Annual results

Phoenix Digital Assets PLC
28 June 2024
 

This announcement contains information which, prior to its disclosure, was inside information as stipulated under Regulation 11 of the Market Abuse (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019/310 (as amended). Upon the publication of this announcement via a Regulatory Information Service, this inside information is now considered to be in the public domain.

 

Press release

 

28 June 2024

 

 

Phoenix Digital Assets PLC

 

("Phoenix" or the "Company")

 

Annual results

 

Notice of Annual General Meeting

 

Phoenix Digital Assets PLC (AQSE: PNIX), an investment company, is pleased to announce its audited results for the 12 months ended 31 December 2023.

 

Financial highlights

·   

Post-tax profit for the year rose to £17.6m (2022: -£9.4m).

 

·   

Change in value of digital assets under management rose 558% to £25.2m (2022: -£5.5m).

 

·   

Total assets under management rose to £46.1m (2022: £25.1m).

 

·   

Net cash stood at £0.7m (2022: £5.8m) as at 31 December 2023 following the Company's capital deployment into the digital assets markets.

 

Notice of Annual General Meeting

 

The Company will hold its Annual General Meeting (AGM) on 25 July 2024 at 3:00p.m. at the offices of Fladgate LLP, 16 Great Queen Street, London, WC2B 5DG.

 

Details of the arrangements for this year's AGM are set out in the Notice of AGM. The Notice of AGM, together with the Form of Proxy, will be posted to shareholders on 2 July 2024.

 

Jonathan Bixby, Chairman of Phoenix, commented: "It has been an incredible year for Phoenix. We correctly predicted the upturn in the digital assets markets and deployed our capital to spectacular results - we have seen our profits increase by £27m year-on-year. In the post-period, we carried through on our promise of returning value to shareholders through a tender offer, returning over £33m. I'd like to thank the Board of Directors and our shareholders for their support in what has been a phenomenal year."

 

The Directors of Phoenix Digital Assets accept responsibility for this announcement.

 

For further information please contact:

 

Phoenix Digital Assets PLC


Jonathan Bixby

Executive Chairman

+44 7876 888 011 

 

First Sentinel Corporate Finance Limited


Corporate Adviser

Brian Stockbridge

+44 7858 888 007

Tancredi Intelligent Communication

UK & Europe Media Relations

 

phoenix@tancredigroup.com

 

About Phoenix

Phoenix Digital Assets PLC invests in a diversified portfolio of cryptocurrency, and/or in companies or funds which have exposure to NFT or blockchain technology. The Company's leadership team have an extensive track record in the cryptocurrency sector and previously founded Argo Blockchain PLC, a global crypto miner. Phoenix is headquartered in London, UK, and its shares are listed on the Aquis Stock Exchange Growth Market under the ticker symbol PNIX. https://www.getphoenix.co.uk

 

Notes

This announcement may contain "forward-looking" statements and information relating to the Company. These statements are based on the beliefs of Company management, as well as assumptions made by and information currently available to Company management. The Company does not undertake to update forward‐looking statements or forward‐looking information, except as required by law.

 

Chairman's statement

 

I am delighted to report Phoenix Digital Assets PLC's full-year results for 2023.

 

This period has been the most successful in Phoenix's history. Our post-tax profit rose to £17.6m (2022 -£9.4m), an increase of £27m year-on-year. The value of our digital asset holdings surged since last year, increasing in value by £25.2m. The Company had a net asset value of £46.1m at the close of the period, an increase of 83.74% from 2022.

 

We changed strategic focus in 2023, moving from a fund predominantly investing in companies and assets related to non-fungible tokens (NFTs), to an investment company with the intention of becoming the premier large cap crypto currency fund in the UK. This strategic change was reflected in our name, which we changed from NFT Investments PLC to Phoenix Digital Assets PLC in January 2024. Phoenix better reflects our diverse range of crypto-assets and investments across our high performing fund.

 

In last year's results, we noted that the cryptocurrency markets had begun to recover, and we expected this trend to continue as the Bitcoin 'halving' approached. The halving is an automated process every four years following which the rewards of mining Bitcoin are halved, typically leading to an uptick in the Bitcoin price. Our prediction of an increase in the price of Bitcoin has been proven entirely correct, and as a result we have generated significant value for our investors.

