Final Results

RNS Number : 4018L
Pires Investments PLC
30 April 2020
 

Pires Investments plc

 

("Pires" or the "Company")

 

 

Results for the year to 31 October 2019

 

 

The Board is pleased to announce the audited results of Pires for the year ended 31 October 2019.

 

Highlights

Pre-tax profits achieved of over £865,000 with net asset value in excess of £2,564,000

-    Investment strategy expanded to include the technology sector which is already yielding positive results

Net cash proceeds of £1.6 million and net profit of almost £1 million realised from the disposal of investment in Eco Atlantic

-    Investment returns and recent fund raisings leave the Company well-funded to implement its strategy going forward

 

Chairman's Statement

 

I am pleased to report significant further progress in the year to 31 October 2019. The Company achieved a pre-tax profit of £865,510 (2018: £322,069) with the value of our investment portfolio rising to £1,165,409 (2018: £1,029,526) after investment realisations during the period of £1,016,114 (2018: £264,882). Net asset value at the year-end was £2,564,582 (2018: £949,617), equivalent to 3.56p per share, and earnings were 1.64p per share (2018: 0.95p).

 

In February 2019, we raised just over £780,000 in new equity capital. In October 2019, we obtained shareholder approval for an extension of our investing policy to include technology and invested £1.1 million for a 13% stake in Sure Valley Ventures ("SVV"), a venture capital fund which invests in the software technology sector with a specific focus on artificial intelligence ("AI"), the internet of things ("IoT") and augmented and virtual reality ("AR/VR"). To date, we have made further investments in SVV in line with our funding commitment totalling approximately £370,000. Our technology investments now represent much the larger part of our portfolio, reflecting our change of investment emphasis.

 

Shareholders will also be aware that on 24 April 2020, the Company completed a placing to raise further funds amounting to £1.06 million of which £454,286 has been firmly placed and £605,714 placed conditional upon approval at the forthcoming Annual General Meeting. As part of the placing, we are pleased to welcome the well-known technology investor, Chris Akers, as a significant shareholder in the Company. The Company is now seeing a growing number of new investment opportunities and the Board believes that the Company now has the resources to enable it to take advantage of them as they arise.

 

Our results in the last financial year were largely the result of the increased value and partial realisation of our holding in Eco (Atlantic) Oil & Gas Limited ("Eco Atlantic") which has proved a very successful investment for the Company. The Company has now disposed of the majority of its holding in Eco Atlantic, prior to the share price fall triggered by recent market conditions and the sharp fall in oil prices.  Overall, we have generated total net cash proceeds of £1.6 million and realised a total net profit on disposal of almost £1 million from this investment. 

 

Our recent focus on technology has proved successful to date. In December 2019, very soon after our initial investment in SVV, one of its portfolio companies, Artomatix Limited, was acquired at a price 500% the valuation at which the investment was made.  As realisations when achieved are paid out to investors, Pires received a cash distribution of over €720,000 with a balance of €82,000 due eighteen months after the sale.

 

A number of the other portfolio companies have also made significant progress since our investment. For example, the share price of VR Education Holdings plc which is quoted on AIM has increased by almost 30% since the beginning of the year. In March 2020, VividQ Limited raised a further £2.4 million from two strategic venture capital funds. VividQ has leading edge software providing holography to consumer electronics. In April 2020, Admix (the trading name for WAM Group Limited), which has developed a programmatic monetization platform for gaming and other entertainment developers, raised US$6.1 million from existing and new investors at a 450% premium to the valuation at which SVV's initial investment was made. Also, in April 2020, environmental technology specialist, Ambisense Limited, announced its involvement in ground surveys for a very large UK infrastructure project - the Lower Thames Essex-Kent Crossing. More recently, SVV has invested in Buymie Technologies Limited, a company that has created a platform that uses artificial intelligence to provide consumers with access to multiple large retailers - a particular pertinent investment given the Covid-19 crisis.

 

In March 2020, Pires announced a direct investment of €250,000 in Getvisibility (the trading name for Visibility Blockchain Limited), an artificial intelligence security company, addressing the substantial and increasing problem which corporations face in storing, sorting, accessing and protecting data. It has developed and launched a software platform using artificial intelligence that delivers visibility over a wide range of data.

 

In view of the current Covid-19 pandemic, it is appropriate to make some comment on the position of the Company.  Pires, unlike very many other companies, remains able to carry on its activities effectively. Furthermore, we believe that the Company's technology investments are well positioned against the background of Covid-19.  We are, however, keeping all such matters under close review

 

In summary, the Company has made good progress during the financial year and beyond. The Board's intention is to build a broadly based technology investment company with interests in a range of companies with exciting growth potential. We believe that the fundraisings that we completed, the successful realisation of a key part of our existing portfolio and the investments that we have made represent valuable first steps in this direction. We look forward to further progress in the current financial year.

