LONDON (Alliance News) - Allied Minds PLC on Monday reported a widened pretax loss in what it called a "successful" 2015, as it increased investment in creating four new businesses and developing its existing enterprises towards commercialisation.
Allied Minds funds and develops start-up companies in the science and technology space.
Shares in Allied Minds were down 5.6% at 379.90 pence Monday morning, the worst performer in the FTSE 250.
The company reported a pretax loss of USD98.0 million for 2015, widened from USD57.7 million in 2014, mostly as a result of higher selling, general and administrative expenses, and a big step up in research and development costs. Revenue fell to USD3.3 million from USD7.7 million, which Allied Minds said was mostly because of a revenue shortfall at food safety company RF Biocidics, caused by a delayed regulatory approval.
Allied Minds said its group subsidiary ownership adjusted value, a key metric for the company, rose to USD535.8 million as at the end of 2015 from USD488.0 million at the end of 2014. It attributed this rise to significant increases in value of some of its subsidiaries including Precision Biopsy and Federated Wireless, which offset decreases in value of RF Biocidics and CryoXtract, and the closing of SiEnergy Systems.
Allied Minds ceased operations at SiEnergy in 2016 after determining that the thin-film solid-oxide fuel-cell technology that the company was developing would not meet key milestones within a reasonable timeframe and budget, compounded by a weaker market for clean energy alternatives due to the low cost of traditional energy sources.
The company said a total of USD102.8 million was invested into new and existing portfolio companies in 2015, including USD63.6 million from two fundraisings led by the company to further accelerate the development of drug discovery company SciFluor Life Sciences and biotechnology firm Precision Biopsy.
Allied Minds formed four new businesses during the year, it said, including HawkEye 360, which is seeking to build and launch a constellation of small satellites, and BridgeSat, which is looking to develop an optical connectivity system to increase the speed, security and efficiency of data from Low Earth Orbit satellites and high-altitude unmanned aerial vehicles.
As part of its efforts to develop its new and existing companies in 2015 Allied Minds increased its total workforce to 359 in 2015 from 234, it said, predominantly engineering and technical development professionals.
"We are happy to report a successful 2015 in which the group continued to make important strides in advancing its subsidiaries towards commercialisation. We invested in existing subsidiaries to accelerate their development, strengthened industry partnerships and also established new strategic relationships, and recruited highly talented individuals to the company," said Chief Executive Officer Chris Silva in a statement.
"We are confident that we will continue to execute on our strategy to drive early-stage technology towards profitable commercial success," Silva added.
By Hana Stewart-Smith; hanassmith@alliancenews.com; @HanaSSAllNews
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