26 November 2024
Augmentum
Fintech plc
Interim
Results for the six months ended 30
September 2024
Augmentum
Fintech plc (LSE: AUGM) (the "Company" or "Augmentum"),
Europe's leading publicly listed
fintech fund, announces its unaudited Half Year Results for the six
months ended 30 September
2024.
Financial
highlights
• NAV
per share after performance fee1
of 164.3p
(31 March 2024: 167.4p).
• IRR
of 14%2
on invested
capital since inception (31 March
2024: 16%).
• Available
cash of £34.8 million3
with no
debt (31 March 2024: £38.5
million).
• The
asset value of the top four positions (Tide, Zopa Bank, Volt, and
Grover) plus cash exceeds the market capitalisation, taking no
account of the remaining 22 portfolio companies (with a current
valuation of £119 million).
Portfolio
and investment highlights
• As
at 30 September 2024, the portfolio
comprised 26 companies.
• Seven
exits since inception, realising an IRR of 38.4%4.
• The
top 10 holdings represent 77.5%5
of NAV,
have aggregate revenue of £1.25 billion and year-on-year revenue
growth of 52%.
• Of
the top 10 holdings, four have reached profitability and the
remaining six have an average of 16 months of cash
runway.
• The
acquisition of portfolio company Onfido by Entrust was completed in
April and the Company received proceeds of £9.9 million from the
sale, delivering an IRR of 5.8% and a multiple on capital invested
of 1.3x.
Investment
activity
• In
June the Company made a £2.6 million investment in LoopFX, a new
independent venue for large spot FX trades with a unique matching
solution for market participants that enables traders to match, in
real-time, with other asset managers and banks without information
leakage and at a mid-market rate, reducing trading costs and
improving best execution processes.
• The
Company made follow-on investments into Tide (£2.0 million),
Grover (£1.5
million), Anyfin (£0.8 million), Artificial
(£0.8 million),
Baobab (£0.6 million) and WeMatch (£0.4 million).
• The
Company also invested £2.5 million to support the spin-out from
Monese of XYB, the banking-as-a-service (“BaaS”) platform; the
Company subsequently increasing its stake in XYB with a
£1.0 million
secondary transaction.
Post
period end
• In
October, nCino, the NASDAQ listed US digital banking platform,
agreed to acquire portfolio company FullCircl. The transaction
valued the Company’s investment in FullCircle at £6.2 million,
representing an 80% increase on the valuation as at 31 March 2024.
• The
proposed acquisition of portfolio company Farewill by Dignity (in
which Castelnau Group plc has a controlling stake) was also
announced in October, through which Augmentum will receive shares
in Castelnau Group plc as consideration for the transaction. The
Board has made a non-material change to the investment policy to
allow for the Company to receive these shares, as set out in the
interim report.
• The
Company welcomed William Reeve as an
Independent Non-Executive Director of the Company and Chairman of
the Board, with effect from 1 November
2024. Reeve will also serve on the Company's Nominations,
Audit, Valuations and Management Engagement & Remuneration
Committees, and will chair the Nominations Committee.
• The
Company announced that it had led a US$7.0
million funding round with a US$4.0
million investment into UAE-based Pemo in November. The
company provides an expense management and business payments
solution, via corporate cards, to SME businesses in the UAE, where
SMEs spend $122 billion annually and
where currently only 1.7% of payments are on corporate
cards.
Notes
1. The
Board considers NAV per share after performance fee to be the most
appropriate measure of NAV per share attributable to
shareholders.
2. Annualised
IRR on invested capital and realisations since inception using
valuations at the last reporting date before performance
fee.
3. As
at 22 November 2024.
4. Excludes
Farewill as on completion of the transaction, expected in early
2025, Augmentum will have a continuing investment in Castlenau
Group plc.
5. 77.5%
of net assets after performance fee.
William Reeve, Chairman of Augmentum Fintech plc commented:
“European
fintech is an extremely exciting growth sector, with some
businesses now reaching impressive scale. Indeed, the combined
revenues of the top 10 largest businesses in our portfolio have now
passed the £1 billion mark, which is an exciting milestone to be
announcing in my first set of results.
“Augmentum
has proved its model through its successful realisations to date,
which have generated an IRR before costs of 38% and 2.6x capital
invested. We believe our portfolio, our people and the
opportunities in front of us position us well for future
growth.”
Tim Levene, CEO of Augmentum Fintech Management Limited
commented: “This is
another period where underlying growth across our portfolio remains
strong. Across our top 10 positions, representing nearly 80% of
NAV, revenues have grown 52% over the last 12 months. Since listing
we have delivered almost £100 million in realisations at an average
premium of 33%, and expect significant capital growth over the long
term. The
asset value of our top four positions plus cash exceeds our market
capitalisation, and with a further 22 assets in the portfolio, we
are confident that patient investors will be rewarded over
time.”
Enquiries
Augmentum
Fintech
Tim Levene
(Portfolio Manager)
Georgie
Hazell Kivell (Investor Relations)
|
+44 (0)20
3961 5420
georgie@augmentum.vc
|
Quill
PR
Nick
Croysdill, Sarah Gibbons-Cook
(Press and
Media)
|
+44 (0)7815
823412
+44 (0)7702
412680
press@augmentum.vc
|
Peel
Hunt LLP
Liz Yong,
Huw Jeremy
(Investment
Banking)
|
+44 (0)20
7418 8900
|
Singer
Capital Markets
James Moat,
James Fischer
(Investment
Banking)
|
+44 (0)20
7496 3000
|
Frostrow
Capital LLP
Paul Griggs
(Company Secretary)
|
+44 (0)20
3709 8733
|
About
Augmentum Fintech
Augmentum
invests in fast growing fintech businesses that are disrupting the
financial services sector. Augmentum is the UK's only publicly
listed investment company focusing on the fintech sector in the UK
and wider Europe, having launched
on the main market of the London Stock Exchange in 2018, giving
businesses access to patient capital and support, unrestricted by
conventional fund timelines and giving public markets investors
access to a largely privately held investment sector during its
main period of growth.
.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Augmentum
Fintech plc
Half
Year Report for the six months ended
30 September 2024
.
Chairman’s
Statement
Introduction
This report
covers your Company’s progress in the six months to 30 September 2024 and its financial position at
that date.
Investment
Strategy
Your
Company occupies a unique position amongst publicly listed funds,
investing solely in early stage European fintech businesses - a
growth sector that the UK/Europe
have particular strengths in. Our portfolio businesses are
disruptive to and/or help to digitalise the traditional financial
services sector. A typical investment will offer the prospect of
high growth and the potential to scale.
Our
objective is to provide long-term capital growth to shareholders by
offering them exposure to a diversified portfolio of private
fintech companies during their period of rapid growth and value
creation. Our Manager aims, before costs, to generate a long term
Internal Rate of Return (“IRR”) of 20% on invested capital and for
cash invested to return on average 3x at exit. In practice,
successful venture capital portfolios can expect to see a wide
range of exit multiples, and rely for their strong returns on the
outsized winners – which are usually rare.
Performance
in the period
The top 10
holdings, which represent 77.5% of net assets after performance
fee, have total annual revenue of £1.25 billion, and grew total
revenue by 52% year-on-year. Four of these positions are cash
generative and the other six have an average of 16 months of cash
runway.
At
30 September 2024, our NAV per share*
stood at 164.3p, a drop of 1.9% from the 31
March 2024 figure, 167.4p.
The half
year saw a wide range of valuation movements. The majority of the
portfolio’s positions made gains, the strongest being
Tide,
continuing its strong growth, XYB
(which was
spun out from Monese
in
May 2024), BullionVault,
FullCircl,
Iwoca,
Tesseract
and
Anyfin.
However, we wrote down several holdings, the effect of which,
together with adverse foreign exchange movements, offset the gains
elsewhere. The most significant write downs were
Grover and
Farewill.
Your Board
considers its governance role in the valuations process to be of
utmost importance. Together with our advisers we consider and
challenge all of the investment valuations used for the full and
half year financial statements. We have carefully reviewed both the
status and the forecasts for all of the portfolio companies. The
valuations have been arrived at using appropriate and consistent
methodologies, and we sense check and debate our conclusions on the
assets themselves and their market context. Also, we benefit from
some of our investments occupying a senior position in the capital
structures of these companies, providing some protection against
downside risk.
Our share
price rose 1.5% to 102.0p at 30 September
2024. However, this still significantly under-represents the
NAV per share, with the discount to the NAV per share after
performance fee at 37.9%. As at 30 September
2024, the valuation of our top four positions in
Tide,
Zopa
Bank,
Volt,
and Grover,
plus cash, was above our market capitalisation, attributing no
value to our £119 million
of other investments.
* NAV per
share after performance fee
Portfolio
and Transactions
We have
built a balanced portfolio diversified across different fintech
sectors, European markets and maturity stages. As at 30 September 2024, the portfolio stood at 26
companies.
We are
committed to a responsible investment approach, believing that the
integration of environmental, social and governance factors helps
to mitigate risk.
We are
active investors with a team that works closely with the companies
we invest in, typically taking either a board or an observer seat
and working with management to guide strategy consistent with
long-term value creation.
In the
period, the Company received proceeds of £9.9 million from the sale
of Onfido
to Entrust,
one of the leading global providers of online identity
verification, delivering an IRR of 5.8% and a multiple on capital
invested of 1.3x.
Since 30
September, nCino, the NASDAQ listed US digital banking platform,
agreed to acquire FullCircl.
This transaction implied an enhanced valuation of the Company’s
investment in FullCircl,
of £6.2 million, which represents an 80% increase on the valuation
as at 31 March
2024.
These
realisations continue the Company’s record for investment exits all
being at or above the last reported holding value, which should
provide investors with further comfort that our valuations process
is rigorous and corroborates the discipline our Portfolio Manager
has exercised when evaluating new investments and their reporting
on the portfolio.
Also since
the year end funerals group Dignity (in which
Castelnau Group has a controlling stake) agreed (subject to
regulatory approval) to acquire Farewill
in exchange
for shares in Castelnau Group plc. Accordingly the Company’s
investment in Farewill
will
continue, for a time, via the Castelnau Group shares. Completion of
this transaction is not expected to occur before 1 January 2025. Additionally, Monese
has been
acquired by Pockit, a financial services business for the
“unbanked” (subject to FCA approval), with the Company retaining a
shareholding in the newly merged entity.
There was
one new investment in the period. In June the Company made a £2.6
million investment in LoopFX,
a new independent venue for large spot FX trades with a unique
matching solution for market participants. LoopFX
enables
traders to match, in real-time, with other asset managers and banks
without information leakage and at a mid-market rate, reducing
trading costs and improving best execution
processes.
Since
30 September 2024 the Company has
made another new investment, with a US$4
million investment in UAE-based Pemo,
which provides corporate expense card management.
During the
period under review the Company also made follow-on investments to
support several companies in the portfolio , including
Tide
(£2.0
million), Grover (£1.5
million), Anyfin
(£0.8
million), Artificial
(£0.8 million)
and Baobab
(£0.6
million). The Company also helped to fund (with £2.5 million) the
spin out from Monese
of
XYB,
the banking-as-a-service (“BaaS”) platform, and subsequently
increased its stake in XYB
with a
£1.0 million
secondary transaction.
The
Portfolio Manager’s report, beginning on page 7,
includes a detailed review of the portfolio, individual company
performance and investment transactions in the period.
Investment
Policy
The
Farewill
transaction
mentioned above highlighted that the Company’s investment policy
did not make specific provision for the circumstance of a portfolio
company being acquired in a share for share transaction with a
lock-in on the shares taken as consideration. Accordingly, the
Board has made a non-material update to the investment policy to
cover such events, which do happen from time to time in the world
of private technology investing (see underlining on page
4).
Cash
reserves
The use of
our cash reserves is a matter of regular Board review. We aim to
balance the benefits of highly accretive buybacks when discounts
are high against ensuring that we hold appropriate reserves to fund
follow on investments and capture the best of the new investment
opportunities that we continue to see.
As reported
above, the Company’s shares continued to trade at a discount to NAV
during the period under review and up to the date of this report.
Buybacks are one of several mechanisms your Board actively
considers to help to reduce this discount.
We
continued to buy back shares in the period under review. All shares
purchased by the Company are being held in treasury and will
potentially be reissued when the share price returns to a
premium.
