Interim Results
IP Group PLC
03 September 2007
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 03 SEPTEMBER 2007
('IP Group' or 'the Group' or 'the Company')
Interim results for the six months ended 30 June 2007
IP Group plc (LSE: IPO), the UK's leading intellectual property
commercialisation company, today announces its interim results for the six
months ended 30 June 2007.
Financial highlights
• Profit after taxation: £18.8m (H106: £30.3m; FY06: £40.1m)
• Fair value of equity investments: £107.3m (H106: £72.7m; FY06: £87.4m)
• Cash proceeds from sales of equity investments: £2.8m (H106: £3.0m;
FY06: £3.1m)
• Cash invested in spin-out companies: £3.0m (H106: £1.9m; FY06: £8.5m)
• Cash balance at 30 June 2007: £47.8m (H106: £57.0m; FY06: £51.3m)
• Total Equity: £200.2m (H106: £166.7m; FY06: £179.2m)
Portfolio and Operational highlights
• Modern Water plc listed on AIM with a market capitalisation of
approximately £70.0m at admission
• Green Chemicals plc (formerly Perachem Limited) listed on PLUS Markets
• Number of spin-out companies increased to 60 (H106: 44; FY06: 53)
• Five successful follow-on funding rounds for spin-out companies
• Modern Waste Limited launched to establish and exploit a portfolio of
innovative sensing, processing and recycling and control technologies
• Photopharmica Holdings Limited announced successful Phase II data
Post period end highlights
• IP Venture Fund completes second closing with total commitments to the
Fund of £31m
• IQur Limited and Ilika Technologies Limited complete successful
follow-on private funding rounds
• Receipt by the Group of £3.9m of cash proceeds from the sale of shares,
bringing total cash proceeds from sales of equity investments in the year to
date to £6.7m
Commenting on the Group's interim results, Alan Aubrey, Chief Executive of IP
Group, said:
'IP Group has had another productive six month period with two of our portfolio
companies achieving listings and significant progress being achieved not only
across the rest of our portfolio but also within the Group. The quality of our
spin-out companies has remained consistently high with the breadth and depth of
the portfolio having considerably improved. While, given the nature of our
business, it will always be difficult to predict the timing of gains from the
portfolio, I remain confident that our growing number of spin-outs will generate
significant returns for our shareholders. The second half of the year has
started well with two follow-on private funding rounds and the completion of the
second closing in IP Venture Fund bringing total commitments to £31m.'
For more information, please contact:
IP Group plc
020 7444 0050
Alan Aubrey, Chief Executive Officer
William Turner, Group Financial Controller
Liz Vaughan-Adams, Communications 020 7444 0062 / 07979 853 802
Further information on IP Group is available on our website: www.ipgroupplc.com
Buchanan Communications 020 7466 5000
Tim Anderson, Mary-Jane Johnson, Mark Court
PORTFOLIO REVIEW
At 30 June 2007, the Group held equity stakes in 60 companies (H106: 44; FY06:
53). In the six months to 30 June 2007, the Group recorded net gains on its
equity holdings of £20.5m (H106: £30.9m; FY06: £40.1m). An analysis of portfolio
performance is provided below:
+--------------------------------------------+--------+--------+--------+
| |H107 £'m|H106 £'m|FY06 £'m|
| | | | |
+--------------------------------------------+--------+--------+--------+
|Gains on the revaluation of investments | 18.9| 33.1| 47.8|
+--------------------------------------------+--------+--------+--------+
|Losses on the revaluation of investments | (6.6)| (4.2)| (9.6)|
+--------------------------------------------+--------+--------+--------+
|Gain on partial disposal of subsidiary | 8.1| -| -|
+--------------------------------------------+--------+--------+--------+
|Gain on disposal of equity investments | 0.1| 2.0| 1.9|
+--------------------------------------------+--------+--------+--------+
|Total | 20.5| 30.9| 40.1|
+--------------------------------------------+--------+--------+--------+
Quoted portfolio
During the period, two portfolio companies achieved an IPO. Modern Water plc
('Modern Water'), a company established to source, develop and deploy
technology-based solutions to meet the growing demand for the economic
availability of fresh water and treatment of waste water, listed on AIM in June
raising £30m (before expenses) of new capital and valuing the business at
approximately £70m. At the period end, Modern Water had generated total gains
for the Group of £16.1m. In addition, Green Chemicals plc ('Green Chemicals'), a
company set up to develop specialty chemicals with enhanced safety and
environmental profiles to existing products, listed on PLUS Markets in January
through a reversal. At 30 June 2007 Green Chemicals had a market capitalisation
of approximately £27m having achieved a six-fold increase in shareholder value
since listing, generating a gain of £6.1m for the Group during the period.
