(Alliance News) - Allied Minds PLC on Thursday said its profit declined in the first half of 2019 after a very sharp cut in finance income.
Shares in Allied Minds were down 3.4% at 55.86 pence in London in morning trade.
The intellectual property commercialisation business reported a USD2.5 million pretax profit for the six months ended June 30, 42% below the USD4.3 million profit posted the year before.
While the firm made a USD33.9 million gain on investments held as fair value - compared to nothing the year before - this was more than offset by a sharp fall in net finance income to USD5.5 million from USD49.4 million.
Revenue dropped 29% to USD1.5 million from USD2.1 million after the deconsolidation of two of the company's portfolio companies in the second half of 2018.
Earlier in September, Allied agreed to sell its holding in portfolio company HawkEye 360 for USD65.6 million in cash.
Co-Chief Executives Joseph Pignato and Michael Turner said: "We have made good progress since our appointment to implement our revised strategy of focusing exclusively on supporting our existing portfolio companies and maximising monetisation opportunities at the right time, while reducing ongoing annualised HQ operating expenses.
"The strong funding rounds at HawkEye 360 and Federated Wireless, together with the significant technical and commercial progress throughout the technology portfolio, demonstrate the value and momentum of the portfolio.
"The announced sale of our HawkEye 360 shares is a major development. The sale provides an excellent return on invested capital, enables us to make a significant return of cash to shareholders, and strengthens our ability to continue to fund and support our existing technology portfolio."
By Anna Farley; annafarley@alliancenews.com
Copyright 2019 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.