2,076,814
shares were bought back into treasury during the six months to
30 September 2024, at an average
price of 105.8p per share, representing an average discount to the
31 March 2024 NAV after performance
fee of 36.8% and accreting 0.8p per
share. A further 378,543 shares have been bought back since
September, at an average price of 100.5p per
share, representing an average discount to the updated NAV after
performance fee as at 30 September
2024 of 38.8%.
Outlook
Although
early stage growth portfolios have been out of favour since 2022,
the need to digitalise and transform last century’s infrastructure
remains, as nearly all financial services sectors continue to be
dominated by traditional businesses whose operations cannot ignore
the rapid development of less costly, and in many cases more
secure, business models and technology.
Augmentum
has proved its model through the successful realisations to date,
which have generated (before costs) an IRR of 38% and 2.6x capital
invested, and we believe our portfolio, our people and the
opportunities in front of us position us well for future growth in
Net Asset Value.
William Reeve
Chairman
25 November 2024
.
Investment
Objective and Policy
Investment
objective
The
Company’s investment objective is to generate capital growth over
the long term through investment in a focused portfolio of fast
growing and/or high potential private financial services technology
(“fintech”) businesses based predominantly in the UK and wider
Europe.
Investment
policy
In order to
achieve its investment objective, the Company
invests in early or later stage investments in unquoted fintech
businesses. The Company intends to realise value through exiting
these investments over time.
The Company
seeks exposure to early stage businesses which are high growth,
with scalable opportunities, and have disruptive technologies in
the banking, insurance and wealth and asset management sectors as
well as those that provide services to underpin the financial
sector and other cross-industry propositions.
Investments
are expected to be mainly in the form of equity and equity-related
instruments issued by portfolio companies, although investments may
be made by way of convertible debt instruments. The Company intends
to invest in unquoted companies and will ensure that the Company
has suitable investor protection rights where
appropriate.
The Company
may also invest in partnerships, limited liability partnerships and
other legal forms of entity. The Company will not invest in
publicly traded companies. However, portfolio companies may seek
initial public offerings from time to time, in which case the
Company may continue to hold such investments without
restriction. The Company
may also hold securities in publicly traded companies, including
non-fintech companies, that have been received as consideration for
the Company's holding in a portfolio company ("Listed Consideration
Securities").
The Company
may acquire investments directly or by way of holdings in special
purpose vehicles or intermediate holding entities (such as the
Partnership*).
The
Management Team has historically taken a board or board observer
position at investee companies and, where in the best interests of
the Company, will do so in relation to future investee
companies.
The
Company’s portfolio is expected to be diversified across a number
of geographical areas predominantly within the UK and wider
Europe, and the Company will at
all times invest and manage the portfolio in a manner consistent
with spreading investment risk.
The
Management Team will actively manage the portfolio to maximise
returns, including helping to scale the team, refining and driving
key performance indicators, stimulating growth, and positively
influencing future financing and exits.
Investment
restrictions
The Company
will invest and manage its assets with the object of spreading risk
through the following investment restrictions:
• the
value of no single investment (including related investments in
group entities or related parties) will represent more than 15% of
NAV, save that one investment in the portfolio may represent up to
20% of NAV;
• the
aggregate value of seed stage investments will represent no more
than 1% of NAV;
• at
least 80% of NAV will be invested in businesses which are
headquartered in or have their main centre of business in the UK or
wider Europe; and
• the
aggregate value of holdings of Listed Consideration Securities may
not exceed 2.5% of NAV.
In
addition, the Company will itself not invest more than 15% of its
gross assets in other investment companies or investment trusts
which are listed on the Official List of the FCA.
Each of the
restrictions above will be calculated at the time of investment and
disregard the effect of the receipt of rights, bonuses, benefits in
the nature of capital or by reason of any other action affecting
every holder of that investment. The Company will not be required
to dispose of any investment or to rebalance the portfolio as a
result of
a change in the respective valuations of its assets.
For the
purposes of the investment policy, “NAV” means the consolidated
assets of the Company and its consolidated subsidiaries (together
“the Group”) less their consolidated liabilities, determined in
accordance with the accounting principles adopted by the Group from
time to time.
Hedging
and derivatives
Save for
investments made using equity-related instruments as described
above, the Company will not employ derivatives of any kind for
investment purposes, but derivatives may be used for currency
hedging purposes.
Borrowing
policy
The Company
may, from time to time, use borrowings to manage its working
capital requirements but shall not borrow for investment purposes.
Borrowings will not exceed 10% of the Company’s NAV, calculated at
the time of borrowing.
Cash
management
The Company
may hold cash on deposit and may invest in cash equivalent
investments, which may include short-term investments in money
market type funds and tradeable debt securities.
There is no
restriction on the amount of cash or cash equivalent investments
that the Company may hold or where it is held. The Board has agreed
prudent cash management guidelines with the AIFM and the Portfolio
Manager to ensure an appropriate risk/return profile is maintained.
Cash and cash equivalents are held with approved
counterparties.
It is
expected that the Company will hold between 5% and 15% of its Gross
Assets in cash or cash equivalent investments, for the purpose of
making follow-on investments in accordance with the Company’s
investment policy and to manage the working capital requirements of
the Company.
Changes
to the investment policy
No material
change will be made to the investment policy without the approval
of Shareholders by ordinary resolution. Non-material changes to the
investment policy may be approved by the Board. In the event of a
breach of the investment policy set out above or the investment and
gearing restrictions set out therein, the Management Team shall
inform the AIFM and the Board upon becoming aware of the same and
if the AIFM and/or the Board considers the breach to be material,
notification will be made to a Regulatory Information
Service.
* Please
refer to the Glossary on page 34.
.
Portfolio
as
at 30 September 2024
|
Fair
value of
holding
at
31
March
2024
£’000
|
Net
investments/
(realisations)
£’000
|
Impact
of FX rate changes
£’000
|
Investment
return
£’000
|
Fair
value of
holding
at
30
September
2024
£’000
|
%
of
Net
assets
after
performance
fee
|
Tide
|
51,293
|
2,000
|
-
|
6,422
|
59,715
|
21.7%
|
Zopa
Bank^
|
39,291
|
-
|
-
|
55
|
39,346
|
14.3%
|
Volt
|
25,458
|
-
|
-
|
(164)
|
25,294
|
9.2%
|
Grover
|
35,893
|
1,519
|
(1,026)
|
(16,759)
|
19,627
|
7.1%
|
BullionVault^
|
13,119
|
-
|
-
|
1,805
|
14,924
|
5.4%
|
XYB
|
7,135
|
3,500
|
-
|
3,994
|
14,629
|
5.3%
|
Anyfin
|
9,415
|
843
|
(273)
|
1,081
|
11,066
|
4.0%
|
Intellis
|
10,074
|
-
|
(280)
|
219
|
10,013
|
3.6%
|
Iwoca
|
7,926
|
-
|
-
|
1,690
|
9,616
|
3.5%
|
Gemini
|
10,924
|
-
|
(610)
|
(1,022)
|
9,292
|
3.4%
|
Top
10 Investments
|
210,528
|
7,862
|
(2,189)
|
(2,679)
|
213,522
|
77.5%
|
Other
Investments*
|
44,407
|
4,728
|
(1,175)
|
(1,748)
|
49,708
|
18.0%
|
Onfido
|
10,148
|
(9,930)
|
-
|
-
|
218
|
0.1%
|
Total
Investments
|
265,083
|
2,660
|
(3,364)
|
(931)
|
263,448
|
95.6%
|
Cash &
cash equivalents
|
38,505
|
|
|
|
31,775
|
11.5%
|
Net other
current liabilities
|
(271)
|
|
|
|
(588)
|
(0.2)%
|
Net
Assets
|
303,317
|
|
|
|
294,635
|
106.9%
|
Performance
Fee accrual
|
(18,980)
|
|
|
|
(19,000)
|
(6.9)%
|
Net
Assets after performance fee
|
284,337
|
|
|
|
275,635
|
100.0%
|
NAV
per share (pence)
|
178.6
|
|
|
|
|
175.6
|
NAV
per share after performance fee (pence)
|
167.4
|
|
|
|
|
164.3
|
^ Held
via Augmentum I LP
* There
are sixteen other investments (31 March
2024: fourteen). See from page 17 for further
details.
.
Portfolio
Manager’s Review
Overview
In June, we
shared an upbeat market outlook with the expectation that central
banks were preparing to embark on a series of rate cuts. The first
rate reductions made by the BoE and FED in Q3, and the earlier
actions of the ECB in Q2, did provide a welcome boost to equity
markets. However, expectations around the timing and depth of
further cuts has since adjusted. At the time of writing, the FED
and BoE have each delivered a further cut but also restated forward
looking caution, with the potential impacts of US and UK policy
changes on inflation as yet unclear.
While the
second half of the year has been more subdued than anticipated, we
remain optimistic. Greater clarity following election and budget
outcomes has already helped to restore some investor confidence,
particularly in US markets, and while central banks have signalled
caution, the macroeconomic backdrop has markedly improved since
this time last year. Assuming inflation can continue to be managed,
we should see further cuts in 2025 and with this a fuller return of
market confidence and demand.
Despite
ongoing inertia in public markets, listed fintechs have navigated
valuation recovery and stabilisation in 2024, although these are
yet to be fully reflected across the sector. In response to market
conditions, listed firms have prioritised profitability over
growth, and a flight to quality dynamic has rewarded exceptional
companies whose capital efficiency has seen them continue to
deliver both. Listed fintech approaches 2025 on a surer footing
than it did in 2024, with positive spillover effects in private
markets, where investment activity has returned to the long-term
trend. Across Europe, healthy
levels of dry powder and strong local ecosystems continue to
support high-potential fintechs from idea through growth
stages.
Many
exceptional European fintechs have completed long journeys to scale
and profitability, but still today remain private, including a
growing number of the Company’s portfolio companies. These firms
collectively form a mature cohort with exciting exit prospects in
the near to mid-term. Such cases have required patience from early
investors but hold the promise of ample reward upon realisation.
The focus now is on ensuring that exits are delivered at deserved
market premiums. Many of these firms have taken 2024 as an
opportunity to prepare for listing in 2025 and beyond. However,
M&A remains the dominant exit route for fintech firms with 98%
of all fintech exits since 2020 completed through this approach, of
which 85% during 2023 and Q1 2024 were strategic acquisitions from
incumbent financial services firms (source: FT Partners). With
access to the right portfolio and an experienced manager, a private
market strategy will reward investors for progress made while
private, and ensure value is maximised in exit scenarios. While
companies continue to perform, and market conditions are improving,
continued patience in these late stage positions is the rational
approach.
For policy
makers across our key markets of focus, growth agendas are the
order of the day. This bodes well for the fintech sector as a
leading recipient of investment capital, and a driver of
productivity growth and job creation. In the UK, fintech continues
to be regarded as a jewel in the crown and recently surpassed a
valuation of US$1 trillion, to join
only the US and China at this
scale (source: Dealroom). Productive engagement, and the supportive
policy and regulatory environments in the UK have continued under a
new Labour government. Despite the additional costs for businesses
introduced in the budget, the UK remains a highly attractive
location for starting and scaling fintech firms.
We have
adapted to the higher rate environment by focusing our investment
strategy on high potential early stage prospects, while the
Company’s existing portfolio continues to demonstrate underlying
growth. The investment pipeline we have cultivated with a
technology-led approach is of high quality, and our ability to win
deals in competitive processes - supported by our reputation as one
of Europe’s leading fintech investors - has only improved. With our
recent exit of FullCircl
we continue
to deliver realisations to investors, and aim to secure market
premiums when we do. Coupled with improving market conditions,
albeit at a slower pace than we would like, the maturity in the
portfolio today makes us confident that late 2025 and beyond will
bring significant rewards for patient investors who have stayed
with us through the course.
Portfolio
Overview
The
Company’s portfolio continues to demonstrate encouraging growth
with our 26 companies
advancing across a diverse mix of financial services verticals.
Growth over the past 12 months across our Top 10 positions (which
represents nearly 80% of NAV) has been 52%, while four of this
group have reached profitability. At the time of writing, we again
find ourselves in the position of having the asset value of the Top
4 positions, plus cash, exceeding the portfolio value implied by
the Company’s market capitalisation. This underscores the untapped
option value of 22 additional
assets.
