IP Group reports "significant progress" as portfolio value leaps

IP Group said it has made "significant progress" since its half year results as it reported a sharp rise in the value of its investments.The FTSE 250 group said the fair value of its portfolio had jumped by £52.7m to £258.2m in the four months to October 30th. The rise was driven by the increase in the share prices of some of the listed companies it has invested in and the £33.3m fair value gain it made on the fundraising last month by Oxford University spin-out Oxford Nanopore in which IP Group has a near 20% stake. The intellectual property commercialisation company said it had provided incubation, seed and development capital totalling £14.2m to 18 portfolio companies in the last four months including £5m into Cambridge Innovation Capital. Its portfolio now comprises of holdings in 72 companies. At the end of October it had £23m of cash and its portfolio had net assets of £312m representing 83p a share. Shares in the company were up 3.4% at 152p at 08:47 on Friday. TB Ip Group