Frontier IP's half-year profit rose 86% in dollars to the end of 2019 but its stocks are now under pressure in the current economic climate.
UK-based commercialisation firm Frontier IP generated a £2.1m ($2.8m) net profit for the half-year ending December 2019, up 86% in dollar terms on the same six months of 2018.
The fair value of Frontier IP’s portfolio was up 25% from June 2019, reaching $22.7m at the end of the period.
Frontier IP said the performance largely reflected latent income from positive revaluations of its shareholdings, which increased by an annual 54% to $4m in dollar terms.
The strength of its portfolio helped push basic earnings per share up 46% year-on-year to about $0.06, while net assets per share amounted to $0.62.
However turbulence was anticipated from Covid-19 and Frontier IP said it was consulting with investees in an attempt to mitigate potential impacts.
The firm has lost 40% of its share value on the London Stock Exchange over the past month, closing yesterday at $0.608.
Frontier IP had closed off 2019 on a high by completing an oversubscribed $4.5m equity placement with undisclosed institutional investors.
Other highlights included the debut of forensic document analysis software developer Elute Intelligence, formed from the acquisition of existing business CFL Software in October 2019.
Meanwhile, University of Dundee-founded Exscientia signed an industry pact with drug developer Rallybio aimed at tackling rare diseases.
