv is global and significant. Market research house ReportLinker estimates that the micro inverter electronics market, which Pulsiv addresses, has a market size which is expected to reach US$7.4 billion by 2028, rising at a market growth of 17.8% CAGR from 2022.
Alusid (stake 38.9%) produces premium-quality tiles, tabletops and other surfaces by recycling industrial waste, ceramics and glass, much of which would otherwise go to landfill. The company has developed patented formulations and processes that use less energy and water than conventional tile manufacturing. Post FIPP’s 1H23 end, Alusid successfully collaborated with Imerys, a leader in speciality minerals, to make hard-wearing floor tiles. The result of this collaboration saw Alusid named a winner from 65 companies participating from around the world in the inaugural Imerys Start-Up Innovation Factory competition. During 1H23, Alusid also started supplying a major tile retailer with wall tiles and, according to FIPP, a further announcement is expected soon."
Cheers, good to see. I swear ST's following me around my portfolio - that's MWE, FNX and FIPP all tipped on successive days this week :o))
Singer reiterate their Buy and 125p target price after today's interims .
The CEO's quote about strong upcoming news flow is particularly good to see:
"We expect this progress to be reflected by strong positive news flow in the months to come."
There are so many exciting developments in the portfolio. Quite apart from the many investees at or beyong inflection points and commercialisation, there are now three graphene tech portfolio companies spun out from Cambridge which could be incredibly exciting.
Pulsiv, Nandi, Alucid, CamGraPhIC, Vaccine Group and Celerum all seem to be making excellent progress.
Singer summarise as follows:
"A maturing portfolio
Frontier IP has reported interim results (H1’23) that reflect a period of strong technical progress but without the large revaluations of previous periods. Net assets per share decreased to 88.2p (FY22: 88.5p) while Net Cash increased to £5.8m providing the Group with a multi-year cash runway. H1’23 saw a number of important commercial and technical developments with FIPP’s management highlighting Pulsiv and Alusid as moving beyond inflection points. A £0.5m pre-tax loss reflects no major net revaluations but Pulsiv and CamGraPhIC raised money in the period and FIPP hosted a well-attended CMD that demonstrated the strength and increasing maturity, of its portfolio. FIPP shares trade at a 22% discount to NAV, we remain at a Buy."
"BUY recommendation
We view FIPP’s NAV as a lagging indicator given multiple milestones are often achieved between mark-to-market valuations. FIPP shares already trade at a 22% discount to NAV before we factor in the potential upside from the Group’s maturing portfolio. We maintain our BUY recommendation and 125p target price."
Looks like someone went in early with a 30k share purchase, in bits. Nice. Hopefully I'm in too, though not on that scale.
I also hold Tekcapital (TEK), which is similar but with fewer holdings, and seems to me at a good price point now. [Tbh I'm longing for one of their company's products to hit the UK market (it's expanding very fast into the US food market now): microsalt is superfine ground salt that gives the same saltiness with half the amount, and nothing that isn't NaCl. My BP is waiting with bated breath and it seems to me to have huge potential. Sorry if this seems like advertising, just trying to be helpful - I don't mind suggestions, esp on a quiet board. I follow good people. I got told off once for mentioning Aussie Silex on the IQE board - but, goodness, it was a good buy.]
There's a superb write-up on FIPP from the Private Punter. Great interview with FIPP's CEO and also with Pulsiv:
Https://martinflitton1.wixsite.com/privatepunter/post/frontier-ip-looking-to-break-the-boundaries-01-03-23
FIPP issued two important news items on 30th January which haven't been noted here before.
Firstly, (which was also RNS'd) Alusid announced a successful collaboration with Imerys, a world leader in specialty minerals to make floor tiles:
Https://www.frontierip.co.uk/portfolio-companies/alusid-extends-product-range-in-collaboration-with-world-leader-imerys/
"Over the past few months, Alusid and Imerys have run two parallel trials to make products using Imerys by-products: the floor tiles, and another to make larger items such as coffee tables and worktops. Both were successful, and the floor tiles are now attracting commercial interest, including from a leading retailer. Frontier IP holds a 38.9 per cent equity stake in the Company.
Imerys generated €4.4 billion in revenues during 2021 and employs 16,300 people."
Secondly, Celerum apponted a new CEO with an impressive CEO. This comments reads rather well:
Https://www.frontierip.co.uk/portfolio-companies/celerum-appoints-chief-executive-officer/
"Celerum is at an important stage of development. The Company launched its first commercial product, Truck Logistics System (TLS), earlier this year to cut road haulage costs, carbon emissions and delivery times for small to medium-sized truck fleets, which is now winning customers. The first was Colin Lawson Transport, a haulage firm based in Aberdeen, operating 75 trucks and about 150 trailers. Frontier IP holds a 33.8 per cent equity stake in the Company.
