from Molten Ventures Plc (isin : GB00BY7QYJ50)
Interim Results
Molten Ventures Plc (GROW) Molten Ventures Plc ("Molten Ventures", "the Group" or the "Company")
INTERIM RESULTS FOR THE SIX MONTHS ENDED 30 SEPTEMBER 2025 Continuing momentum, with further growth in portfolio value and NAV per share, ongoing strong realisations, and effective delivery on capital allocation policy Molten Ventures (LSE: GROW) a leading venture capital firm investing in and developing high-growth digital technology businesses, today announces its interim results for the six-month period ended 30 September 2025.
Highlights
Financial highlights for the six months ended 30 September 2025
*The above figures contain alternative performance measures (“APMs”) – see Note 23 in the Interim Report for reconciliation of APMs to IFRS measures. **EIS and VCT funds are managed by Molten Ventures plc Group but are not consolidated. See accounting policies on pages 23 to 26 of the Interim Report.
Operational and strategic highlights for the six months ended 30 September 2025
Ben Wilkinson, CEO, commented: “HY26 sustained strong momentum, marked by continued growth in our portfolio value and NAV per share, ongoing strong level of realisations, and effective delivery on our capital allocation policy. We are pleased with the progress we made on the strategic priorities outlined in February 2025, and remain committed to delivering against these. “We are also making progress in developing co-investment structures to build further scale; continuing with our NAV per share accretive buyback programme; and looking forward to further news flow on both realisations and compelling investments in line with our strategy. As well as nearer-term realisation opportunities in our secondary investments, top assets in our core portfolio are also moving up the maturity curve, underpinning our confidence in building up a strong pipeline of future realisation opportunities and returns. We remain focused on the most accretive uses of our capital to build maximum value across the Group for all our stakeholders.”
Results presentation
A presentation for analysts and other registered investment professionals will be held at 09:30am GMT today, both in-person at Molten’s London office and virtually. To register to attend virtually, please visit: https://stream.brrmedia.co.uk/broadcast/68fb4c429f0c7e00132b04c4
In addition, Molten will also be hosting a presentation on Friday, 5 December 2025 at 10:30am GMT via the Investor Meet Company platform. The presentation is open to all existing and potential shareholders, with a live Q&A session. Questions can be submitted pre-event via the Investor Meet Company dashboard or at any time during the presentation. Investors can sign up for the event for free via this link: https://www.investormeetcompany.com/molten-ventures-plc/register-investor
Interim Report and Accounts
The Company’s Interim Report and Accounts for the six months ended 30 September 2025, will also be available to download from the Company’s website at https://investors.moltenventures.com/investor-relations/plc/reports.
The Company has also submitted its Interim Report and Accounts for the six months ended 30 September 2025 to the UK National Storage Mechanism (available for inspection at: https://data.fca.org.uk/#/nsm/nationalstoragemechanism).
This announcement constitutes the material required by DTR 6.3.5 to be communicated in unedited full text through a Regulatory Information Service.
Enquiries:
Molten Ventures is a leading venture capital firm in Europe, developing and investing in high growth technology companies.
It invests across four sectors: Enterprise & SaaS; AI, Deeptech & Hardware; Consumer Technology; and Digital Health with highly experienced partners constantly looking for new opportunities in each.
Listed on the London Stock Exchange, Molten Ventures provides a unique opportunity for public market investors to access these fast-growing tech businesses, without having to commit to long-term investments with limited liquidity. Since its IPO in June 2016, Molten has deployed over £1bn capital into fast growing tech companies and has realised more than £700m to 30 September 2025.
For more information, go to https://investors.moltenventures.com/investor-relations/plc
Management Statement Chief Executive’s review I am pleased to report a strong first half for Molten, characterised by continued realisation momentum, positive portfolio development, and disciplined execution of the strategic priorities we set out at our Investor Day in February 2025 following my appointment as CEO in October last year. At Molten, our model of investment and active management has been proved over market cycles while our strategy is deep rooted in long-term conviction about the power and value of European technology innovation. Molten continues to be at the forefront of a generational shift in technology. Our portfolio spans all key subsectors including Fintech, Space, Cyber, AI, Climate and Energy, Quantum, Digital Health, and Crypto & Blockchain, and offer considerable potential for value creation, featuring leading technological companies of today and the future. Strategic update We continue to be excited by the market opportunity for investing with deep technology expertise in the UK and Europe and have a platform to invest across direct primary, secondaries and fund investments. We have created value through many market cycles and demonstrated the proof of the upside potential of outperforming technology businesses alongside prudent and targeted portfolio management. Molten will continue to grow by investing in the best investment professionals and building out our third party capital base to complement our listed evergreen balance sheet. There is a compelling opportunity to bridge the gap to capital that exist at the equity growth stages in Europe, combining our company-building expertise alongside the depth of capital required for our businesses to compete globally. A key strength at Molten is our ability to generate value from our investments, as demonstrated by the over £700 million of realisations delivered as a publicly listed vehicle since IPO in 2016. Returning capital through realisations allows Molten to deliver on its capital allocation policy which focuses on NAV per share accretive uses of capital. We balance long term value creation with the opportunity to acquire more of our own portfolio of high-growth companies through share buybacks. Following the update in our full-year results published in June 2025, our focus and priorities remain clear.