Aside from IPOs, the quoted portfolio has generated net fair value losses of £5.2m
over the period which the Board believes is, in general, more a reflection of the
stage of development and lack of news-flow from these companies than a result of
underlying commercial and technical progress. The Board remains confident that
there is sufficient breadth and quality within the quoted portfolio such that it
will generate shareholder returns over the medium term.
Private portfolio
Within the private portfolio there were five follow-on private funding rounds
during the period.
Total gains on the private portfolio amounted to £3.7m (H106: £17.2m; FY06:
£19.6m) whilst total losses during the period were £0.3m (H106: £3.0m; FY06:
£4.2m).
Subsequent to the period end, two further private funding rounds have completed:
Ilika Technologies Ltd and IQur Ltd generated fair value gains of £1.3m and
£1.1m respectively for the Group.
Analysis of portfolio
An analysis of IP Group's portfolio is as follows:
Fair value of IP Group holding at:
Company Description % 30 June 2007 30 June 2006 31 December 2006
stake
at
30
June
2007
% £'m £'m £'m
Quoted portfolio
Modern Water plc Water technologies 23% 17.3 - -
to address
problems of the
availability of
freshwater and the
treatment and
disposal of
wastewater
Oxford Catalysts Group plc Specialty 24% 10.7 13.9 12.9
catalysts for the
generation of
clean fuels, from
both conventional
fossil fuels and
renewable sources
such as biomass
Avacta Group plc Advanced molecular 23% 9.6 0.4 10.4
detection and
analysis
technologies for
the
biopharmaceutical,
homeland security,
defence and
medical
diagnostics
industries
Green Chemicals plc Environmentally 24% 6.5 0.4 0.4
friendly textiles
and bleaching
chemicals
Summit Corporation plc Using whole 8% 4.8 6.7 5.4
organism
phenotypic screens
for drug discovery
and development
Proximagen Neuroscience plc Developing drugs 24% 4.0 5.6 4.2
for the treatment
of
neurodegenerative
diseases
Synairgen plc Developing drugs 30% 3.8 7.1 5.0
for respiratory
diseases with a
focus on asthma
and chronic
obstructive
pulmonary disease
Other 8.5 7.0 10.7
65.2 41.1 49.0
Unquoted portfolio
Oxford NanoLabs Limited Diagnostic company 42% 11.6 11.6 11.6
developing highly
innovative
products for
applications in
genomics,
pharmacogenomics
and high
throughput drug
discovery
Ilika Technologies Limited Development and 23% 5.7 5.7 5.7
application of
high throughput,
combinatorial R&D
techniques for the
discovery of new
materials
IQur Limited Diagnosis and 18% 3.0 1.3 1.2
treatment of liver
disorders
Other 21.8 13.0 19.9
42.1 31.6 38.4
Grand Total 107.3 72.7 87.4
Proceeds on disposal of equity stakes
In the six months to 30 June 2007, the Group generated cash proceeds of £2.8m on
disposals of equity stakes in portfolio companies (H106: £3.0m; FY06: £3.1m)
following the sale of 1,645,000 ordinary shares in Offshore Hydrocarbon Mapping
plc ('OHM'). Subsequent to the period end, the Group has generated a further
£1.3m of proceeds following the sale of 500,000 ordinary shares in OHM. The
Group is now beneficially interest in 851,765 ordinary shares in OHM,
representing 2.3% of the company.
