Chrysalis Investments reported £1.1bn in assets for the period 1 October 2020 to 31 March 2021, a 108% increase from £542m, in its unaudited interim results published today.
Its share price rose 35% over the period, from 145p to 195.5p, while net asset value ballooned by 28% to 206.2p, following £250 million of net investment gains.
Strong portfolio performance from its key portfolio companies continued, propelling over 70% blended revenue growth year-on-year.
As a result, the investment firm had several funding rounds in its portfolio, notably Klarna and Starling Bank, driving net asset value performance.
“The portfolio has continued to perform well, with several companies seeing exceptional growth. In certain cases, this has led to funding rounds at significant uplifts to our prevailing carrying values, including post period end. We believe the trends underpinning many of these performances are well entrenched,” said Nick Williamson (pictured right) and Richard Watts (pictured left), co-portfolio managers at Chrysalis.
Further investments coming down the pike
Since the interim period Watts and Williamson have added to several holdings including Wefox (€30m) and Starling Bank (£35m), as well as initiating a new investment in retirement savings platform Smart Pension totalling £75m.
This week the pair also announced plans to invest around £45m in Revolution Beauty’s planned IPO. The trust’s investment adviser Jupiter Investment Management will be a cornerstone investor of the beauty giant.
The trust’s interim update also alluded to another potential new investment which is in the latter stages of due diligence, as well as further assets in earlier stages.
The firm’s current cash position holds strong at £150m, with a total liquidity of over £270m.
“Shareholders have more than doubled their money since Chrysalis launched in November 2018 and, with the value of its existing portfolio being substantially underpinned by recent portfolio company funding rounds and a strong pipeline of new investments identified, we believe the company is well placed to continue to generate material growth,” said Andrew Haining, chair of Chrysalis Investments.