Our strategic refocus is delivering tangible results, as demonstrated by continued growth in the Gross Portfolio Value (6% in HY26) and NAV per share (8% in HY26). This is underpinned by our active portfolio management, capital discipline, and a clear focus on NAV per share accretive use of capital. We remain confident in our ability to generate value for shareholders through this renewed focus and operational execution. Performance and realisations The Gross Portfolio Value has delivered fair value growth of £86 million, with favourable currency movements of £11 million, resulting in gross fair value growth of £97 million for the first six months. This reflects the quality and maturity of our portfolio, underpinned by effective portfolio management and development. Of the Gross Portfolio Value, our Core Portfolio companies have generated an 11% fair value uplift, £92 million excluding FX, as they continue to demonstrate strong operational metrics. We are seeing robust revenue growth, strong gross margins, and increasing numbers of companies achieving profitability. Aircall, ICEYE, Revolut, Ledger, and ISAR Aerospace have been standout performers, contributing over £100 million in aggregate fair value growth excluding FX, offset by fair value reductions of £20 million elsewhere. These companies have completed funding rounds at higher valuations, reflecting strong investor demand and positive newsflow during the period. Our consistent valuation approach allows us to recognise upside when companies hit milestones or take reductions quickly where performance falls short. The remaining portfolio has a fair value of £539 million, which is built up of our fund investments totalling £293 million and our direct Emerging companies of £256 million. Our Fund Investments, being our Seed Fund of Funds, Earlybird and Secondary strategy investments, collectively have delivered fair value growth of 3% or £7 million, excluding FX. Our direct Emerging Portfolio has had a fair value reduction of £13 million, excluding FX with this being limited to three specific companies. This part of the portfolio continues to show significant promise, with many companies in the early stages of strong growth trajectories and funding rounds, such as BeZero, Deciphex, Manna and Modo Energy. In our full-year results published in June 2025, we reported strong realisations all at or above holding value, and I am pleased to report that this performance continued in the first half of FY26. Realisations remain a key focus as Molten delivered £62 million in cash proceeds during HY26, representing 4.5% of opening GPV. A further partial realisation of Revolut at the September NAV, brings total proceeds to £85 million, keeping us on pace to deliver our internal annual target of 10% of opening GPV through the cycle. This follows the £135 million realised in FY25, bringing total realisations for the 18 months, to date, to £220 million and demonstrating the maturity, depth and breadth of our portfolio. The continuation of realisations allows us to return further capital to shareholders via our share repurchase programme while maintaining investment capacity and capital allocation discipline. The continued realisations have strengthened our liquidity position, reflecting our focus on active portfolio management and development by our highly experienced team. These exits have been completed at an average multiple of 2.7x invested capital, with all cash realisations at or above holding values, further validating the quality of our portfolio and the robustness of our valuation methodology. The proceeds will be used for NAV per share accretive opportunities, in line with our balanced capital allocation policy, driving shareholder value through strategic deployment into new and existing investments whilst delivering returns to shareholders. Investment activity We deployed £33 million into new and follow-on investments, including in Secondaries during the period, demonstrating our continued ability to access high-quality exciting opportunities. New investments included Duel, an enterprise brand advocacy platform, General Index, a provider of energy and commodity pricing data, and post period end Polymodels Hub, a pharmaceutical modelling, simulation and workflow management platform. These were all Series A deals, with a combined investment of £20 million, alongside EIS and VCT funds managed by Molten. We have continued our Secondary strategy with a £15 million investment in Speedinvest Continuation Fund I, as we leverage our network in the venture capital market to provide liquidity to later-stage funds, with a focus on acquiring portfolios of high-quality mature assets with nearer term realisation opportunities. These investments reflect our disciplined approach to capital deployment, focusing on companies with clear pathways to value creation while maintaining our strategic emphasis on Series A and B opportunities where we can lead and add meaningful value. We continue to see a strong pipeline of compelling investment opportunities both within our existing portfolio and across the wider European technological ecosystem. Post period end we have invested and committed £20 million to Series A and Series B investments, including Polymodels Hub, and a lead Series B follow on from within our existing portfolio. Capital allocation Following the commencement of our share buyback programme in July 2024, to date we have returned £41 million to shareholders, significantly exceeding our capital allocation policy guidance of a minimum of 10% of realisation proceeds. The programme has been NAV per share accretive, contributing 14p to