The
portfolio approach continues to be important; within the Top 10 the
robust performance of many companies balances the emergence of
headwinds for a minority. It is a hallmark of high-growth assets,
that the path to success is rarely linear. The likes of
Zopa
and
iwoca,
have experienced turbulent times in the past but have successfully
navigated their way through to become scaled and profitable
businesses today. The next generation of our portfolio also
continues to develop, including through new investments and exit
events. Outside of the Top 10, several earlier stage companies have
the potential to reach scale independently, or to realise value at
an earlier stage through acquisition. The latter was the case for
two of the portfolio’s earlier stage companies, Farewill
and
FullCircl,
which have entered agreements to be acquired just after the
reporting period. These acquisition events complement our major
exits, releasing capital and team time towards propositions with
higher growth potential in our pipeline and the existing portfolio.
These outcomes should reinforce investor confidence in the
opportunity offered by the unpriced option value beyond the Top 10,
even for those assets that ultimately do not deliver a venture
style return.
Investment
Activity
We have
maintained a high bar for new investments and during the period,
from a pipeline of over 740 companies, we reviewed over 240,
conducted significant due diligence on 20 and made one new
investment of £2.6 million into LoopFX,
representing a 0.13% conversion rate. LoopFX
is an
independent venue for large spot FX trades with a unique matching
solution for market participants. LoopFX
enables
traders to match, in real-time, with other asset managers and banks
without information leakage and at a mid-market rate, reducing
trading costs and improving best execution processes. Augmentum is
the first institutional investor in LoopFX.
Post period
end, in November 2024, the Company
announced that it led a US$7 million
funding round with a US$4 million
investment into UAE-based Pemo.
The company provides an expense management and business payments
solution, via corporate cards, to SME businesses in the UAE, where
SMEs spend US$122 billion annually
and where currently only 1.7% of payments are on corporate cards
(source: Mastercard). Headquartered in Dubai, Pemo
also has
offices in Saudi Arabia and
Egypt, making it well positioned
to expand into key high-growth markets across the Gulf Cooperation
Council where corporate card-based solutions are underdeveloped
compared to Europe and where SMEs
are expected to contribute to significant economic
growth.
Portfolio
Update
Augmentum
invested a further £2 million into Tide
in
May 2024 following strong growth
which saw the company exceed 1 million customers to reach 11%
market share of small business accounts in the UK. With the UK
business now profitable, Tide
continues
to invest in geographical expansion, launching in Germany in May
2024 following successful entry into the Indian market in
late 2022, where member numbers have now surpassed 400,000.
Tide
is planning
further launches in Europe over
the coming 12 months. Following the successful acquisition of
Funding Options, post-period end, Tide
announced
its acquisition of HMRC-recognised payroll solution
Onfolk.
Zopa
Bank’s
exceptional technology and strong balance sheet have continued to
drive profitable growth, building upon the announced full year
profit of £15.8 million in 2023 and now reaching over £300 million
in annualised run-rate revenue. Zopa
Bank
offers a
range of borrowing and savings products to UK consumers with a
market leading Net Promoter Score. It has lent out over £10 billion
and recently surpassed £5 billion in deposits, driven by savings
products such as the Zopa
Bank
Smart ISA.
In May 2024, Zopa Bank entered a
partnership with Octopus Energy to offer financing for solar panel
installations, and in October, post period end, Zopa
Bank
announced a
personal loan partnership with John Lewis
Money, expanding the company’s reach to more than 23 million
John Lewis
customers.
Merchants
of all sizes are using Volt
to accept
real-time payments, initiate payouts and manage funds, across 31
markets globally. In September
2024 Volt
announced a
partnership with Farfetch, a leading global marketplace for the
luxury fashion industry with items from more than 50 countries and
over 1,400 of the world’s best brands, boutiques, and department
stores, enabling customers to make instant payments directly from
their bank accounts.
We have
materially reduced our valuation of Grover
to reflect
the period of adjustment that the business is currently going
through, alongside our and the Grover
board’s
desire to see significant operational improvements. The company
remains focused on navigating a path to profitability while it
continues to redefine the way customers consume technology products
through their part payment, part-financing subscription model. The
company has undergone a leadership change, with the promotion of
former COO Linda Rubin to CEO.
During the period, Grover
announced
an additional €50 million of funding in which Augmentum
participated. The company is currently undertaking a strategic
review with a view to establishing a plan that will enable capital
efficiency and profitability going forward.
BullionVault
has
continued to thrive in this volatile economic environment. Customer
demand for a trusted platform that delivers low-cost access to
vaulted gold and other precious metals shows little sign of slowing
down, and client holdings have reached unprecedented levels of
$5.2 billion,
helped by record gold prices. With their financial year closing in
October, we expect another record year of profitability following
on from last year’s impressive numbers. While BullionVault
remains a
mature position in the portfolio, we remain a patient holder while
we see continued growth in the bottom line and increased
dividends.
XYB,
a Coreless Banking platform-as-a-service (“BaaS”) launched
by Monese
in
May 2023, spun out as a separate
business in May 2024. Augmentum
invested a further £1 million into XYB
via a
secondary transaction in September
2024 and now owns around 20% of this fast growing business.
The strategy is clear following the separation earlier in the year,
with a strong focus on delivery. The team, led by the seasoned tech
leader, Derek Joyce, are currently
building out the organisation and operation with strong commercial
traction. During the period, XYB
collaborated
with IBM to leverage advanced technology and consulting expertise
for industry solutions, beginning with an operational resilience
proposition for the UK’s largest banks.
Stockholm based Anyfin
made
significant progress in strengthening its operational foundation
and positioning itself for future growth. Key milestones include
reaching 1 million refinanced loans, reflecting the company’s
expanding customer base and commitment to financial well-being.
Performance has been in line with budget, with Anyfin
now
approaching break-even.
Switzerland headquartered AI trading platform
Intellis
continues
to invest in developing new IP by not only improving their AI
driven models in the spot FX market but are also planning to deploy
their neural network into new asset classes in 2025. Having
achieved early profitability, the company is well-positioned for
significant growth in the year ahead.
iwoca
announced
£270 million of new funding lines from Barclays, Värde Partners,
Citibank, and Insight Investment in May
2024. The company has now provided £3.5 billion in loans to
100,000 SMEs across the UK and Germany. iwoca
has
demonstrated consistent growth and profitability, ranking among the
UK's top ten fintechs alongside Monzo, Starling, and Revolut. 2024
has so far been a record year for revenues, profit and
originations. The company first achieved net profitability back in
Q4 2022 and has since maintained strong financial performance with
an annualised revenue rate of £251 million in Q3 2024, representing
62% year-over-year growth. With £1.5 billion in investment across
equity and debt, iwoca
now stands
as one of Europe's best funded
fintech success stories and lenders and continues to prove the
profit potential of fintech lending businesses by harnessing
machine learning and digital technologies.
The
portfolio has 8% exposure to digital assets, with a strategic focus
on companies providing ‘institutional-grade’ infrastructure to the
crypto market. Following the outcome of the US election post period
end, digital asset prices achieved new highs in anticipation of a
more progressive regulatory regime. Regulatory clarity and renewed
confidence in digital asset markets will provide opportunities for
institutional propositions, including those in our
portfolio; Gemini,
ParaFi
and
Tesseract.
Since
announcing our investment in Artificial,
the company has continued to highlight its pivotal role in
transforming the underwriting landscape. The London-based insurtech has seen strong
adoption of its products, with over 15,000 submissions and £6
billion of premium processed through its contract builder. By
leveraging advanced machine learning and AI, Artificial
has emerged
as one of the UK's most promising insurtechs and its inclusion in
CB Insights' 2024 list of the 100 most innovative fintech startups
globally underscores the transformative potential of its AI-driven
insurance solutions.
Post period
end, Farewill
and
Monese
were
acquired (subject to regulatory approval). Farewill
entered
into an agreement to be acquired by funeral provider Dignity. Under
the terms of the proposed acquisition, Augmentum will receive
shares in Castelnau Group plc as consideration. The acquisition has
resulted in a downward valuation of the company, although we expect
there to be meaningful future upside from the current
mark.
In
October 2024 it was also announced
that Monese
had been
acquired by Pockit, a financial services business for the
“unbanked”. Augmentum will hold a small interest in the new entity,
but has written down its interest to £0 while a period of
integration and strategic reorientation takes place.
Exits
2024 has
been regarded by many as a difficult year for exits, with a limited
number of IPOs in Europe and
North America across all tech
sectors, and particularly fintech. As market confidence returns we
expect to see a backlog of scaled fintech companies come to market
in 2025 and 2026, and a corresponding increase in M&A activity.
Despite the market conditions, we announced a further exit during
the period from Onfido
and
FullCircl
post-period
end. This takes our realisations since IPO to
£99 million,
and our total number of exits to seven. Our portfolio assets carry
strategic value and this includes assets yet to reach scale as well
as those which have moved away from the “venture return” path we
seek when initially investing. On average, our exits have taken
place at a valuation uplift of 33% compared to the latest audited
valuation of our positions.
Onfido,
the AI-powered digital identity verification business, was acquired
by US payments firm Entrust in April
2024. The transaction valued the Company’s investment at
£10.1 million. The Company initially invested in
Onfido in
March 2018 with a £4.0 million
investment as part of a US$50 million
funding round, with a further £3.7 million
in December 2019. This exit
represented a multiple of 1.3x cost and an IRR of 6%. The resulting
IRR is well below our long-term target and the product of
investment terms that were introduced to the capital structure of
the company during a funding round that completed during the height
of the Covid pandemic.
Post-period
end we announced the sale of FullCircl.
We first invested in what was then DueDil in 2018, before
supporting the business to restructure and complete a successful
merger with Artesian to establish the more substantial and
profitable FullCircl
entity.
Post period end FullCircl
was
acquired by nCino, the NASDAQ listed digital banking platform. The
transaction valued the Company’s investment at £6.1 million subject
to final adjustments, which represents an 80% increase on the
valuation of £3.4 million as at 31 March
2024. This return is an example of a modestly valued asset
in the tail of the portfolio that been actively managed to maximise
the return.
Performance
As at
30 September 2024, our NAV per share
after performance fee stands at 164.3p (31
March 2024: 167.4p). Since IPO the Company has generated a
Gross IRR (before expenses) on capital deployed of 14%.
Each
position is valued objectively using the most appropriate
methodology and 87% of the portfolio is valued using public market
comparables. Robust governance is integral to the process, with all
valuations signed off by the Board and Valuations
Committee.
As outlined
in previous reports, downside protections, such as liquidation
preference and anti-dilution provisions, are integral structures in
our typical venture investments. These terms protect the value of
Augmentum’s position in the event of a reduction in the equity
value of a company.
Our seven
exits to date demonstrate external validation of our valuations
approach. All of these were realised at or above our last reported
valuation.
Outlook
We often
reference the ecosystem flywheel dynamic when explaining our
confidence in the future of European fintech. This phenomenon of
talent recycling, funding availability, and supportive policy
environment is increasingly reflected in company formations
statistics and a recent report coined the term ‘founder factories’
to describe the role of scaled fintechs in supporting the next
generation of firms (source: Accel/Dealroom). It found
that alumni from the 98 venture-backed European fintech companies
with valuations above $1 billion have
gone on to establish 625 new companies, of which more than a third
are also fintechs. As new companies emerge, our relationships
across the ecosystem and reputation as a leading investor in
fintech leave us optimally positioned to invest in outstanding
founders and ventures.
European
fintech activity is concentrated within a number of key hubs, led
by London, and supported by
Berlin, Paris and Stockholm. Local flywheels support activity
within each, with 61% of companies emerging from successful
fintechs founded in the same city as the original company (source:
Accel/Dealroom). We continue to build our presence in these
locations whilst also proactively expanding our footprint to new
hubs, taking advantage of our multi-geography strategy to seek the
best opportunities. New hubs can emerge following a major local
success, or when an experienced team brings an established idea to
the greenspace of a new market or region. When a flywheel is newly
established, they will often deliver periods of exceptional
‘catch-up’ growth, which we believe we are now seeing in the CEE
and notably the GCC, where we have announced our first investment
in Pemo.
The UK
retains the title of Europe’s leading market for fintech, with 9%
of total global fintech investment in 2024 year-to-date (source: FT
Partners), but does face increasing competition from other hubs.
Policy makers must continue to take a long-term view to protect the
powerful flywheel that has been generated by UK fintech over the
last 20 years. Attracting and retaining top founders and their
growing teams, and ensuring that growth capital is available to
support them through late stages and public listing should be seen
as priorities by the new Labour government. Timely delivery of
initiatives, such as the Mansion House Compact, designed to unlock
pension fund capital to address demand issues in domestic markets
and support retail investor returns must continue to be pursued.