 

The Bitcoin price rose from $16,625 as at 1 January 2023 to $42,823 as at 1 January 2024. The price continued to rise in the post-period, reaching $61,222 as at 24 June 2024 (source: CoinMarket Cap, 2024). Other cryptocurrencies have followed Bitcoin's positive trend, with the price of Ether increasing 40% between January 1 and 24 June 2024.

 

The price increase was spurred on by the US' Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approving the first Bitcoin exchange traded funds (ETFs) in January 2024, which increased inflows of institutional capital into the digital asset markets. We expect volatility in the digital asset markets to continue to decrease as institutional involvement rises.

 

Our investment success further widened the share price discount to NAV, supporting the Board of Directors' intention to return value to shareholders via a tender offer after the Bitcoin halving. In 2023 and the post-period we took a number of steps to facilitate the tender offer and correct the price discrepancy. In March 2023 the High Court of England and Wales confirmed the reduction of our share capital by way of cancellation of our share premium account, which paved the way for the tender offer.

 

Following shareholder approval at a General Meeting on 11 June 2024, we purchased 625,000,000 Ordinary Shares from our shareholders at the tender price of 5.39p, equal to Phoenix's NAV per share as at 21 May 2024, a 35% premium to the share price at the same time.

 

In total, we returned £33,687,500 to our shareholders, and reduced our issued share capital from 1,085,875,000 to 460,875,000, a reduction of 57.56%. This has successfully shrunk the distance between NAV and the Company's share price.

 

Our intention remains to create value for our investors by leveraging our team's expertise to generate returns in the digital asset markets. I would like to take this opportunity to thank our shareholders for their continued support and look forward to a successful 2024.

 

Jonathan Bixby, Executive Chairman



 


Note

2023

£

2022

£

Revenue


-

-

Fair value movements (including impairment and exchange differences) in investments

 

10

 

(2,381,246)

 

(2,686,079)

Fair value movements in digital assets and

tokens

9

25,263,683

(5,531,034)



22,882,437

(8,217,113)

Share based payment

16

(153,184)

-

Administrative expenses

3

(2,530,188)

(1,556,872)

Impairment of intangible asset

9

(62,500)

-

Operating profit/(loss)


20,136,565

(9,773,985)

Finance income

5

-

402,083

 

Profit/(loss) before taxation


 

20,136,565

 

(9,371,902)

Taxation

7

(2,570,736)

-

Profit/(loss) after taxation and total comprehensive profit/(loss) for the year


 

17,565,829

 

(9,371,902)

               

 

Earnings/(loss) per ordinary share:


 

Basic earnings/(loss) per share (pence)

 

8

 

1.75

 

(0.93)

Diluted earnings/(loss) per share (pence)

8

1.66

(0.93)

 

 

                                                                                                                                   



Group

 

Company



2023

2022

 

2023

2022


Notes

£

£

 

£

£

Non-Current Assets







Intangible assets

9

43,873,668

15,448,382


43,873,668

15,448,382

Investments

10

1,534,940

3,691,186


1,534,941

3,691,187

Total non-current assets


45,408,608

19,139,568

 

45,408,609

19,139,569

Current Assets







Trade and other receivables

11

1,284

125,765


388,356

157,837

Cash and cash equivalents

12

695,760

5,847,274


308,687

5,815,201

Total current assets


697,044

 

697,043

Total assets


46,105,652

25,112,607

 

46,105,652

25,112,607








Shareholders' equity







Share capital

15

1,009,000

1,003,000


1,009,000

1,003,000

Share premium

15

18,000

33,323,133


18,000

33,323,133

Share based payments reserve

16

3,049,183

2,925,908


3,049,183

2,925,908

Distributable reserve

15

33,359,133

-


33,359,133

-

Retained earnings


5,381,281

(12,241,657)


5,381,281

(12,241,657)

Total shareholders' equity


42,816,597

25,010,384

 

42,816,597

25,010,384








Non-Current Liabilities







Deferred tax liabilities

13

2,543,536


2,543,536

Total non-current liabilities


2,543,536

 

2,543,536

Current Liabilities







Trade and other payables

14

745,519

102,223


745,519

102,223

Total current liabilities

 

745,519

 

745,519

Total liabilities


3,289,055

102.223

 

3,289,055

102.223

 


 

 

 

 

 

Total equity and liabilities


46,105,652

25,112,607

 

46,105,652

25,112,607

 

The financial statements were approved by the Board of Directors and authorised for issue on 27 June 2024 and were signed on its behalf by: Nicholas Lyth - Director

 