NAV per share uplift in the period. With improving visibility on further realisations, we committed an additional £10 million to buybacks in October, bringing our total commitment to £50 million. This underscores our ongoing focus on narrowing the share price discount to NAV while maintaining our balanced capital allocation approach to continue investing in compelling opportunities. We have deployed £33 million in the six months to 30 September and post period end we have committed an additional £20 million as the lead investor in Series B rounds. We maintain a robust capital position with total consolidated group cash of £77 million as at 30 September 2025, supplemented by £23 million available from managed EIS and VCT funds, and an undrawn revolving credit facility of £60 million. This provides significant flexibility to pursue compelling investment and NAV accretive opportunities while maintaining our balanced capital allocation approach. We continue to focus on cost control and operating efficiencies to reduce expenses year-on-year while maintaining our focus on investment team talent to drive performance. Market update The venture capital and technology sectors demonstrated resilience during the first half of FY26, with improving market sentiment supporting valuations. Listed technology companies showed positive momentum, with many reaching higher valuations that provided supportive comparables for our private portfolio companies. Fundraising remains challenging, but the best businesses are still obtaining funding at attractive valuations. Total funding has remained broadly stable over the last 3 years and we expect European deals to be in the region of $68 billion for 2025, still significantly below the $125 billion peak in 2021 and $100 billion in 2022. However, the number of deals being funded has reduced year on year since 2021. We observed particular strength in sectors aligned with our portfolio focus areas, including artificial intelligence, fintech, and deeptech hardware applications. Exit markets showed encouraging signs of recovery, with strategic acquirers and financial sponsors demonstrating increased appetite for high-quality technology assets. This supported our realisation activity during the period and provides a constructive backdrop for future portfolio realisations. However, the broader liquidity environment remained constrained, with listings still limited and funding environments for private funds still challenging. Interest rates have begun to stabilise, easing inflationary pressures but global factors such as US tariffs and ongoing uncertainty ahead of the UK budget continue to contribute to stock market volatility. The UK and Europe face a significant scale-up funding gap. Initiatives like the Mansion House Accord are working to unlock £50 billion of UK pension scheme capital into private markets by 2030, a potentially significant source of growth funding. Enhancing domestic institutional participation would fund our own innovation with deeper pools of capital and enable more UK and European-founded companies to scale. Outlook and post period end The Board remains committed to maintaining strong and transparent engagement with our shareholder base. In addition to our regular management interactions with shareholders, over recent months, our Chairman has undertaken a programme of meetings with many of our larger shareholders to discuss our strategy, operational performance, and the execution of our business plan. I am pleased to report that the feedback from these meetings has been consistently constructive and supportive, and we remain open to further engagement. Looking ahead, we remain focused on opportunities to drive further value and returns for shareholders. We continue to see attractive investment opportunities both within our existing portfolio and in the wider market. The portfolio continues to demonstrate strong momentum and we're actively deploying capital into compelling new opportunities, with several funding rounds in progress across our holdings, positioning themselves for their next phase of growth. Equally, we're working on a pipeline of realisation opportunities through strategic M&A and potential IPO routes, building on the strong exit momentum we delivered in FY25 and HY26. These exit pathways, whether through trade sales, strategic acquisitions, or public listings, represent the natural progression for our most mature holdings and we expect to see continued activity through the cycle. Our conviction in European technology innovation remains unwavering. The portfolio is well-positioned across transformative sectors, from AI and quantum computing to fintech and climate and energy tech, capturing the generational shift in technology that will define the next decades of how society works. The recognition of venture capital as a compelling asset class for long-term returns is reflected in structural initiatives such as the Mansion House Accord, which is working to unlock significant institutional capital into private markets. We continue to see attractive investment opportunities both within our existing portfolio and in the wider market. Our disciplined approach ensures we remain selective, focusing on opportunities where we can leverage our expertise and networks to add significant value. The development of co-investment structures, including the new Molten East fund expected to first close in 2026, will enhance our ability to participate in larger opportunities while maintaining capital efficiency. With clear strategic direction, a proven platform, and reach across Europe’s technological ecosystem, Molten is positioned