NewMedia SPARK announces preliminary results 2007
NewMedia SPARK plc
Preliminary Announcement of Preliminary Results for the year ended 31 March 2007
NewMedia SPARK plc (SPARK), the technology venture capital company is pleased to announce its Preliminary Results for the year ended 31 March 2007
Key Highlights:
• Highly successful sale of Mergermarket to The Financial Times yields proceeds of £27.8m and a return of 23.7 times SPARK's invested capital in the year to 31 March 2007.
• The acquisition of Quester after the year end brings the management of an additional £200m into the group (making a total of £275m), a seasoned investment team, a platform for managing further third party funds and a positive contribution to SPARK running costs going forward.
• Strong deal flow adds eight new investments to the portfolio diversified as to stage and sector (of which three were after the year end), including Mydeco.com, a new initiative from the founders of lastminute.com, backed first by the SPARK investment team in 1998.
• Several of the more mature investments in the portfolio show strong underlying performance, even where valuations remain unchanged.
• Net Assets per share increase from 17.7p to 17.8p in the year to March 2007.
• The adoption of International Financial Reporting Standards and the consolidation of portfolio companies where holdings exceed 50%, substantially alters the presentation of our financial information.
• Net results for the financial year, which was a loss of £0.2m in 2007 and a profit of £18.2m in 2006, would have been a profit of £4.1m in 2007 and a larger profit of £23.2m in 2006 were it not for the consolidation of the major holdings in Aspex and DX3.
Andrew Carruthers, Chief Executive of NewMedia SPARK, commented:
"The last year has contained many successful developments and much change for SPARK. In the first instance, the sale of our investment in Mergermarket generated £25.9m of cash resources. Throughout the year we have continued to invest in first class early stage businesses as well as start-up companies, when these are being launched by proven, serial entrepreneurs such as Brent Hoberman and Martha Lane-Fox with their new start-up Mydeco.com.
"Following the year end we announced the acquisition of Quester which has established SPARK as the largest quoted early-stage investor in Europe, providing both a seasoned investment team and giving us the regulatory, administrative and reporting platform for the management of third party funds."
Enquiries:
Andrew Carruthers, Chief Executive Officer 020 7851 7777
Isabel Podda, Buchanan Communications 020 7466 5000
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