Subsequent to the period end the Group has also sold 2,136,664 ordinary shares
in Oxford Catalysts Group plc ('OCG') generating proceeds of £2.6m. The Group is
now beneficially interested in 6,782,568 ordinary shares in OCG representing
16.7% of the company.
OPERATIONAL REVIEW
University partnership business
The Group did not seek to establish further university partnership during the
period, with focus being placed on developing the five new partnerships
established in 2006. An individual partnership director has now been appointed
to each university.
'Modern' businesses
The Group has established a strategy of creating businesses, run by highly
experienced specialist management teams, to address particular issues affecting
the global economy through the creation and management of a portfolio of
intellectual-property based investments leveraging the Group's experience and
expertise in the identification and assessment of such opportunities.
In May 2007, the Group announced the launch of a new subsidiary, Modern Waste
Ltd ('Modern Waste') to establish and exploit a portfolio of innovative sensing,
monitoring and control technologies and apply them to the waste and recycling
markets. IP Group has committed £2m in cash to Modern Waste. Modern Waste is
headed by Executive Chairman John Shepherd who has successfully bought and sold
businesses in the technology sector.
The Group's drug development subsidiary, Modern Biosciences plc ('Modern
Biosciences'), has made progress with its two drug development programmes at
pre-clinical phase and the appointment of both a Chief Executive and a Chairman.
In June 2007, Dr Clive Dix, the former CEO of PowderMed Ltd, who negotiated the
business' acquisition by Pfizer Inc, was appointed Non-Executive Chairman while
Dr Sam Williams, an award-winning biotechnology analyst from Lehman Brothers,
was appointed CEO of Modern Biosciences in April 2007.
Fund management
Total income from fund management activity during the period amounted to £0.4m
(H106: £0.5m; FY06: £1.5m).
IP Venture Fund invested £2.6m (H106: £nil; FY06: £0.7m) in six (H106: nil;
FY06: two) IP Group portfolio companies during the period. Subsequent to the
period end, IP Venture Fund completed its second closing with total commitments
of £31 million.
IP Group's fund management subsidiary, Top Technology Ventures Limited, manages
two further funds, HATT III LP and Top Technology Ventures IV LP contributing
£0.2m of fund management income during the period (H106: £0.5m; FY06: £1.3m)
FINANCIAL REVIEW
Income statement
A summary analysis of the Group's performance is provided below:
+----------------------------------------------+--------+--------+--------+
| |H107 £'m|H106 £'m|FY06 £'m|
| | | | |
+----------------------------------------------+--------+--------+--------+
|Portfolio gains | 20.5| 30.9| 40.1|
+----------------------------------------------+--------+--------+--------+
|Other income | 0.6| 0.8| 1.9|
+----------------------------------------------+--------+--------+--------+
|Administrative expenses | (3.6)| (2.3)| (4.2)|
+----------------------------------------------+--------+--------+--------+
|Finance income | 1.3| 0.9| 2.3|
+----------------------------------------------+--------+--------+--------+
|Profit for the period | 18.8| 30.3| 40.1|
+----------------------------------------------+--------+--------+--------+
Portfolio gains were mainly attributed to gains on Modern Water (£16.1m) and
Green Chemicals (£6.1m). Other income is derived principally from fund
management activity and consultancy services. The Group's administrative
expenses were £3.6m for the period (H106: £2.3m; FY06 £4.2m) due to additional
salary cost and associated overhead consistent with the establishment of
economic issues driven businesses and the additional cost of drug development
proof of concept work within Modern Biosciences and Photopharmica.
Cash
The principal constituents of the movement in cash in the period can be
summarised as follows:
+----------------------------------------------+--------+--------+--------+
| |H107 £'m|H106 £'m|FY06 £'m|
| | | | |
+----------------------------------------------+--------+--------+--------+
|Net cash used in operating activities | (0.7)| -| (1.4)|
+----------------------------------------------+--------+--------+--------+
|Net cash used in investing activities | (3.0)| 0.5| (6.2)|
+----------------------------------------------+--------+--------+--------+
|Issued share capital | 0.2| 16.6| 19.0|
+----------------------------------------------+--------+--------+--------+
|Movement during period | (3.5)| 17.1| 11.4|
+----------------------------------------------+--------+--------+--------+
The Group invested £3.0m in spin-out companies and follow-on funding rounds
during the period and generated £2.8m of proceeds from sales of equity stakes.
