UPDATE: Imperial Innovations Gets 1st Half Boost From Thiakis Sale
April 27 2009 - 8:14AM
Dow Jones News
Technology transfer company Imperial Innovations Group PLC
(IVO.LN) Monday swung to a first-half pretax profit following the
sale of one of its portfolio companies to Wyeth (WYE).
Imperial Innovations reported a pretax profit of GBP1.3 million
for the six months to Jan. 31, compared with a loss of GBP3.1
million a year earlier. Revenue dipped to GBP2.4 million from
GBP2.8 million, but Imperial booked a GBP2 million advance in the
value of its investments, helped by the Thiakis sale, compared with
a fall in the first half of fiscal 2007.
Wyeth bought Thiakis Ltd., a U.K. firm developing an
experimental treatment for obesity, for up to GBP99.4 million in
December 2008, assuming developmental milestones are met.
Imperial, which owned a 24% stake in Thiakis, received GBP2.9
million from the deal and stands to gain royalties from future
sales of its drug if it proves successful in trials.
Small technology start-ups have found it tougher to raise money
because venture capital - the source of most early stage seed
funding - has had its own funding squeeze as investors look for
less risky places to put their cash. Many venture capital funds
have switched their focus to older companies that require cash to
fund the later stages of bringing their technologies to market.
Susan Searle, Imperial Innovations' chief executive officer,
told Dow Jones Newswires the company is benefiting from this
funding gap, as nascent companies have fewer places to get start-up
money from.
"It is a good time for us to invest at attractive prices," she
said. The company had GBP42 million at the period-end to make new
investments.
Imperial, which mostly commercializes technology developed at
London's Imperial College, was part of a group of investors who
invested GBP10 million in Nexeon Ltd., a company developing a new
type of battery, in February. It also provided seed funding for
Navion Pharma Ltd., which is developing cancer drugs; Cortexica
Vision Systems Ltd., a company working on technology to improve
brand awareness, and Smart Surgical Appliances Ltd., a medical
device firm.
CEO Searle said the U.K. government's GBP750 million Strategic
Investment Fund, which has been established to help fund technology
companies, could be a useful extra source of money for Imperial's
portfolio companies.
At 1134 GMT, shares in Imperial were flat at 335 pence,
underperforming a slightly higher Alternative Investment Market, up
0.6%.
Company Web site: www.imperialinnovations.co.uk
-By Jason Douglas, Dow Jones Newswires; 44-20-7842-9272;
jason.douglas@dowjones.com
Order free Annual Report for Imperial Innovations Group plc
Visit http://djnweurope.ar.wilink.com/?ticker=GB00B170L953 or
call +44 (0)208 391 6028