European and UK fintechs, and their backers, are ready to play
their part in achieving UK economic growth, but the clock is
ticking. The timely and successful deployment of pension capital is
key if the Chancellor wants to achieve her ambitious growth agenda,
which we applaud.
Along with
the flywheel dynamic, emerging technologies, led by AI, further
expand the opportunity set in fintech. Along with generalised
operational productivity improvements, AI creates opportunities for
novel products and operating models in financial services. The
power of this technology is in its breadth of applications, and
this is why we have the confidence to call it a paradigm shift for
fintech and financial services. Across businesses from all sectors,
the adoption of AI in at least one business function has already
surpassed 70% (source: McKinsey) and
bold investment is being rewarded, with ‘AI leaders’ – i.e. those
placing AI at the centre of their technology strategy - the first
to be recognising real returns on investments (source:
BCG).
As we have
seen before with innovations such as digital banking and digital
identity verification, it is technology-forward fintech firms who
are best positioned to bring emerging technologies to market, both
in competition with incumbent financial services firms and as their
technology partners. Digital capabilities are a top priority of
every incumbent financial services firm and close collaboration
with fintech firms - through buy, build and partnership strategies
- has become a competitive imperative. Fintech’s market share of
financial services remains just 3% but, with growth at close to
four times the rate of incumbent financial services firms, the
sector continues to make inroads into huge addressable headroom
(source: BCG). Fintech’s market share is projected to more than
double in the next decade, positioning Augmentum as a distinctive
gateway for investors to capitalise on this growth.
Our own
operations are increasingly technology and data driven, having
continuously developed our proprietary deal origination engine
“ADA’ over the last six years. ADA leverages technology and data to
drive competitive advantage at every stage of the origination and
investment process. This includes AI automations connecting
internal and external data streams with our unrivalled fintech
network which now extends to more than 8,000 organisations. ADA
also integrates learnings from the combined 75 years
of fintech investment experience in our investment committee to
deliver a streamlined due diligence process without compromising on
quality; our bar for progression from pipeline to investment
remains just 0.1%. We have already seen quantifiable benefits in
the breadth, depth and clarity of our investment activity with ADA
and this technology-driven approach was instrumental in securing
our three latest investments in Artificial,
LoopFX
and
Pemo.
Building on
multiple generations of start-up success, and bolstered by new
technologies such as AI, the investment opportunity in European
fintech remains highly compelling. Since IPO, we have built a
diversified portfolio which has consistently delivered growth
despite the challenging market conditions of the last two years.
Building on our seven exits to date, the portfolio is positioned to
deliver realisations in the years ahead. Outside of its mature
positions the portfolio contains value that is unpriced by the
market today, with earlier-stage companies having the potential to
scale or to realise their strategic value at earlier stages. As our
sector has developed so too has our multinational team and today we
combine our established reputation as a leading fintech investor
with an increasingly technology driven approach. We believe this is
the best strategy to continue to deliver access to a strong and
diversified portfolio of private fintech companies which can
deliver exceptional returns.
Tim Levene
CEO
Augmentum
Fintech Management Limited
25 November 2024
.
Investments
Tide
Tide’s
(www.tide.co) mission is to help small and mid-sized businesses
(“SMEs”) save time and money in the running of their businesses.
Customers can be set up with an account number and sort code in
less than 10 minutes, and the company is building a comprehensive
suite of digital banking services for businesses, including
automated accounting, instant access to credit, card control,
instant card freezing and quick, mobile invoicing. Tide has
continued to expand its product offering with the launch of Tide
Accounting and Tide Acquiring in 2023 and also completed its
acquisition of Funding Options in 2023, a leading UK marketplace
for SMEs seeking business finance Post period end, in October 2024, Tide announced their acquisition of
HMRC-recognised payroll solution Onfolk. Tide is also expanding
geographically. Tide launched in India in December
2022 and also in Germany in
May 2024. Tide has 11% market share
of small business accounts in the UK, where it has more than
650,000 customers, and more than 350,000 customers in India.
Augmentum
led Tide’s £44.1 million first round of Series B funding in
September 2019, alongside Japanese
investment firm The SBI Group. In July
2021 Tide completed an £80 million Series C funding round
led by Apax Digital, in which Augmentum invested an additional £2.2
million and into which the £2.5 million loan note converted.
Augmentum invested a further £4.2 million in October 2023 and £2.0 million in May 2024 through a combination of primary and
secondary transactions.
Source:
Tide
|
30
Sept
2024
£’000
|
31
March
2024
£’000
|
Cost
|
19,376
|
17,376
|
Value
|
59,715
|
51,293
|
Valuation
Methodology^
|
Rev.
Multiple
|
Rev.
Multiple
|
As per last
filed audited accounts of the investee company for the year to
31 December 2023:
|
2023
£’000
|
2022
£’000
|
Turnover
|
119,351
|
59,176
|
Pre tax
loss
|
(43,714)
|
(39,795)
|
Net
assets
|
19,372
|
32,444
|
Zopa
Having been
founded in 2005 as the world’s first peer-to peer (“P2P”) lending
company, Zopa (www.zopa.com) launched Zopa Bank following a funding
round in 2020. It was granted a full UK banking licence, allowing
it to offer a wider product range to its customers. After 17 years
of delivering positive returns for investors, Zopa closed the P2P
lending side of its business in 2021 to fully focus on Zopa
Bank.
Current
products include fixed term and smart savings, wedding and home
improvement loans, debt consolidation loans, a credit card and
motor finance. Zopa Bank is regulated by both the PRA and the
FCA.
Zopa Bank
has continued to drive profitable growth, with over £300 million in
annualised run-rate revenue. The company has lent over £10 billion
and recently surpassed £5 billion in deposits. Zopa Bank is a
multiple awards winner. In 2024, the company won three more awards
from MoneyNet; Best Savings App, Best Fixed Rate Cash ISA Provider
and Personal Savings Provider of the Year. These follow a string of
previous awards, including being named the British Bank Awards’
Best Personal Loan Provider for the sixth year in a row in 2023.
2023 marked a key milestone, with Zopa achieving its first full
year of profitability.
Augmentum
participated in a £20 million
funding round led by Silverstripe in March
2021, in October 2021
participated with a further £10 million
investment in a £220 million round led by SoftBank, and in
February 2023 invested a further £4
million as part of a £75 million equity funding round alongside
other existing investors. In September
2023 Zopa Bank raised £75 million in Tier 2 Capital to
support further scaling.
Source:
Zopa Bank
|
30
Sept
2024
£’000
|
31
March
2024
£’000
|
Cost
|
33,670
|
33,670
|
Value
|
39,346
|
39,291
|
Valuation
Methodology
|
Rev.
Multiple
|
Rev.
Multiple
|
As per last
filed audited accounts of the investee company for the year to
31 December 2023:
|
2023
£’000
|
2022
£’000
|
Operating
income
|
223,544
|
153,737
|
Pre tax
profi/(loss)
|
10,828
|
(23,783)
|
Net
assets
|
413,174
|
299,674
|
Volt
Volt
(www.volt.io) is a provider of account-to-account payments
connectivity for international merchants and payment service
providers (PSPs). An application of Open Banking,
account-to-account payments – where funds are moved directly from
one bank account to another rather than via payment rails –
delivering benefits to both consumers and merchants. This helps
merchants shorten their cash cycle, increase conversion and lower
their costs. Volt offers coverage in 31 markets and counting,
including UK, Europe, Brazil and Australia. In June
2023 Volt announced their partnership with Worldpay and
Shopify. In February 2024, Volt was
granted a UK EMI licence by the FCA, enabling Volt to evolve its
cash management product 'Connect’ for virtual accounts. In
September 2024 Volt announced a
partnership with Farfetch, a leading global marketplace for the
luxury fashion industry with items from more than 50 countries and
over 1,400 of the world’s best brands, boutiques, and department
stores.
Augmentum
invested £0.5 million in Volt in December
2020, £4 million in its June
2021 US$23.5 million Series A
funding round and £5.3 million
in its US$60 million Series B funding
round in June 2023.
Source:
Volt
|
30
Sept
2024
£’000
|
31
March
2024
£’000
|
Cost
|
9,800
|
9,800
|
Value
|
25,294
|
25,459
|
Valuation
Methodology
|
Rev.
Multiple
|
Rev.
Multiple
|
Volt is not
required to publicly file audited accounts.
Grover
Berlin-based Grover (www.grover.com) is the leading
consumer-tech subscription platform, bringing the access economy to
the consumer electronics market by offering a simple, monthly
subscription model for technology products. Private and business
customers have access to over 8,000 products including smartphones,
laptops, virtual reality technology, wearables and smart home
appliances. The Grover service allows users to keep, switch, buy,
or return products depending on their individual needs. Rentals are
available in Germany, Austria, the
Netherlands and Spain.
Grover is at the forefront of the circular economy, with products
being returned, refurbished and recirculated until the end of their
usable life. Grover has circulated over 1.2 million
devices.
In
September 2019 Augmentum led a €11
million funding round with a €6 million
convertible loan note (“CLN”) investment. This coincided with
Grover signing a €30 million debt facility with Varengold Bank, one
of Germany’s major fintech banking partners. In March 2021 Grover completed a
€60 million
Series B equity and debt funding round, with Augmentum
participating and converting its CLN, and Grover’s Series C funding
round in April 2022 raised
US$330 million in equity and debt
funding. In September 2023 Augmentum
invested £1.4 million as part of a €23 million transaction and in
July 2024 contributed €1.8 million to
€50 million of bridge financing.
Source:
Grover
|
30
Sept
2024
£’000
|
31
March
2024
£’000
|
Cost
|
10,813
|
9,295
|
Value
|
19,627
|
35,893
|
Valuation
Methodology
|
Rev.
Multiple
|
Rev.
Multiple
|
As an
unquoted German company, Grover is not required to publicly file
audited accounts.
BullionVault
BullionVault
(www.bullionvault.co.uk) is a physical gold and silver market for
private investors online. It enables people across 175 countries to
buy and sell professional-grade bullion at competitive prices
online, with £5.2 billion
of assets under administration, over £75 million worth of gold and
silver traded monthly, and over 100,000 clients.
Each user’s
property is stored in secure, specialist vaults in London, New
York, Toronto, Singapore and Zurich. BullionVault’s unique daily audit then
proves the full allocation of client property every day.
The company
generates monthly profits from trading, commission and interest. It
is cash generative, dividend paying, and well-placed for any cracks
in the wider financial markets.
Source:
BullionVault
|
30
Sept
2024
£’000
|
31
March
2024
£’000
|
Cost
|
8,424
|
8,424
|
Value
|
14,924
|
13,119
|
Valuation
Methodology
|
Earnings
Multiple
|
Earnings
Multiple
|
Dividends
paid
|
-
|
799
|
As per last
filed audited accounts of the investee company for the year to
31 October 2023:
|
2023
£’000
|
2022
£’000
|
Gross
profit
|
13,311
|
13,071
|
Pre tax
profit
|
13,023
|
8,364
|
Net
assets
|
46,323
|
41,294
|
XYB
XYB
(www.xyb.co) is a banking-as-a-service (“BaaS”) platform that was
launched by Monese in May 2023 and
spun out as a separate business in May
2024. XYB enables financial institutions to build digital
products using technology developed by Monese and counts HSBC and
Investec amongst its client base. The BaaS market shows strong
growth as established banks and fintech companies continue to bring
innovative digital products to market.
Augmentum
invested £1 million specifically into the spun-out business via a
secondary transaction in September
2024.
Source:
XYB
|
30
Sept
2024
£’000
|
31
March
2024
£’000
|
Cost
|
14,967
|
n/a
|
Value
|
14,629
|
n/a
|
Valuation
Methodology
|
Rev.
Multiple
|
n/a
|
XYB is a
new company and no accounts have been filed.
Anyfin
Anyfin
(www.anyfin.com) was founded in 2017 by former executives of
Klarna, Spotify and iZettle, and leverages technology to allow
creditworthy consumers the opportunity to improve their financial
wellbeing by consolidating and refinancing existing credit
agreements with improved interest rates, as well as offering smart
budgeting tools. Anyfin is currently available in Sweden, Finland, Norway and Germany, with plans to expand across
Europe as well as strengthen its
product suite in existing markets, and over 1 million people have
downloaded the app. In July, Anyfin announced UC-kollen, a new
service in the Anyfin app providing daily credit rating updates and
tips to improve scores.
Augmentum
invested £7.2 million in Anyfin in September
2021 as part of a US$52
million funding round, a further £2.7 million as part of a
US$30 million
funding round in November 2022 and
£0.8 million in July 2024.