However, there was a net cash outflow on investing activities of £3.0m (H106:
£0.5m inflow; FY06: £6.2m outflow) as a result of the deemed disposal of Modern
Water and the acquisition of Photopharmica.
The Group received cash of £0.2m following the exercise of employee unapproved
share options.
Taxation
The Group's directors continue to believe that the Group qualifies for the
Substantial Shareholdings Exemption ('SSE') on chargeable gains arising on the
disposal of qualifying holdings. During the period the Group received
confirmation from Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs that the Group's disposal of
ordinary shares in OHM qualifies for SSE, and, as such, the Group has not
recognised a provision for deferred taxation in respect of uplifts in value on
equity stakes.
OUTLOOK
The Board anticipates that the overall level of investment in new spin-out
companies will increase as the university partnerships added over the previous
18 months develop. As the Group enters the second half of 2007, the pipeline of
transaction activity and new spin-out creation remains healthy and the directors
are confident that 2007 will be a significant year in the Group's development.
CONSOLIDATED INTERIM INCOME STATEMENT
For the six months to 30 June 2007
Unaudited Unaudited Audited
6 months to 6 months to Year to
30 June 30 June 31 December
2007 2006 2006
£'m £'m £'m
Note
Revenue
Change in fair value of equity investments 12.3 28.9 38.2
Gain on partial deemed disposal of subsidiary 8.1 - -
Gains on disposal of equity investments 0.1 2.0 1.9
20.5 30.9 40.1
Change in fair value of limited partnership investments 0.1 - -
Dividends - - 0.1
Revenue from services 0.5 0.8 1.8
21.1 31.7 42.0
Administrative expenses
Employee bonus costs (0.5) (0.4) (0.3)
Research and development expenses (0.2) - -
Share based payment charge (0.2) - -
Other administrative expenses (2.7) (1.9) (3.9)
(3.6) (2.3) (4.2)
Operating profit 17.5 29.4 37.8
Finance income - interest receivable 1.3 0.9 2.3
Profit before taxation 18.8 30.3 40.1
Taxation - - -
Profit for the period 18.8 30.3 40.1
Profit attributable to:
Equity holders of the parent 18.8 30.3 40.1
Minority interest - - -
18.8 30.3 40.1
Basic earnings per ordinary share (p) 2 7.56 13.06 16.84
Diluted earnings per ordinary share (p) 2 7.56 12.83 16.81
CONSOLIDATED INTERIM BALANCE SHEET
As at 30 June 2007
Unaudited Unaudited Audited
30 June 30 June 31 December
2007 2006 2006
£'m £'m £'m
Note
ASSETS
Non-current assets
Property, plant and equipment 0.3 0.1 0.1
Intangible assets:
Goodwill 22.7 18.4 18.7
Acquired intangible asset 0.4 0.5 0.5
Equity rights and related 20.2 20.2 20.3
acquisition costs
Equity investments 3 107.3 72.7 87.4
Financial asset 1.1 1.2 1.1
Investment in Limited 0.6 0.1 0.3
Partnerships
Total non-current assets 152.6 113.2 128.4
Current assets
Trade and other receivables 1.7 1.7 2.2
Cash and cash equivalents 47.8 57.0 51.3
Total current assets 49.5 58.7 53.5
Total assets 202.1 171.9 181.9
EQUITY AND LIABILITIES
Equity attributable to equity
holders
Called up share capital 4.9 4.8 4.9
Share premium account 96.6 89.7 92.0
Merger reserve 12.8 12.8 12.8
Retained earnings 87.2 59.4 69.2
Total shareholders' equity 201.5 166.7 178.9
Minority interest in equity (1.3) - 0.3
Total equity 200.2 166.7 179.2