 

 

 

Share capital

 

 

Share Premium

 

 

Retained earnings

 

Share-based payments reserve

 

 

Distributable reserve

 

 

 

Total


x

£

£

£

£

£

Year ended 31 December 2022







At 1 January 2022

1,003,000

33,323,133

(2,869,755)

2,925,908

-

34,382,286

Loss for the year and total comprehensive loss

-

-

(9,371,902)

-

-

(9,371,902)

At 31 December 2022

1,003,000

33,323,133

(12,241,657)

2,925,908

-

25,010,384








Year ended 31 December 2023







At 1 January 2023

1,003,000

33,323,133

(12,241,657)

2,925,908

-

25,010,384

Profit for the year and total comprehensive profit

-

-

17,565,829

-

-

17,565,829

Shares issued in the year

6,000

54,000

-

-

-

60,000

Share based payments

-

-

-

153,184

-

153,184

Deferred tax on share based payments

-

-

-

27,200

-

27,200

Warrants exercised in the year

-

-

57,109

(57,109)

-

-

Cancellation of share premium account

-

(33,359,133)

-

-

33,359,133

-

At 31 December 2023

1,009,000

18,000

5,381,281

3,049,183

33,359,133

42,816,597

1 There were no transactions in the Subsidiary and thus no impact on the Statement of Changes in Equity

 

Share capital

Share capital represents the nominal value on the issue of the Company's equity share capital, comprising £0.001 ordinary shares.

 

Share premium

Share premium represents the amount subscribed for the Company's equity share capital in excess of nominal value.

Any transaction costs associated with the issuing of shares are deducted from share premium, net of any related income tax benefits.

 

Retained earnings

Retained earnings represent the cumulative net income and losses of the Group recognised through the statement of comprehensive income.

 

Share based payment reserve

Share based payment reserve represents the cumulative cost of share-based payments.

 

Distributable reserve

Distributable reserve represents the Share premium that was cancelled during the year as part of the intended share buyback process. These reserves will be utilised to implement the share buyback.

 

Profit/(loss) of Parent Company

As permitted by Section 408 of the Companies Act 2006, the statement of comprehensive income of the Parent Company is not presented as part of these financial statements. The Parent Company's profit after tax for the financial year was £17,565,829 (2022: £9,371,902 loss).




Group

 

Company



2023

2022

 

2023

2022



£

£

 

£

£

Operating activities







Profit/(loss) for the year


17,565,829

(9,371,902)


17,565,829

(9,371,902)

Adjustments:







 

Loss on disposal of digital assets and tokens


8,260

65,548


8,260

65,548

(Profit)/loss on revaluation of digital assets and tokens


(26,150,407)

 7,477,130


(26,150,407)

 7,477,130

Loss on valuation of investments


711,109

 2,258,239


711,109

 2,258,239

Impairment of investments


1,491,767

-


1,491,767

-

Impairment of intangible assets


62,500

-


62,500

-

Share based payments


153,184

-


153,184

-

Foreign exchange


1,056,834

(475,901)


1,056,834

(475,901)

Finance Income


-

(402,083)


-

(402,083)

Deferred tax expense


2,570,736

-


2,570,736

-








Working capital adjustments:







Decrease/(increase) in trade and other receivables


124,481

-


(230,519)

(32,072)

Increase/(decrease)in trade and other payables


643,296

(22,204)


643,296

(22,204)

Net cash used in operating activities

 

(1,762,411)

(471,173)

 

(2,117,411)

(503,245)

Investing activities







Purchase of digital assets and tokens

 

9

(4,697,212)

 (15,949,540)


(4,697,212)

(15,949,540)

Purchase of fixed assets investments

10

-

(817,958)


-

(817,959)

Sale of intangible fixed assets

9

1,248,109

780,138


1,248,109

780,138

Interest received


-

402,083


-

402,083

Net cash used in investing activities

 

(3,449,103)

(15,585,277)

 

(3,449,103)

(15,585,278)








Financing activities







Share issue


60,000

-


60,000

-

Net cash from financing activities

 

60,000

-

 

60,000

-








Net decrease in cash and cash equivalents


(5,151,514)

(16,056,450)


(5,506,514)

(16,088,523)

Cash and cash equivalents at start of year

12

5,847,274

21,903,724


5,815,201

21,903,724

Cash and cash equivalents at end of year

12

695,760

5,847,274

 

308,687

5,815,201

 

 

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