Other potential applications for the technology are in the maritime, energy, and telecommunication sectors where positive use cases have already been identified."
"Whilst our platform is industry agnostic, we have won customers from the fleet management industry, which is worth $27 billion a year globally. Our platform is unique in this market, and I am expecting to see a great deal of interest. We know that this market is intensely competitive, where every marginal gain is important, and we believe our software can give customers an important edge in efficiency and productivity gains, cutting costs and making their operations greener."
Molendotech recently secured investment from QantX which hasn't been posted before AFAICS and certainly not RNS'd by FIPP - good to see another portfolio member making progress:
Https://qantx.co.uk/molendotech-secures-investment-from-qantx/
"Molendotech secures investment from QantX
by Harry Alexander | Jan 9, 2023 | Healthcare
QantX is delighted to announce its investment in the team at Molendotech as they seek funding to help them scale and deliver their solution for rapid on-site pathogen detection.
Every day, 2 million tonnes of sewage and other effluents drain into the World’s waters, leading in part to more human deaths annually than from all forms of violence including war.[1]
As a result of storm overflow and insufficient infrastructure, the UK is increasingly dumping raw sewage into its waterways. In 2022, Water Companies reported over 370,000 such events. Across the Ocean, a US report by the Environmental Integrity Project recently found that half of their waterways (assessing more than 1.4m miles of rivers and streams) are impaired, failing standards for swimming and recreation, aquatic life, fish consumption and drinking.
Part of the pollution and cause for concern is the presence of faecal coliform bacteria, which is often used as an indicator of water-borne pathogens such as e.coli. Swimming in waters with high concentrations of faecal coliforms can lead to diseases such as typhoid fever, hepatitis, gastroenteritis, dysentery, and ear infections.
Existing testing pathways require sampling and testing over a period of 24 to 48 hours in a lab, which is too slow to provide adequate warnings to anyone entering or using the water. Molendotech, a spinout from the University of Plymouth, developed a patented rapid field test for water that measures the concentration of faecal matter in as little as 15 minutes and can be conducted by the water side. They are already working closely with Water Utility companies in the UK and have agreements with NGOs and companies in Nigeria and the DRC to use their water sanitation kits.
[1] https://www.un.org/waterforlifedecade/quality.shtml"
Also this one today.
https://pulsiv.co.uk/news/pulsivs-distribution-network-expands-in-to-south-korea/
New French distribution agreement:
Https://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/business/pulsiv-signs-cats-2023-02/
exai down 3 bucks (over 30%)
i'd be interested again sub $5
exai heading back down
Nice to see you here Rivaldo and I can see from the stocks you invest in that you only select the best high quality companies out there so good to see you here also.
Looks like the overhang has cleared! I'll allow myself a small pat on the back for actually having timed my entry point here rather well (hopefully)!
Exscentia was up slightly again last night to $10.93.
Wishful thinking imho. I’d buy back in quick if I was you. Remember when you said this:
“60p does look cheap versus adjusted NAV, given management decent/good trackrecord of backing winners”
That was September 13th when Exai SP was $9.13. It is now about $11.
By my reckoning current market cap of £34m is about a 33% discount to our present NAV which I estimate is at least £50m now.
I've built a stake here recently for the first time.
I've met the CEO a couple of times in the past and really liked him - clever, down to earth and obviously knows his stuff as regards this type of investing.
The recent decline strikes me as a good time to get involved. Especially as Exscentia seems to be on a roll again - up 20% last night to $10.80 and then up again in the aftermarket to $11.10.
FIPP have a number of investee companies which look impressive imo and could multibag, but most importantly have been going for a number of years now and are already, or seem to be on the cusp of, gaining substantial commercial traction. So this could be an important inflection point for FIPP.
My buying has been around and just above the mid-price so there evidently is or has been an overhang which buyers might wish to take advantage of.
https://pulsiv.co.uk/news/pulsiv-wins-2022-power-conversion-regulation-award/
Good to see Exscientia having a good recovery on Nasdaq.
?
And another new agreement
https://pulsiv.co.uk/news/pulsiv-signs-new-distribution-agreement-with-pankaj-electronics-india/
This is a great example of how one of Fipps investments could really reap dividends.
The Strep suis vaccine is just 1 of 9 projects being worked on by TVG. Not all will succeed of course but it’s worth looking at what a vaccine for pigs could be worth. Worldwide there are roughly 1.5bn pigs born each year. The current process of treating them with antibiotics is quite costly so a vaccine treatment would be preferred.
So if say 80% of pigs were vaccinated, how much might TVG receive assuming they’re paid in royalties? Obviously I’ve no idea how much but at just 1p per vaccine that would be £12m a year.
FIPPs 17% stake in TVG was valued at £5.5m meaning TVG valued at £32.6m.
That valuation would seriously increase in coming years if this of any of the other projects come to fruition.
Back to trading at around nav. Was trading significantly above nav this time last year.