Non-current liabilities
Trade and other payables - 2.9 -
Provisions - 0.3 0.1
Total equity and non-current 200.2 169.9 179.3
liabilities
Current liabilities
Trade and other payables 1.9 2.0 2.6
Total equity and liabilities 202.1 171.9 181.9
CONSOLIDATED INTERIM CASH FLOW STATEMENT
As at 30 June 2007
Unaudited Unaudited Audited
6 months to 6 months to Year to
30 June 30 June 31 December
2007 2006 2006
£m £m £m
Operating activities
Profit before taxation 18.8 30.3 40.1
Finance income - interest receivable (1.3) (0.9) (2.3)
Fair value movement in equity investments (12.3) (28.9) (38.2)
Fair value movement on limited partnership investments (0.1) - -
Amortisation and impairment of intangible non-current assets - 0.1 0.2
(Increase) decrease in debtors and accrued income 0.1 0.3 (0.7)
Increase (decrease) in creditors (0.3) (0.3) (2.6)
Gain on disposal of fixed asset investments (0.1) (2.0) (1.9)
Gain on partial disposal of subsidiary (8.1) - -
Share based payment charge 0.2 - -
Equity allocated to staff 0.5 0.4 2.1
Dividends classified as investing activities cash flows - - (0.1)
Interest received 1.9 1.0 2.0
Net cash inflow from operating activities (0.7) - (1.4)
Investing activities
Purchase of property, plant and equipment (0.3) - -
Purchase of equity investments (3.0) (1.9) (8.5)
Acquisition of subsidiaries net of cash acquired (0.8) (0.7) (0.8)
Payment for participation in limited partnerships (0.2) - (0.2)
Deemed disposal of subsidiary net of cash disposed (1.5) - -
Proceeds from sale of equity investments 2.8 3.0 3.1
Financial asset - 0.1 0.1
Net cash inflow from investing activities (3.0) 0.5 (6.2)
Financing activities
Proceeds from issue of share capital 0.2 16.6 19.0
Net (decrease) / increase in cash and cash equivalents (3.5) 17.1 11.4
Cash and cash equivalents at the beginning of the period 51.3 39.9 39.9
Cash and cash equivalents at the end of the period 47.8 57.0 51.3
CONSOLIDATED INTERIM STATEMENT OF CHANGES IN SHAREHOLDERS' EQUITY
For the six months to 30 June 2007
Attributable to equity holders of the Company
Share Share Merger Retained Minority Total
Capital Premium Reserve earnings Total Interest Equity
£m £m £m £m £m £m £m
At 1 January 2006 4.6 73.3 12.8 29.1 119.8 - 119.8
Consolidated profit for the period to 30 June 2006 - - - 30.3 30.3 - 30.3
Issue of share capital in period to 30 June 2006 0.2 16.4 - - 16.6 - 16.6
At 30 June 2006 4.8 89.7 12.8 59.4 166.7 - 166.7
Consolidated profit for the period to 31 December 2006 - - - 9.8 9.8 - 9.8
Issue of share capital in period to 31 December 2006 0.1 2.3 - - 2.4 - 2.4
Non-controlling interest - - - - - 0.3 0.3
At 31 December 2006 4.9 92.0 12.8 69.2 178.9 0.3 179.2
Consolidated profit for the period to 30 June 2007 - - - 18.8 18.8 - 18.8
Partial disposal of subsidiary investments to minority
interests - - - (0.8) (0.8) 0.8 -
Issue of share capital in period to 30 June 2007 - 4.6 - - 4.6 - 4.6
Non-controlling interest - - - - - (2.4) (2.4)
At 30 June 2007 4.9 96.6 12.8 87.2 201.5 (1.3) 200.2
NOTES TO THE INTERIM RESULTS
1. BASIS OF PREPARATION
The interim consolidated financial statements of IP Group plc are as at and for
the six months ended 30 June 2007 and comprise the results, assets and
liabilities of the Company and its subsidiaries ('the Group').