Source:
Anyfin
|
30
Sept
2024
£’000
|
31
March
2024
£’000
|
Cost
|
10,768
|
9,924
|
Value
|
11,066
|
9,416
|
Valuation
Methodology
|
Rev.
Multiple
|
Rev.
Multiple
|
As an
unquoted Swedish company, Anyfin is not required to publicly file
audited accounts.
Intellis
Intellis,
based in Switzerland, is an
algorithmic powered quantitative hedge fund operating in the FX
space. Intellis’ proprietary approach takes a conviction based
assessment towards trading in the FX markets,
a position which is uncorrelated to traditional news driven trading
firms. They operate across a range of trading venues with a
regulated Investment Trust fund structure that enables seamless
onboarding of new Liquidity Partners.
Following
an initial investment of €1 million In 2019, Augmentum exercised
its option to invest a further €1 million in March 2020 and a further €1 million in
March 2021.
Source:
Intellis
|
30
Sept
2024
£’000
|
31
March
2024
£’000
|
Cost
|
2,696
|
2,696
|
Value
|
10,013
|
10,074
|
Valuation
Methodology
|
P/E
Multiple
|
P/E
Multiple
|
As an
unquoted Swiss company, Intellis is not required to publicly file
audited accounts.
Iwoca
Founded in
2011, iwoca (www.iwoca.co.uk) uses award-winning technology to
disrupt small business lending across Europe. They offer short-term ‘flexi-loans’ of
up to £500,000 to SMEs across the UK and Germany. iwoca leverages online integrations
with high-street banks, payment processors and sector-specific
providers to look at thousands of data points for each business.
These feed into a risk engine that enables the company to make a
fair assessment of any business and approve a credit facility
within hours. In addition to its flexi-loans, Iwoca
launched
iwocaPay in June 2020, an innovative
business-to-business (B2B) ‘buy now pay later’ product to provide
flexible payment terms to buyers while giving peace of mind to
sellers and
also
launched a revenue-based loan with eBay in 2022 where repayments
are a percentage of a business’s monthly sales. The company has
lent over £3.5 billion in the UK and Germany since its launch across more than
130,000 business loans.
Augmentum
originally invested £7.5 million in Iwoca in 2018 and has since
added £0.35 million. Iwoca has raised over £1 billion in debt
funding from partners including Barclays, Pollen Street Capital,
Värde Citibank and Insight Investment.
Source:
Iwoca
|
30
Sept
2024
£’000
|
31
March
2024
£’000
|
Cost
|
7,852
|
7,852
|
Value
|
9,616
|
7,926
|
Valuation
Methodology
|
Earnings
Multiple*
|
Earnings
Multiple
|
As per last
filed audited accounts of the investee company for the year to
31 December 2023:
|
2023
£’000
|
2022
£’000
|
Turnover
|
142,584
|
78,260
|
Pre tax
profit/(loss)
|
21,784
|
(11,177)
|
Net
assets
|
54,976
|
28,224
|
Gemini
Gemini
(www.gemini.com) enables individuals and institutions to safely and
securely buy, sell and store cryptocurrencies. Gemini was founded
in 2014 by Cameron and Tyler
Winklevoss and has been built with a security and regulation
first approach. Gemini operates as a New
York trust company regulated by the New York State Department of Financial
Services (NYSDFS) and was the first cryptocurrency exchange and
custodian to secure SOC 1 Type 2 and SOC 2 Type 2 certification.
Gemini entered the UK market in 2020 with an FCA Electronic Money
Institution licence, becoming one of only ten companies to have
achieved FCA Cryptoasset Firm Registration at that
time.
Gemini
announced acquisitions of portfolio management services company
BITRIA and trading platform Omniex in January 2022. Gemini expanded into the UAE and
Asia in 2023, and in 2024 was
selected as custodian for Path Crypto’s Managed Portfolios, the
first and only bitcoin ETF in Australia launched by Monochrome Asset
Management, and a landmark ether staking ETF fund launched by
Purpose Investments.
Augmentum
participated in Gemini’s first ever funding round in November 2021 with an investment of £10.2
million.
Source:
Gemini
|
30
Sept
2024
£’000
|
31
March
2024
£’000
|
Cost
|
10,150
|
10,150
|
Value
|
9,292
|
8,306
|
Valuation
Methodology
|
Rev.
Multiple
|
Rev.
Multiple
|
Gemini is
not required to publicly file audited accounts.
FullCircl
FullCircl
(www.fullcircl.com) was formed from the combination of Artesian and
Duedil. Artesian was founded with a goal to change the way B2B
sellers communicate with their customers. They built a powerful
sales intelligence service using the latest in Artificial
Intelligence and Natural Language Processing to automate many of
the time consuming, repetitive tasks that cause the most pain for
commercial people.
In
August 2023 FullCircl announced the
acquisition of W2 Global Data Solutions, a provider of real-time
digital solutions for global regulatory compliance. The acquisition
strengthens FullCircl’s compliance suite and accelerates the
company’s ambition to become the market leader in smart customer
onboarding solutions for regulated businesses.
The combined
company now provides coverage on entities located in
160 countries.
Augmentum
originally invested in DueDil, which merged with Artesian in
July 2021. Combining DueDil’s
Business Information Graph (B.I.G.)™ and Premium APIs, and
Artesian’s powerful web application and advanced rules engine
delivers an easy to deploy solution for banks, insurers and
FinTechs to engage, onboard and grow the right business customers.
Post period end, in October 2024,
nCino, the NASDAQ listed US digital banking platform, agreed to
acquire FullCircl.
Artificial
Artificial
(www.artificial.io) is an established underwriting technology
provider for the London Insurance Market. This London-based insurtech partners with global
insurers and brokers to facilitate algorithmic placement of
commercial and specialty risk, backed by their powerful contract
builder and underwriting platform.
Augmentum
led Artificial’s £8 million Series A+ round in January 2024 with a £4 million investment,
alongside existing investors MS&AD Ventures and FOMCAP IV. The
round was aimed at allowing Artificial to accelerate their growth,
to continue to build out its product range and further consolidate
its position as a leader in algorithmic underwriting software as
the insurance market migrates towards digital solutions.
In July
2024 Augmentum added to its investment with a £0.8 million
secondary share purchase.
Wematch
Wematch
(www.wematch.live) is a capital markets trading platform that helps
financial institutions transition liquidity to an orderly
electronic service, improving productivity and de-risking the
process of voice broking. Their solution helps traders find
liquidity, negotiate, trade, optimise and manage the lifecycle of
their portfolios of assets and trade structures. Wematch is focused
on structured products such as securities financing, OTC equity
derivatives and OTC cleared interest rates derivatives.
Created in
2017, Wematch is headquartered in Tel
Aviv and has offices in London and Paris. In March
2023 it announced a collaboration with MTS Markets, owned by
Euronext, creating MTS Swaps by Wematch.live, which aims to bridge
the gap between legacy voice trading and pure electronic trading in
the interdealer IRS market. In August
2023 Wematch passed a milestone of US$200 billion in ongoing notional value of
trades on their platform and also reached an average daily matched
volume (ADMV) of US$11 billion in
Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.
Augmentum
invested £3.7 million in September
2021 and £0.4 million in August
2024.
Wayhome
Wayhome
(www.wayhome.co.uk) offers a unique part-own part-rent model of
home ownership, requiring as little as 5% deposit with customers
paying a market rent on the portion of the home that Wayhome owns,
with the ability to increase the equity in the property as their
financial circumstances allow. It launched to the public in
September 2021, following closure of
the initial phase of a £500 million pension fund investment. The
first fund has now closed having helped over 650 people buy a new
home. Wayhome are currently working on their second
fund.
Wayhome
opens up owner-occupied residential property as an asset class for
pension funds, who will earn inflation-linked rent on the portion
not owned by the occupier.
Augmentum
invested £2.5 million in 2019, £1 million in 2021, a further £0.9
million in the Company's financial year to 31 March 2023 and £0.3 million in July 2024.
Tesseract
Tesseract
(www.tesseractinvestment.com) is a forerunner in the dynamic
digital asset sector, providing digital lending solutions to market
makers and other institutional market participants via regulated
custody and exchange platforms. Tesseract was founded in 2017, is
regulated by the Finnish Financial Supervisory Authority
(“FIN-FSA”), and was one of the first companies in the EU to obtain
a 5AMLD (Fifth Anti-Money Laundering Directive) virtual asset
service provider (“VASP”) licence. It is the only VASP with an
express authorisation from the FIN-FSA to deploy client assets into
decentralized finance or “DeFi”.
Tesseract
provides an enabling crypto infrastructure to connect digital asset
lenders with digital asset borrowers. This brings enhanced capital
efficiency with commensurate cost reduction to trading, in a space
that is currently significantly under-leveraged relative to
traditional capital markets.
Augmentum
led Tesseract’s Series A funding round in June 2021 with an investment of £7.3
million.
Kipp
Kipp (www.letskipp.com) is an Israeli fintech that has
developed an AI platform that transforms the traditional payment
model to increase credit card transaction approvals, revenue, and
customer satisfaction. Its
core solution relies heavily on data enrichment and risk management
to help merchants and banks split the cost of risk to incentivise
issuing banks to approve more transactions.
Augmentum
invested £4 million in May
2022.
Baobab
Berlin based Baobab (www.baobab.io) is a pioneer in the
provision of European cyber insurance for SMEs. With capacity
provision from Zurich, Baobab uses
a novel approach to underwriting, pricing and risk mitigation, and
works with leading SME cyber security providers to prevent breaches
for its insured customers.
Augmentum
invested £2.6 million in January 2023
and £0.6 million in July
2024.
ParaFi
Capital
ParaFi
Capital (www.parafi.com) is an investor in decentralised finance
protocols that address tangible use cases of the technology and
demonstrate signs of product-market fit. ParaFi investment has
drawn on their domain expertise developed in both traditional
finance and crypto to identify and invest in leading protocols such
as Compound (lending and interest accrual), Aave (asset borrowing),
Uniswap (automated liquidity provision), Synthetix (synthetic asset
trading) and MakerDAO (stablecoins). ParaFi also supports its
protocols as a liquidity provider and governance
participant.
Augmentum
invested £2.8 million in ParaFi in January
2021. Co-investors include Bain Capital Ventures and Galaxy
Digital.
LoopFX
LoopFX
(www.theloopfx.com) is an independent venue for large spot FX
trades with a unique matching solution for market participants.
LoopFX enables traders to match, in real-time, with other asset
managers and banks without information leakage and at a mid-market
rate, reducing trading costs and improving best execution
processes. LoopFX’s ‘Peer-To-Bank’ matching technology has been
integrated into leading forex platforms - State Street’s FX Connect
and FactSet’s Portware.
Augmentum
invested £2.6 million in June
2024.
Sfermion
Sfermion
(www.sfermion.io) is an investment fund focused on the non-fungible
token (NFT) ecosystem. Their goal is to accelerate the emergence of
the open metaverse by investing in the founders, companies, and
entities creating the infrastructure and environments forming the
foundations of our digital future.
Augmentum
committed US$3 million in
October 2021, to be drawn down in
tranches.
Epsor
Epsor
(www.epsor.fr) is a Paris based
provider of employee and retirement savings plans delivered through
an open ecosystem, giving access to a broad range of asset
management products accessible through its intuitive digital
platform. Epsor serves over 1,200 clients including Santander,
Louis Vuitton and Sotheby’s, and
their 150,000+ employees..
Augmentum
invested £2.2 million in Epsor in June
2021.
Farewill
In the next
10 years, £1 trillion of inheritance will pass between generations
in the UK. Farewill (www.farewill.com) is a digital, all-in-one
financial and legal services platform for dealing with death and
after-death services, including wills, probate and cremation,
augmented with funeral plans in 2024. Farewill has won numerous
awards, including being named Wills & Probate Firm of the Year
2024 and winning the UK Enterprise Customer Care Excellence Award
2024. The organisation has also been rated excellent on Trustpilot,
scoring an average customer approval rating of 4.9/5 from over
17,000 reviews. It is now the largest will writer in the
UK.
Since its
launch in 2015 Farewill’s customers have pledged over £1.03 billion
to charities through their wills.
Augmentum
led Farewill’s £7.5 million Series A fundraise in January 2019, with a £4 million investment,
participated in its £20 million Series B, led by Highland Europe in
July 2020, with £2.6 million, and in
its further £4.8 million
fundraise in March 2023, with £0.8
million. The proposed acquisition of Farewill by Dignity (in which
Castelnau Group plc has a controlling stake) was also announced in
October, through which Augmentum will receive shares in Castelnau
Group plc as consideration for the transaction.