well to execute on our priorities: developing our Core and Emerging portfolios, maintaining capital discipline, and creating long-term shareholder value. Chief Executive Officer Financial Review Statement of Financial Position Molten delivered a fair value uplift in the underlying portfolio alongside strong realisations in the period ending 30 September 2025. Gross Portfolio Value as at 30 September 2025 was £1,436 million, a 5% increase from the 31 March 2025 balance of £1,367 million. This uplift was mainly driven by the net fair value growth for the period of £86 million, with a number of companies in the Core making strong contributions to this. Total consolidated group cash available as at 30 September 2025 was £77 million (31 March 2025: £89 million). An undrawn revolving credit facility (“RCF”) of up to £60 million provides further funding flexibility, subject to certain drawing conditions. During the period, we received cash proceeds from portfolio realisations of £62 million, primarily from Lyst, Freetrade, and a partial realisation of our holding in Revolut. We have deployed capital into investments totalling £33 million, with £1 million to general administrative expenses net of fee income, £5 million to net finance expenses, and £20 million to share buybacks. Subsequent to the period end, further cash received from realisations in the second half of the year is already at £25 million. Molten manages liquidity risk by maintaining adequate reserves and ongoing monitoring of forecast and actual cash flows. Capital resources are managed to ensure that there is sufficient headroom for 18 months’ rolling operating expenses. The Company commenced its share buyback programme in July 2024, with a total of £36 million of £40 million deployed as at 30 September 2025 and an additional £10 million commitment announced in October 2025. The programme was financed through cash resources, acquiring a total of 6,234,261 ordinary shares up to 30 September 2025 (31 March 2025: 4,871,767), which represent approximately 3.3% (31 March 2025: 2.6%) of the Company’s issued share capital at period-end. For further information, please see Note 16(i) in the Interim Report. Net Asset Value The Gross Portfolio Value is subject to adjustments for the fair value of any accrued carry and deferred tax liabilities, Net assets in the Consolidated Statement of Financial Position at 30 September 2025 increased by £53 million (4%) from 31 March 2025, to £1,289 million primarily due to the fair value gains. The share buyback programme contributed 14p of accretion in NAV per share in the period. NAV per share for the period ended 30 September 2025 was 724p (31 March 2025: 671p). Debt facility The Group’s Extended Debt Facility comprises a fully drawn £120 million term loan and an RCF of up to £60 million which remains undrawn as at the period end. Both loan facilities are on a three-year tenor, secured against various assets, LP interests, and bank accounts in the Group. The drawn amount is recognised in the consolidated statement of financial position at 30 September 2025, offset by capitalised fees from the setup of the Extended Debt Facility, which are being amortised over its life. For further information, please see Note 15 in the Interim Report. Drawdown of the RCF component of the Extended Debt Facility is subject to a maximum loan to value ratio of 12.5%, while the interest rate remains at SONIA plus a margin of 5.5% per annum. The value of the portfolio continues to be subject to periodic independent third-party valuation at the discretion of our lenders. We have been compliant with all relevant financial covenants throughout the period and at period-end. Statement of Profit and Loss We recognised a profit after tax of £75 million in the six-month period ending 30 September 2025, compared to a £38 million loss after tax in 30 September 2024. Net profit in the period was mainly driven by a positive fair value movement in investments of £80 million (30 September 2024: £15 million decrease). The Group also generated fee income of £11 million in the period (30 September 2024: £12 million), principally comprised of priority profit share (“PPS”), management fees from the managed EIS and VCT funds, performance fees, and promoter fees. PPS is generated from management fees charged on the underlying plc funds. We anticipate that future potential income generated from management of third-party funds will provide a further positive contribution to offset our cost base and enhance future profitability. Operating Costs Molten continues to focus on cost discipline and operational efficiency. General administrative expenses for 30 September 2025 were £12.1 million (30 September 2024: £13.1 million), representing a 8% reduction year-on-year. This reflects our ongoing efforts to streamline operations and improve our cost-to-NAV ratio, keeping our operating costs (net of fee income) at 0.1% as at 30 September 2025 (31 March 2025: 0.6%) which continue to be below the targeted 1% guidance, while maintaining investment in critical areas such as investment team talent. The reduction in operating costs has been achieved through various efficiency measures including process improvements, technology investments, and organisational optimisation. We remain committed to operating leverage as the business scales, with operating costs growing more slowly than portfolio value and investment activity. Gross Portfolio Value Movement The table below sets out the movement in Gross Portfolio Value for the six months ended 30 September 2025 compared to the prior period.
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