These interim financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the
Listing Rules of the Financial Services Authority. They have not been prepared
in accordance with IAS34 - 'Interim Financial Reporting'. They do not include
all of the information required for full annual financial statements and should
be read in conjunction with the audited financial statements of the Group as at
and for the year ended 31 December 2006. These interim financial statements were
approved by the Board and authorised for issue on 3 September 2007.
The accounting policies applied by the Group in these interim consolidated
financial statements are the same as those applied by the Group in its audited
consolidated financial statements as at and for the year ended 31 December 2006
and which will form the basis of the 2007 annual report. The basis of
consolidation is set out in the Group's accounting policies in those financial
statements.
The preparation of interim financial statements requires management to make
judgements, estimates and assumptions that affect the application of accounting
policies and the reported amounts of assets and liabilities, income and
expenses. In preparing these interim consolidated financial statements, the
significant judgements made by management in applying the Group's accounting
policies and the key sources of estimation uncertainty were the same as those
applied to the audited consolidated financial statements as at and for the year
ended 31 December 2006.
The comparative figures for the full year ended 31 December 2006 are not the
Company's full statutory accounts for that year. A copy of the Group's statutory
accounts for that year has been delivered to the Registrar of Companies. The
auditors' report on those accounts was unqualified, did not include references
to any matters to which the auditors drew attention by way of emphasis without
qualifying their report and did not contain a statement under section 237(2) or
237(3) of the Companies Act 1985.
2. EARNINGS PER SHARE
The basic earnings per share has been calculated by dividing the profit for the
period of £18.8m (for the period ended 30 June 2006: profit £30.3m; for the year
ended 31 December 2006: profit £40.1m) by the weighted average number of shares
of 248,952,170 in issue during the six month period to 30 June 2007 (for the six
month period ended 30 June 2006: 231,957,355; for the year ended 31 December
2006: 238,155,846).
There were no potentially dilutive share options over ordinary shares in the
Group outstanding at the period end and therefore the dilutive earnings per
share is equal to the basic earnings per share.
3. EQUITY INVESTMENTS - DESIGNATED AS 'AT FAIR VALUE THROUGH PROFIT OR
LOSS'
Quoted Unquoted
spin-out spin-out Other
companies companies investments Total
£m £m £m £m
At 1 January 2006 24.6 18.3 1.4 44.3
Investments during the period to 30 June 2006 - 1.9 - 1.9
Reclassifications during the period to 30 June 2006 1.1 (1.1) - -
Change in fair value in period to 30 June 2006 14.5 14.2 0.2 28.9
Shares transferred to staff in period to 30 June 2006 - (1.4) - (1.4)
Disposals during the period to 30 June 2006 (0.5) (0.5) - (1.0)
At 30 June 2006 39.7 31.4 1.6 72.7
Investments during the period to 31 December 2006 0.7 5.9 - 6.6
Reclassifications during the period to 31 December 2006 0.4 (0.4) - -
Change in fair value in period to 31 December 2006 8.0 1.2 0.1 9.3
Shares transferred to staff in period to 31 December 2006 - (0.7) - (0.7)
Disposals during the period to 31 December 2006 (0.1) - - (0.1)
Adjustment arising on consolidation of Poseidon Water Limited - (0.4) - (0.4)
At 31 December 2006 48.7 37.0 1.7 87.4
Investments during the period to 30 June 2007 0.4 2.6 - 3.0
Reclassifications during the period to 30 June 2007 0.4 (0.4) - -
Reclassifications of equity investments as subsidiaries - (0.2) - (0.2)
during the period to 30 June 2007
Reclassifications of subsidiaries as equity investments 9.3 - - 9.3
during the period to 30 June 2007
Change in fair value in period to 30 June 2007 8.3 3.4 0.6 12.3
Shares transferred to staff in period to 30 June 2007 (0.3) (1.3) (0.2) (1.8)
Disposals during the period to 30 June 2007 (2.7) - - (2.7)
At 30 June 2007 64.1 41.1 2.1 107.3
4. POST BALANCE SHEET EVENTS
IP Venture Fund completed a second closing with total commitments to the Fund of
£31m.