WhiskyInvestDirect
Founded in
2015, WhiskyInvestDirect (www.whiskyinvestdirect.com), was a
subsidiary of BullionVault and is the online market for buying and
selling Scotch whisky as it matures in barrel. This is an asset
class that has a long track record of growth, yet has previously
been opaque and inaccessible.
The
business seeks to change the way some of the three billion litres
of maturing Scottish whisky is owned, stored and financed, giving
self-directed investors an opportunity to profit from whisky
ownership, with the ability to trade 24/7. At its October 2022 financial year end the company's
clients held 12 million LPA (Litres of Pure Alcohol) of
spirit.
Augmentum’s
holding derives from WhiskeyInvestDirect being spun out of
BullionVault in 2020.
Previse
Previse
(www.previ.se) allows suppliers to be paid instantly. Previse’s
artificial intelligence (“AI”) analyses the data from the invoices
that sellers send to their large corporate customers. Predictive
analytics identify the few problematic invoices, enabling the rest
to be paid instantly. Previse charges the suppliers a small fee for
the convenience, and shares the profit with the corporate buyer and
the funder. Previse precisely quantifies dilution risk so that
funders can underwrite pre-approval payables at scale. In
January 2022 Mastercard unveiled that
its next-generation virtual card solution for instant B2B payments
would use Previse’s machine learning capabilities. The solution
combines Previse’s machine learning, with Mastercard’s core
commercial solutions and global payment network, to transform how
businesses send and receive payments.
Augmentum
invested £250,000 in a convertible loan note in August 2019. This converted into equity as part
of the company’s US$11 million
funding round in March 2020,
alongside Reefknot Investments and Mastercard, as well as existing
investors Bessemer Venture Partners and Hambro Perks. Previse was
awarded a £2.5 million Banking Competition Remedies’ Capability and
Innovation Fund grant in August 2020.
In May 2022 Previse closed the first
phase of its series B financing round, which was led by
Tencent, with US$18 million raised, including £2 million from
Augmentum.
Habito
Habito
(www.habito.com) is transforming the United Kingdom’s £1.3 trillion
mortgage market by taking the stress, arduous paperwork, hidden
costs and confusing process out of financing a home. Since
launching in April 2016, Habito had
brokered £7 billion of mortgages by July
2021. Habito launched its own buy-to-let mortgages in
July 2019 and in March 2021 launched a 40-year fixed-rate mortgage
‘Habito One’, the UK’s longest-ever fixed rate mortgage.
In
August 2019, Augmentum led Habito’s
£35 million Series C funding round with a £5 million investment and
added £1.3 million in the Company's financial year ended
31 March 2023.
.
Condensed
Consolidated Statement of Comprehensive Income
For
the six months ended 30 September
2024
|
|
Six
months ended
30
September 2024
|
Six
months ended
30
September 2023
|
|
Notes
|
Revenue
return
£’000
|
Capital
return
£’000
|
Total
£’000
|
Revenue
return£’000
|
Capital
return
£’000
|
Total
£’000
|
Gains on
investments held at fair value
|
|
-
|
(4,295)
|
(4,295)
|
-
|
2,952
|
2,952
|
Investment
income
|
|
894
|
-
|
894
|
702
|
-
|
702
|
AIFM and
Performance Fees
|
2
|
(303)
|
-
|
(303)
|
(292)
|
-
|
(292)
|
Other
expenses
|
|
(2,630)
|
(138)
|
(2,768)
|
(2,453)
|
(16)
|
(2,469)
|
(Loss)/return
before taxation
|
|
(2,039)
|
(4,433)
|
(6,472)
|
(2,043)
|
2,936
|
893
|
Taxation
|
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
(Loss)/return
attributable to equity shareholders of the parent
company
|
|
(2,039)
|
(4,433)
|
(6,472)
|
(2,043)
|
2,936
|
893
|
(Loss)/return
per share (pence)
|
3
|
(1.2)
|
(2.6)
|
(3.8)
|
(1.2)
|
1.7
|
0.5
|
The total
column of this statement represents the Group’s Consolidated Income
Statement, prepared in accordance with IFRS as adopted by the
UK.
The revenue
return and capital return columns are supplementary to this and are
prepared under guidance published by the Association of Investment
Companies.
The Group
does not have any other comprehensive income and hence the total
return, as disclosed above, is the same as the Group’s total
comprehensive income.
All items
in the above statement derive from continuing
operations.
All returns
are attributable to the equity holders of Augmentum Fintech plc,
the parent company. There are no non-controlling
interests.
.
Condensed
Consolidated Statement of Changes in Equity
For
the six months ended 30 September
2024
|
|
Six
months ended 30 September 2024
|
|
Group
|
Ordinary
share
capital
£’000
|
Share
premium
account
£’000
|
Special
reserve
£’000
|
Other
capital
reserve
£’000
|
Revenue
reserve
£’000
|
Total
£’000
|
Opening
shareholders’ funds
|
1,810
|
105,383
|
80,609
|
135,293
|
(19,778)
|
303,317
|
Purchase of
own shares into treasury
|
-
|
-
|
(2,210)
|
-
|
-
|
(2,210)
|
(Loss)/return
for the period
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
(4,433)
|
(2,039)
|
(6,472)
|
At
30 September 2024
|
1,810
|
105,383
|
78,399
|
130,860
|
(21,817)
|
294,635
|
|
|
Six
months ended 30 September 2023
|
|
Group
|
Ordinary
share
capital
£’000
|
Share
premium
account
£’000
|
Special
reserve
£’000
|
Other
capital
reserve
£’000
|
Revenue
reserve
£’000
|
Total
£’000
|
Opening
shareholders’ funds
|
1,810
|
105,383
|
85,218
|
117,740
|
(16,027)
|
294,124
|
Purchase of
own shares into treasury
|
-
|
-
|
(3,888)
|
-
|
-
|
(3,888)
|
Return/(loss)
for the period
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
2,936
|
(2,043)
|
893
|
At
30 September 2023
|
1,810
|
105,383
|
81,330
|
120,676
|
(18,070)
|
291,129
|
.
Condensed
Consolidated and Company Statement of Financial
Position
as
at 30 September
2024
|
Note
|
30
September
2024
£’000
|
31
March
2024
£’000
|
Non
current assets
|
|
|
|
Investments
held at fair value
|
7
|
263,448
|
265,083
|
Property,
plant & equipment
|
|
187
|
219
|
Current
assets
|
|
|
|
Right of
use asset
|
|
363
|
438
|
Other
receivables
|
|
166
|
245
|
Cash and
cash equivalents
|
|
31,775
|
38,505
|
Total
assets
|
|
295,939
|
304,490
|
Current
liabilities
|
|
|
|
Other
payables
|
|
(936)
|
(699)
|
Lease
liability
|
|
(368)
|
(474)
|
Total
assets less current liabilities
|
|
294,635
|
303,317
|
Net
assets
|
|
294,635
|
303,317
|
Capital
and reserves
|
|
|
|
Called up
share capital
|
4
|
1,810
|
1,810
|
Share
premium account
|
4
|
105,383
|
105,383
|
Special
reserve
|
|
78,399
|
80,609
|
Retained
earnings:
|
|
|
|
Capital
reserves
|
|
130,860
|
135,293
|
Revenue
reserve
|
|
(21,817)
|
(19,778)
|
Total
equity
|
|
294,635
|
303,317
|
NAV
per share (pence)
|
5
|
175.6
|
178.6
|
NAV
per share after performance fee (pence)
|
5
|
164.3
|
167.4
|
.
Condensed
Consolidated Statement of Cash Flows
For
the six months ended 30 September
2024
|
Six
months
ended
30
September
2024
£’000
|
Six
months
ended
30
September
2023
£’000
|
Cash
flows from operating activities
|
|
|
Purchases
of investments
|
(12,590)
|
(5,511)
|
Sales of
investments
|
9,930
|
22,790
|
Acquisition
of property, plant and equipment
|
(7)
|
(4)
|
Interest
received
|
945
|
680
|
Operating
expenses paid
|
(2,681)
|
(1,769)
|
Net
cash (outflow)/inflow from operating activities
|
(4,403)
|
16,186
|
Cash
flow from financing activities
|
|
|
Purchase of
own shares into Treasury
|
(2,327)
|
(4,429)
|
Net
cash (outflow) from financing
|
(2,327)
|
(4,429)
|
(Decrease)/increase
in cash and cash equivalents
|
(6,730)
|
11,757
|
Cash
and cash equivalents at the beginning of the
period
|
38,505
|
40,015
|
Cash
and cash equivalents at the end of the period
|
31,775
|
51,772
|
.
Notes
to the Financial Statements
For
the six months ended 30 September
2024
1.a
General information
Augmentum
Fintech plc is a company limited by shares, incorporated and
domiciled in the UK. Its registered
office is 25 Southampton Buildings, London WC2A 1AL, UK and its principal place of
business is at 4 Chiswell Street, London EC1Y 4UP. Its shares are listed on the
London Stock Exchange.
These
condensed interim financial statements were approved for issue on
25 November 2024. These condensed
interim financial statements do not comprise statutory accounts
within the meaning of section 434 of the Companies Act 2006.
Statutory accounts for the year ended 31 March
2024 were approved by the board of directors on 24 June 2024 and delivered to the Registrar of
Companies.
The report
of the auditors on those accounts was unqualified, did not contain
an emphasis of matter paragraph and did not contain any statement
under section 498 of the Companies Act 2006.
The
financial statements have been reviewed, not audited.
1.b
Basis of preparation
This
condensed consolidated interim financial report for the half-year
reporting period ended 30 September
2024 has been prepared in accordance with the Disclosure
Guidance and Transparency Rules of the Financial Conduct Authority
and International Accounting Standard IAS 34, ‘Interim Financial
Reporting’, as adopted in the UK.
The
accounting policies adopted are consistent with those of the
previous financial year and corresponding interim reporting period,
except for the adoption of new and amended standards as set out
below.
1.c
New and amended standards adopted by the Group
No new or
amended standards became applicable for the current reporting
period that have an impact on the Group or Company.
1.d
Going Concern
The
Directors believe that it is appropriate to adopt the going concern
basis in preparing these condensed consolidated financial
statements, as the Board considers the Group has sufficient
financial resources to continue in operation for at least the next
12 months from the date of signing of these financial
statements.
1.e
Segmental Analysis
The Group
operates a single business segment for reporting purposes and is
managed as a single investment company. Reporting is provided to
the Board of Directors on an aggregated basis. The investments are
all located in the UK, continental Europe, the Middle
East and the US.
1.f
Related Party Transactions
There have
been no changes to the nature of the related party arrangements or
transactions during the period to those reported in the Annual
Report for the year ended 31 March
2024.
1.g
Events after the reporting period
There have
been no significant events since the end of the reporting period
requiring disclosure.
2
AIFM
and Performance Fees
|
Revenue
£’000
|
Capital
£’000
|
Six
months
ended
30
September
2024
£’000
|
Revenue
£’000
|
Capital
£’000
|
Six
months
ended
30
September
2023
£’000
|
AIFM
fees
|
303
|
-
|
303
|
292
|
-
|
292
|
Performance
fee
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
|
303
|
-
|
303
|
292
|
-
|
292
|
A
performance fee is payable by the Company to AFML when the Company
has realised an aggregate annualised 10% return on investments (the
‘hurdle’) in each basket of investments. Based on the investment
valuations and the hurdle level as at 30
September 2024 the hurdle has been met, on an unrealised
basis, and as such a performance fee of £19,000,000 has been
accrued by the Company, equivalent to 9.9
pence per share (31 March
2024: 18,980,000; 11.2 pence
per share). This accrual is reversed on consolidation and not
included in the Group Statement of Financial Position.
The
performance fee is only payable to AFML if the hurdle is met on a
realised basis. See page 25 and Note 19.9 of the 2024 Annual Report
for further details. Any allocation of the performance fee by AFML
to its employees is made on a discretionary basis.