 

 

Peter Redmond

Chairman

 

 

 

 

STATEMENT OF COMPREHENSIVE INCOME

 

 

Notes

2019

£

2018

£

CONTINUING ACTIVITIES

 

 

 

Income

 

 

 

Other Income

 

1,368

11

Total income

 

1,368

11

 

 

 

 

Gain on investments held at fair value through profit or loss

 

1,151,997

574,987

 

 

 

 

Operating expenses

 

(287,855)

(252,929)

Operating profit from continuing activities

 

865,510

322,069

Profit before taxation from continuing activities

 

865,510

322,069

Tax

 

-

-

Profit for the year from continuing activities

 

865,510

322,069

Other Comprehensive Income

 

-

-

Total Comprehensive Income attributable to equity holders of the Company

 

865,510

322,069

 

 

 

 

Basic profit per share

 

 

 

Equity holders

 

 

 

Basic and diluted

 

1.64p

0.95p

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

STATEMENT OF CHANGES IN EQUITY

 

 

Share Capital

 

Share Premium

£

Capital Redemption Reserve

 

Retained Earnings

£

Total

 

Balance at 1 November 2017

11,914,727

3,581,055

164,667

(15,032,901)

627,548

Profit and total comprehensive profit for the year

 

-

 

-

 

-

322,069

322,069

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As at 31 October 2018

11,914,727

3,581,055

164,667

(14,710,832)

949,617

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Profit and total comprehensive profit for the year

-

-

-

  865,510

  865,510

 

 

 

 

 

 

Issue of shares (net of costs)

81,429

668,026

-

  -

  749,455

As at 31 October 2019

11,996,156

4,249,081

164,667

(13,845,322)

2,564,582

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL POSITION

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2019

£

2018

£

Non-current assets

 

 

 

Investment in subsidiaries

 

1

1

Total non-current assets

 

1

1

 

 

 

 

Current assets

 

 

 

Investments

 

1,165,409

1,029,526

Trade and other receivables

 

11,307

11,357

Cash and cash equivalents

 

1,426,799

48,028

Total current assets

 

2,603,515

1,088,911

Total assets

 

2,603,516

1,088,912

 

Equity

 

 

 

Issued share capital

 

11,996,156

11,914,727

Share premium

 

4,249,081

3,581,055

Retained earnings

 

(13,845,322)

(14,710,832)

Capital redemption reserve

 

164,667

164,667

Total equity

 

2,564,582

949,617

 

 

 

 

Liabilities

 

 

 

Current liabilities

 

 

 

Trade and other payables

 

38,934

139,295

Total liabilities and current liabilities

 

38,934

139,295

Total equity and liabilities

 

2,603,516

1,088,912

 

 

 

 

1.  OPERATING PROFIT

 

2019

£

2018

£

 

Operating profit from continuing activities is stated after charging:

 

 

 

Depreciation of property, plant and equipment

-

-

 

 

 

 

 

         

 

 

2.  EARNINGS PER SHARE

2019

£

2018

£

 

Profit attributable to the owners of the Company

 

 

 

865,510

 

322,069

 

 

 

 

 

2019

No. of

Shares

2018

No. of

shares

 

Weighted average number of shares for calculating basic profit per share

52,900,940

33,900,805

 

2019

Pence

2018

Pence

 

Basic and diluted profit per share

 

 

 

1.64

0.95

 

         

 

 

 

Copies of the accounts will shortly be posted to shareholders and will be available on the Company's website at www.piresinvestments.com

 

 

This announcement contains inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of EU Regulation 596/2014.

 

 

Enquiries:

 

Pires Investments plc:    +44 (0) 20 3 368 8961

Peter Redmond, Director

Nicholas Lee, Director 

 

Nominated Adviser:        +44 (0) 20 7213 0880

Cairn Financial Advisers LLP

Liam Murray

Ludovico Lazzaretti

 

Broker:      +44 (0) 20 7562 3351

Peterhouse Capital Limited

Duncan Vasey / Lucy Williams

 

Financial Media and IR:  +44 (0) 20 3004 9512

Yellow Jersey  pires@yellowjerseypr.com

Sarah Hollins

Henry Wilkinson

Annabel Atkins

 

 

 

 

Caution regarding forward looking statements

 

Certain statements in this announcement, are, or may be deemed to be, forward looking statements. Forward looking statements are identified by their use of terms and phrases such as ''believe'', ''could'', "should" ''envisage'', ''estimate'', ''intend'', ''may'', ''plan'', ''potentially'', "expect", ''will'' or the negative of those, variations or comparable expressions, including references to assumptions. These forward looking statements are not based on historical facts but rather on the Directors' current expectations and assumptions regarding the Company's future growth, results of operations, performance, future capital and other expenditures (including the amount, nature and sources of funding thereof), competitive advantages, business prospects and opportunities. Such forward looking statements reflect the Directors' current beliefs and assumptions and are based on information currently available to the Directors.


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