Two further successful follow-on funding rounds were completed for Ilika
Technologies Ltd and IQur Ltd generating fair value gains of £1.3m and £1.1m
respectively for the Group.
The Group received £2.6m of cash proceeds from the sale of ordinary shares in
Oxford Catalysts Group plc and £1.3m of cash proceeds from the sale of ordinary
shares in Offshore Hydrocarbon Mapping plc.
Independent review report to IP Group plc
Introduction
We have been instructed by the company to review the financial information for
the six months ended 30 June 2007 which comprises the Consolidated Interim
Income Statement, Consolidated Interim Balance Sheet, Consolidated Interim Cash
Flow Statement, Consolidated Interim Statement of Changes in Equity and the
related notes. We have read the other information contained in the interim
report and considered whether it contains any apparent misstatements or material
inconsistencies with the financial information.
Our report has been prepared in accordance with the terms of our engagement to
assist the company in meeting the requirements of the Listing Rules of the
Financial Services Authority and for no other purpose. No person is entitled to
rely on this report unless such a person is a person entitled to rely upon this
report by virtue of and for the purpose of our terms of engagement or has been
expressly authorised to do so by our prior written consent. Save as above, we do
not accept responsibility for this report to any other person or for any other
purpose and we hereby expressly disclaim any and all such liability.
Directors' responsibilities
The interim report, including the financial information contained therein, is
the responsibility of, and has been approved by, the directors. The directors
are responsible for preparing the interim report in accordance with Listing
Rules of the Financial Services Authority which require that the accounting
policies and presentation applied to the interim figures should be consistent
with those applied in preparing the preceding annual accounts except where any
changes, and the reasons for them, are disclosed.
The interim report has been prepared in accordance with the basis set out in
Note 1.
Review work performed
We conducted our review in accordance with guidance contained in Bulletin 1999/4
issued by the Auditing Practices Board for use in the United Kingdom. A review
consists principally of making enquiries of group management and applying
analytical procedures to the financial information and underlying financial data
and based thereon, assessing whether the accounting policies and presentation
have been consistently applied unless otherwise disclosed. A review excludes
audit procedures such as tests of controls and verification of assets,
liabilities and transactions. It is substantially less in scope than an audit
performed in accordance with United Kingdom Auditing Standards and therefore
provides a lower level of assurance than an audit. Accordingly we do not express
an audit opinion on the financial information.
Review conclusion
On the basis of our review we are not aware of any material modifications that
should be made to the financial information as presented for the six months
ended 30 June 2007.
BDO Stoy Hayward LLP
Chartered Accountants
London
3 September 2007
Notes:
a) The maintenance and integrity of the IP Group plc website is the
responsibility of the Directors; the work carried out by the auditors does not
involve consideration of these matters and, accordingly, the auditors accept no
responsibility for any changes that may have occurred to the interim report
since it was initially presented on the website.
b) Legislation in the United Kingdom governing the preparation and
dissemination of financial information may differ from legislation in other
jurisdictions.
NOTES FOR EDITORS
IP Group plc is an intellectual property (IP) commercialisation company that
specialises in commercialising university technology. Founded in 2001, IP Group
listed on AIM in October 2003 and moved to the Official List in June 2006. It
has made two acquisitions to date - Techtran, a company set up to commercialise
university intellectual property under a long term contract with the University
of Leeds, in 2005 and Top Technology Ventures, an investment adviser to early
stage technology venture capital funds, in 2004.
IP Group has formed long-term partnerships with ten universities - the
University of Oxford, King's College London, CNAP/University of York, the
University of Leeds, the University of Bristol, the University of Surrey, the
University of Southampton, Queen Mary (University of London), the University of
Bath and the University of Glasgow.
As at 30 June 2007, 60 spin-out companies had been created among IP Group's
university partners. Of those, eight have listed on the AIM market of the London
Stock Exchange, one on PLUS Markets and there have been two trade sales. IP
Group also has three 'Modern-themed' subsidiaries - Modern Biosciences, Modern
Water and Modern Waste. Modern Water was the first of these subsidiaries to
float on AIM in June 2007.
ENDS
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
Friday, 31st May 2024
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