Frontier IP enjoys 'strong first half' of trading year

Intellectual property firm Frontier IP said on Wednesday that it had enjoyed "a strong first half" to the financial year, with the group's portfolio continuing to show "strong commercial and technical progress".

Frontier stated a growing number of its portfolio companies were approaching inflection points, reflected by an increased flow of equity fundraisings across its portfolio, with progress continuing in the second half of the financial year.

Elsewhere, Frontier IP announced earlier that Exscientia, a clinical-stage pharmatech company in its portfolio, had raised $225.0m through a Series D funding round, which it expects to result in an uplift in the AIM-listed firm's book value.

As a result of overall trading across the portfolio in the year-to-date, Frontier now anticipates that the outcome for the year ending 30 June will be "materially ahead" of management expectations, with a significant contribution to the outcome being the increase in the book value of its interest in Exscientia.

Chief executive Neil Crabb said: "Whilst it is not possible for the board to be certain on what the overall portfolio valuation will be at 30 June 2021, we expect it to be positively impacted by the material progress made at a number of companies, including Exscientia, Camgraphic, and The Vaccine Group.

"As a result, we anticipate that the outcome for the year will be materially ahead of management expectations and we look forward to the remainder of the financial year and beyond with optimism."

As of 1345 BST, Frontier IP shares were up 9.33% at 82.0p.