3
(Loss)/return per share
The
(loss)/return per share figures are based on the following
figures:
|
Six
months
ended
30
September
2024
£’000
|
Six
months
ended
30
September
2023
£’000
|
Net revenue
loss
|
(2,039)
|
(2,043)
|
Net capital
return
|
4,433
|
2,936
|
Net
total (loss)/return
|
(6,472)
|
893
|
|
|
|
Weighted
average number of ordinary shares in issue
|
169,352,855
|
171,507,993
|
|
Pence
|
Pence
|
Revenue
loss per share
|
(1.2)
|
(1.2)
|
Capital
(loss)/return per share
|
(2.6)
|
1.7
|
Total
(loss)/return per share
|
(3.8)
|
(0.5)
|
4
Share
capital
As at
30 September 2024 there were
167,754,471 (31 March 2024:
169,831,285) ordinary shares in issue, excluding shares held in
treasury, and 13,258,596 (31 March
2024: 11,182,412) shares held in
treasury.
During the
year to 31 March 2024 4,687,567
shares were bought back into treasury at an average price of 98.3p
per share.
From
1 April 2024 to 30 September 2024 2,076,814 of the Company’s
ordinary shares were bought back into treasury at an average price
of 105.8p per share. No shares were issued during the six
months.
5
Net
asset value (“NAV”) per share
The NAV per
share is based on the Group net assets attributable to the equity
shareholders of £294,635,000 (31 March
2024: £303,317,000) and 167,754,471 (31 March 2024: 169,831,285) shares being the
number of shares in issue at the period end.
The NAV per
share after performance fee* is based on the Group net assets
attributable to the equity shareholders, less the performance fee
accrual made by the Company of £19,000,000 (31 March
2024: £18,980,000),
and the number of shares in issue at the period end.
*
Alternative Performance Measure
6
Subsidiary
undertakings
The Company
has an investment in the issued ordinary share capital of its
wholly owned subsidiary undertaking, Augmentum Fintech Management
Limited, which is registered in England and Wales, operates in the United Kingdom and is regulated by the
Financial Conduct Authority.
7
Financial Instruments
The
principal risks the Company faces from its financial instruments
are:
• Market
Price Risk
• Liquidity
Risk; and
• Credit
Risk
Market
Price Risk
Market
price risk arises mainly from uncertainty about future prices of
financial instruments in the Group’s portfolio. It represents the
potential loss the Group might suffer through holding market
positions in the face of price movements, mitigated by stock
diversification.
The Group
is exposed to the risk of the change in value of its unlisted
equity and non-equity investments. For unlisted equity and
non-equity investments the market risk is principally deemed to be
represented by the assumptions used in the valuation methodology as
set out in the accounting policy.
Liquidity
Risk
The Group’s
assets comprise unlisted equity and non-equity investments. Whilst
unlisted equity is illiquid, short-term flexibility is achieved
through cash and cash equivalents.
Credit
Risk
The Group’s
exposure to credit risk principally arises from cash and cash
equivalents. Only highly rated banks (with credit ratings above A3,
based on Moodys ratings or the equivalent from another ratings
agency) are used for cash deposits and the level of cash is
reviewed on a regular basis.
Further
details of the Company’s management of these risks can be found in
note 13 of the Company’s 2024 Annual Report.
There have
been no changes to the management of or the exposure to credit risk
since the date of the Annual Report.
Fair
Value Hierarchy
Fair value
is the amount for which an asset could be exchanged, or a liability
settled, between knowledgeable willing parties in an arm’s
length
transaction.
The Group
complies with IFRS 13 in respect of disclosures about the degree of
reliability of fair value measurements. This requires the Group
to
classify,
for disclosure purposes, fair value measurements using a fair value
hierarchy that reflects the significance of the inputs used in
making the
measurements.
The levels
of fair value measurement bases are defined as follows:
Level 1:
fair values measured using quoted prices (unadjusted) in active
markets for identical assets or liabilities.
Level 2:
fair values measured using valuation techniques for all inputs
significant to the measurement other than quoted prices included
within Level 1 that are observable for the asset or liability,
either directly (i.e. as prices) or indirectly (i.e. derived from
prices).
Level 3:
fair values measured using valuation techniques for which any
significant input to the valuation is not based on observable
market data (unobservable inputs).
All
investments were classified as Level 3 investments as at, and
throughout the period to, 30 September
2024. Page 28 presents the movements on investments measured
at fair value. Total gains and losses on assets measured at Level 3
are recognised as part of Gains on Investments in the Consolidated
Income Statement, and no other comprehensive income has been
recognised on these assets.
When using
the price of a recent transaction in the valuations, the Company
looks to ‘re-calibrate’ this price at each valuation point by
reviewing progress within the investment, comparing against the
initial investment thesis, assessing if there are any significant
events or milestones that would indicate the value of the
investment has changed and considering whether a market-based
methodology (ie. using multiples from comparable public companies)
or a discounted cashflow forecast would be more
appropriate.
The main
inputs into the calibration exercise, and for the valuation models
using multiples, are revenue, EBITDA, AuM, and P/E multiples (based
on the most recent revenue, EBITDA, AuM, or earnings achieved and
equivalent corresponding revenue, EBITDA, AuM, or earnings
multiples of comparable public companies), quality of earnings
assessments and comparability difference adjustments. Revenue
multiples are often used, rather than EBITDA or earnings, due to
the nature of the Group’s investments, being in fast-growing, small
financial services companies which are not normally expected to
achieve profitability or scale for a number of years. Where an
investment has achieved scale and profitability the Group would
normally then expect to switch to using an EBITDA or earnings
multiple methodology.
The main
input into the PWERM (‘Probability Weighed Expected Return
Methodology’) is the probability of conversion. This method is used
for the convertible loan notes held by the Company.
The fair
valuation of private company investments is influenced by the
estimates, assumptions and judgements made in the fair valuation
process.
A sensitivity
analysis is provided below which recognises that the valuation
methodologies employed involve subjectivity in their significant
unobservable inputs and illustrates the sensitivity of the
valuations to these inputs. The inputs have been flexed with the
exception of the Sales Price valuation approach as it does not
involve significant subjectivity. The table also provides the range
of values for the key unobservable inputs.
As
at 30 September
2024
Valuation
approach
|
Fair
value of
investments
£’000
|
Key
unobservable
inputs
|
Other
unobservable
inputs*
|
Applied
Multiple Range
|
Weighted
average
multiple
applied#
|
Sensitivity
+/-
%
|
Change
in
valuation
+/(-)
£’000
|
Market
approach using
|
|
Revenue
Multiple
|
a, b, c,
g
|
10x-35.4x
|
6.9
|
10%
|
16,883/
(16,209)
|
comparable
traded multiples
|
|
Earnings
Multiple
|
a, b, c,
g
|
8.3x-15.0x
|
12.0
|
10%
|
3,319/
(3,319)
|
|
|
AUM
Multiple
|
a, b, c,
g
|
0.1x
|
0.1
|
10%
|
264/-
|
|
|
Illiquidity
discount
|
d,
g
|
0%-80%
|
25.6%
|
30%
|
26,080/
(22,988)
|
|
|
Transaction
implied premiums and discounts
|
e,
g
|
33%-738%
|
142.2%
|
30%
|
7,209/
(8,393)
|
Net Asset
Value**
|
|
Discount to
NAV
|
a
|
n/a
|
n/a
|
10%
|
(762)
|
PWERM
|
|
Probability
of conversion
|
a
|
n/a
|
n/a
|
25%
|
315/(315)
|
CPORT^
|
|
Transaction
price
|
a, e,
g
|
n/a
|
n/a
|
10%
|
802/(802)
|
Sales
Price
|
|
n/a
|
n/a
|
n/a
|
n/a
|
n/a
|
n/a
|
# Weighted
average is calculated by reference to the fair value of holdings as
at the respective year-end. This therefore gives a clearer
indication of the typical multiple or adjustment being applied
across the portfolio.
** LP
(‘Limited Partnership’) investments are held at net asset values
provided by the relevant LP fund administrators. These are adjusted
by benchmark movements as appropriate.
^ Whilst a
recent or expected transaction price may be the most appropriate
basis for a valuation, it will be corroborated by other techniques
which factor in the unobservable inputs noted below.
As
at 30 September
2023
Valuation
approach
|
Fair
value of
investments
£’000
|
Key
unobservable
inputs
|
Other
unobservable
inputs*
|
Applied
Multiple Range
|
Weighted
average
multiple
applied#
|
Sensitivity
+/-
%
|
Change
in
valuation
+/(-)
£’000
|
Market
approach using
|
217,054
|
Revenue
Multiple
|
a, b, c,
g
|
2.3x -
28.0x
|
6.0x
|
10%
|
17,564/
(17,554)
|
comparable
traded multiples
|
|
Earnings
Multiple
|
a, b, c,
g
|
6.3x -
18.6x
|
11.0x
|
10%
|
3,146/
(2,423)
|
|
|
AUM
Multiple
|
a, b, c,
g
|
0.1x
|
0.1x
|
10%
|
264/-
|
|
|
Illiquidity
discount
|
d,
g
|
0% -
50%
|
32.3%
|
30%
|
12,558/
(10,920)
|
|
|
Transaction
implied premiums and discounts
|
e,
g
|
0% -
630%
|
109.3%
|
30%
|
17,063/
(18,023)
|
Net Asset
Value**
|
8,264
|
Discount to
NAV
|
a
|
n/a
|
n/a
|
10%
|
(826)
|
PWERM
|
6,068
|
Probability
of conversion
|
a
|
n/a
|
n/a
|
25%
|
248/(248)
|
Expected
transaction price
|
7,135
|
Execution
risk discount
|
a,f
|
n/a
|
n/a
|
10%
|
713/(713)
|
CPORT^
|
16,414
|
Transaction
price
|
a, e,
g
|
n/a
|
n/a
|
10%
|
1,641/
(1,641)
|
Sales
Price
|
10,148
|
n/a
|
n/a
|
n/a
|
n/a
|
n/a
|
n/a
|
*Significant
unobservable inputs
The
variable inputs applicable to each broad category of valuation
basis will vary dependent on the particular circumstances of each
private company valuation. An explanation of each of the key
variable inputs is provided below. The assumptions and decisions
process in relation to the inputs is described in note 19.12 within
the Annual Report.
(a)
Application
of valuation basis
Each
investment is assessed independently, and the valuation basis
applied will vary depending on the circumstances of each
investment. When an investment is pre-revenue, the focus of the
valuation will be on assessing the recent transaction and the
achievement of key milestones since investment. Adjustments may
also be made depending on the performance of comparable benchmarks
and companies. For those investments where a trading multiples
approach can be taken, the methodology will factor in revenue,
earnings or assets under management as appropriate for the
investment.
(b)
Selection
of comparable companies
The
selection of comparable companies is assessed individually for each
investment and the relevance of the comparable companies is
continually evaluated at each valuation date. Key criteria used in
selecting appropriate comparable companies are the industry sector
in which they operate, the geography of the company’s operations,
the respective revenue and earnings growth rates, operating
margins, company size and development stage. Typically, between 4
and 10 comparable companies will be selected for each investment,
but this can vary depending on how many relevant comparable
companies are identified. The resultant revenue or earnings
multiples or share price movements derived will vary depending on
the companies selected and the industries they operate in. Given
the nature of the investments the Company makes there are not
always directly comparable listed companies, in such cases
comparables will be selected whose businesses bear similarity to
the relevant investment, in such cases the need for an additional
discount / premium to the comparables will be assessed at each
valuation date.
(c)
Estimated
sustainable revenue or earnings
The
selection of sustainable revenue or earnings will depend on whether
the company is sustainably profitable or not, and where it is not
then revenues will be used in the valuation. The valuation approach
will typically assess companies based on the last twelve months of
revenue or earnings, as they are the most recent available and
therefore viewed as the most reliable. Where a business has
volatile earnings on a year-on-year basis, revenue or earnings may
be assessed over a longer period. Where a company has reliably
forecasted earnings previously or there is a change in circumstance
at the business which will impact earnings going forward, then
forward estimated revenue or earnings may be used
instead.
(d)
Application
of illiquidity discount
An
illiquidity discount may be applied either through the calibration
of a valuation against the most recent transaction, or by
application of a specific discount. The discount applied where a
calibration (see (e) below) is not appropriate is dependent on
factors specific to each investment, such as quality of earnings or
revenues and potential exit scenarios.
(e)
Transaction
implied premium and discount
Where there
is an implied company valuation available as a result of an
external arm's length transaction, the ongoing valuation will be
calibrated to this by deriving a company valuation with reference
to the average multiple from a set of comparable companies and
comparing this to a transaction implied valuation. This can result
in an implied premium or discount compared to comparable companies
at the point of transaction. This discount or premium will be
considered in future valuations and may be reduced due to factors
such as the time since the transaction and company performance.
Where a calibrated approach is not appropriate, a discount for
illiquidity may be applied as noted in (d) above.
(f)
Execution
risk
An
execution risk discount is applied to all investments where an
arm’s-length transaction is due to take place but hasn’t closed
prior to the reporting period end. The discount applied is
dependent on the progress of the negotiations and outstanding
matters that may impact on the expected price. When valuing in line
with an expected transaction the arm’s-length nature of the deal
will be assessed, and term sheets will have been
received.
(g)
Liquidity
preference
The
company’s investments are typically venture investments with
downside protections such as liquidation preference and
anti-dilution provisions. Unlike ordinary share structures
typically seen in the public or private markets, these structures
protect the value of the Company’s position in the event of a
reduction in the enterprise value of an investee company from the
price paid. Where a valuation indicates the enterprise value of an
investment has fallen the enterprise value will be fed into the
investee companies’ ‘waterfall’ (which ranks shares by
seniority/preference in the event of a liquidation event) to
calculate the value of the Company’s position.
The
following table presents the movement of investments measured at
fair value, based on fair value measurement levels.
|
|
Level
3
|
|
Six
months to
30
September
2024
£’000
|
Year
to
31
March
2024
£’000
|
Opening
balance
|
265,083
|
254,295
|
Purchases
at cost
|
12,590
|
15,976
|
Realisation
proceeds
|
(9,930)
|
(22,790)
|
Gains on
investments held at fair value
|
4,295
|
17,602
|
Closing
balance as at 30 September
|
263,448
|
266,083
|
.
Independent
Review Report to Augmentum Fintech plc
Conclusion
Based on
our review, nothing has come to our attention that causes us to
believe that the condensed set of financial statements in the
half-yearly financial report for the six months ended 30 September
2024 is not prepared, in all material respects, in accordance with
UK adopted International Accounting Standard 34 and the Disclosure
Guidance and Transparency Rules of the United Kingdom’s Financial
Conduct Authority.
We have
been engaged by the Company to review the condensed set of
financial statements in the half-yearly financial report for the
six months ended 30 September 2024 which comprises the Condensed
Consolidated Statement of Comprehensive Income, Consolidated
Statement of Changes in Equity, Condensed Consolidated Statement of
Financial Position, Condensed Consolidated Statement of Cash Flows
and the related notes.
Basis
for conclusion
We
conducted our review in accordance with International Standard on
Review Engagements (UK) 2410, “Review of Interim Financial
Information Performed by the Independent Auditor of the Entity”
(“ISRE (UK) 2410”(Revised)). A review of interim financial
information consists of making enquiries, primarily of persons
responsible for financial and accounting matters, and applying
analytical and other review procedures. A review is substantially
less in scope than an audit conducted in accordance with
International Standards on Auditing (UK) and consequently does not
enable us to obtain assurance that we would become aware of all
significant matters that might be identified in an audit.
Accordingly, we do not express an audit opinion.
As
disclosed in note 1, the annual financial statements of the group
are prepared in accordance with UK adopted international accounting
standards. The condensed set of financial statements included in
this half-yearly financial report has been prepared in accordance
with UK adopted International Accounting Standard 34, “Interim
Financial Reporting”.
Conclusions
relating to going concern
Based on
our review procedures, which are less extensive than those
performed in an audit as described in the Basis for conclusion
section of this report, nothing has come to our attention to
suggest that the directors have inappropriately adopted the going
concern basis of accounting or that the directors have identified
material uncertainties relating to going concern that are not
appropriately disclosed.
This
conclusion is based on the review procedures performed in
accordance with ISRE (UK) 2410 (Revised), however future events or
conditions may cause the group to cease to continue as a going
concern.
Responsibilities
of Directors
The
directors are responsible for preparing the half-yearly financial
report in accordance with the Disclosure Guidance and Transparency
Rules of the United Kingdom’s Financial Conduct
Authority.
In
preparing the half-yearly financial report, the directors are
responsible for assessing the company’s ability to continue as a
going concern, disclosing, as applicable, matters related to going
concern and using the going concern basis of accounting unless the
directors either intend to liquidate the company or to cease
operations, or have no realistic alternative but to do
so.
Auditor’s
responsibilities for the review of the financial
information
In
reviewing the half-yearly report, we are responsible for expressing
to the Company a conclusion on the condensed set of financial
statements in the half-yearly
financial report. Our conclusion, including our Conclusions
Relating to Going Concern, are based on procedures that are less
extensive than audit procedures, as described in the Basis for
Conclusion paragraph of this report.
Use
of our report
Our report
has been prepared in accordance with the terms of our engagement to
assist the Company in meeting the requirements of the Disclosure
Guidance and Transparency Rules of the United Kingdom’s Financial
Conduct 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.
BDO
LLP
Chartered
Accountants
London,
UK
25 November
2024
BDO LLP is
a limited liability partnership registered in England and Wales
(with registered number OC305127).
.
Interim
Management Report
Principal
Risks and Uncertainties
A review of
the half year and the outlook for the Company can be found in the
Chairman’s Statement and in the Portfolio Manager’s Review. The
principal risks and uncertainties faced by the Company fall into
the following broad categories: investment risks; portfolio
diversification risk; cash risk; credit risk; valuation risk;
operational risk; and key person risk. Information on these risks
is given in the Annual Report for the year ended
31 March
2024.
The Board
believes that the Company’s principal risks and uncertainties have
not changed materially since the date of that report and are not
expected to change materially for the remaining six months of the
Company’s financial year.
Related
Party Transactions
During the
first six months of the current financial year, no transactions
with related parties have taken place which have materially
affected the financial position or the performance of the
Group.
Going
Concern
The
Directors believe, having considered the Company’s investment
objective, risk management policies, capital management policies
and procedures, and the nature of the portfolio and the expenditure
projections, that the Group has adequate resources, an appropriate
financial structure and suitable management arrangements in place
to continue in operational existence for the foreseeable
future.
Directors’
Responsibilities
The Board
of Directors confirms that, to the best of its
knowledge:
(i) the
condensed set of financial statements contained within this Half
Year Report has been prepared in accordance with Accounting
Standard IAS 34, ‘Interim Financial Reporting’, as adopted in the
UK;
(ii) the
condensed set of financial statements give a true and fair view of
the assets, liabilities, financial position and return of the
issuer and the undertakings included in the consolidation;
and
(iii) the
Half Year Report includes a fair review of the information required
by 4.2.7R and 4.2.8R of the UK Listing Authority Disclosure
Guidance and Transparency Rules.
In order to
provide these confirmations, and in preparing these financial
statements, the Directors are required to:
• select
suitable accounting policies and then apply them
consistently;
• make
judgements and accounting estimates that are reasonable and
prudent;
• state
whether applicable IFRS have been followed, subject to any material
departures disclosed and explained in the financial statements;
and
• prepare
the financial statements on the going concern basis unless it is
inappropriate to presume that the Company will continue in
business;
and the
Directors confirm that they have done so.
On behalf
of the Board of Directors
William
Reeve
Chairman
25 November
2024
.
Glossary
and Alternative Performance Measures
Alternative
Investment Fund Managers Directive (“AIFMD”)
Agreed by
the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union and
transposed into UK legislation, the AIFMD classifies certain
investment vehicles, including investment companies, as Alternative
Investment Funds (“AIFs”) and requires them to appoint an
Alternative Investment Fund Manager (“AIFM”) and depositary to
manage and oversee the operations of the investment vehicle. The
Board of the Company retains responsibility for strategy,
operations and compliance and the Directors retain a fiduciary duty
to shareholders.
Alternative
Performance Measures (“APMs”)
The
measures the Board of Directors uses to assess the Company’s
performance that are not defined under the International Financial
Reporting Standards but which are viewed as particularly relevant
for investment trusts. Definitions of the terms used and the basis
of calculation are set out in this Glossary and the APMs are
indicated with an asterisk (*).
Convertible
Loan Note
A
convertible loan note is a loan which bears interest and is
repayable but may convert into shares under certain
circumstances.
Discount
or Premium
A
description of the difference between the share price and the net
asset value per share. The size of the discount or premium is
calculated by subtracting the share price from the net asset value
per share and is usually expressed as a percentage (%) of the net
asset value per share. If the share price is higher than the net
asset value per share the result is a premium. If the share price
is lower than the net asset value per share, the shares are trading
at a discount.
Gross
IRR on Capital Deployed
Is the
annualised return arising on investment related cash flows taking
account of the timing of each cash flow, and assuming all
investments are realised at their carrying value at the period end.
It does not take account of the Group's expenses or transactions
with shareholders. It is derived by computing the discount rate at
which the present value of all investment related cash flows are
equal to the original amounts invested.
Initial
Public Offering (“IPO”)
An IPO is a
type of public offering in which shares of a company are sold to
institutional investors and usually also retail (individual)
investors. Through this process, colloquially known as floating, or
going public, a privately held company is transformed into a public
company.
Internal
Rate of Return (“IRR”)
Is the
annualised return on an investment calculated from the cash flows
arising from that investment taking account of the timing of each
cash flow. It is derived by computing the discount rate at which
the present value of all subsequent cash flows arising from an
investment are equal to the original amount invested.
Performance
fee – Company
AFML is
entitled to a performance fee (previously referred to as carried
interest) in respect of the performance of the Company's
investments. Each performance fee operates in respect of
investments made during a 24 month period and related follow-on
investments made for a further 36 month period, save that the first
performance fee shall be in respect of investments acquired using
80% of the net proceeds of the Company’s IPO in March 2018
(including the Initial Portfolio), and related follow-on
investments.
Subject to
certain exceptions, AFML will receive, in aggregate, 15% of the net
realised cash profits from the sale of investments made over the
relevant period once the Company has received an aggregate
annualised 10% realised return on investments (the ‘hurdle’) made
during the relevant period. AFML's return is subject to a
‘’catch-up’’ provision in its favour.
The
performance fee is paid in cash as soon as practicable after the
end of each relevant period, save that at the discretion of the
Board payments of the performance fee may be made in circumstances
where the relevant basket of investments has been realised in part,
subject to claw-back arrangements in the event that payments have
been made in excess of AFML’s entitlement to any performance fees
as calculated following the relevant period.
The
performance fee payable by the Company to AFML is accrued in the
Company's financial statements and eliminated on consolidation in
the Group financial statements.
Performance
Fee – AFML
The
performance fee arrangements within AFML were set up with the aim
of incentivising employees of AFML and aligning them with
shareholders through participation in the realised investment
profits of the Group.
Any
performance fee received by AFML will be allocated to its employees
on a discretionary basis by the Management Engagement &
Remuneration Committee of the Company.
NAV
per share Total Return*
The
theoretical total return on the NAV per share, reflecting the
change in NAV during the period assuming that any dividends paid to
shareholders were reinvested at NAV at the time the shares were
quoted ex-dividend. This is a way of measuring investment
management performance of investment trusts which is not affected
by movements in the share price discount/premium.
Net
Asset Value (“NAV”)
The value
of the Group’s assets, principally investments made in other
companies and cash being held, minus any liabilities. The NAV per
share is also described as ‘shareholders’ funds’ per share. The NAV
is often expressed in pence per share after being divided by the
number of shares in issue. The NAV per share is unlikely to be the
same as the share price, which is the price at which the Company’s
shares can be bought or sold by an investor. The share price is
determined by the relationship between the demand and supply of the
shares.
Net
Asset Value (“NAV”) per share after performance
fee*
The NAV of
the Group as calculated above less the performance fee accrual made
by the Company divided by the number of issued shares.
Net
Asset Value (“NAV”) per share after performance fee total
return*
The
Directors regard the Group’s NAV per share after performance fee
total return as being the critical measure of value delivered to
shareholders over the long term. The Board considers that the NAV
per share after performance fee better reflects the current value
of each share than the consolidated NAV per share figure, the
calculation of which eliminates the performance fee.
Partnership
Augmentum I
LP, a limited partnership registered in Jersey and a wholly-owned
subsidiary of the Company.
Total
Shareholder Return*
The
theoretical total return per share reflecting the change in share
price during the period and assuming that any dividends paid were
reinvested at the share price at the time the shares were quoted
ex-dividend.
Unquoted
investment
Investments
in unquoted securities such as shares and debentures which are not
quoted or traded on a stock market.
.
The half
year report will shortly be available for inspection on the
Company's website (https://augmentum.vc) and the National Storage
Mechanism website (https://data.fca.org.uk/#/nsm/nationalstoragemechanism).
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