REG - Chrysalis Investment - Quarterly NAV Announcement and Trading Update

Chrysalis InvestmentsAnnouncement

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RNS Number : 0085G  Chrysalis Investments Limited  04 November 2025

The information contained in this announcement is restricted and is not for
publication, release or distribution in the United States of America, any
member state of the European Economic Area (other than to professional
investors in Belgium, Denmark, the Republic of Ireland, Luxembourg, the
Netherlands, Norway and Sweden), Canada, Australia, Japan or the Republic of
South Africa.

 

The information contained within this announcement is deemed by the Company to
constitute inside information as stipulated under the Market Abuse Regulation
(EU) No. 596/2014 which forms part of domestic law in the United Kingdom
pursuant to The European Union Withdrawal Act 2018, as amended by The Market
Abuse (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019.

 

4 November 2025

 

 

Chrysalis Investments Limited ("Chrysalis" or the "Company")

 

Quarterly NAV Announcement and Trading Update

 

Net Asset Value

 

The Company announces that as at 30 September 2025 the unaudited net asset
value ("NAV") per ordinary share was 171.65 pence.

 

The NAV calculation is based on the Company's issued share capital as at 30
September 2025 of 509,499,538 ordinary shares of no par value.

 

September's NAV per share represents a 1.92 pence per share (1.1%) decrease
since 30 June 2025. The decrease in the fair value of the portfolio accounted
for approximately 3.88 pence per share, with foreign exchange generating an
offset of approximately 1.17 pence per share. The share buyback led to 1.46
pence per share of accretion; other income, fees and expenses make up the
balance.

 

Richard Watts and Nick Williamson, Managing Partners of Chrysalis Investment
Partners LLP comment:

 

"NAV per share was broadly unchanged in the final quarter, following its
significant uptick over the third quarter, resulting in a strong performance -
up 21.5% - over the financial year ended 30 September 2025.

 

Starling has been the key driver of NAV per share growth over the year and saw
further progress in the last quarter. We continue to see Starling's Engine
proposition as a potentially major adjunct to future valuation. We believe
Declan Ferguson's (Starling CFO) comment earlier in the year that he saw a
"credible path to £100 million of recurring revenue within two years" as well
within reach.

 

We also believe the rollout of Starling's banking AI tools - such as the post
period end launch of Scam Intelligence - offers a point of significant
differentiation over other incumbents, with Starling's tech stack easing AI
integrations.

 

The quarter was most notable for the IPO of Klarna on the NYSE. Despite a
strong initial performance directly post IPO, Klarna was caught up in sector
wide weakness shortly thereafter and ended the quarter about 8% below the IPO
price.

 

With our major assets performing well and with strong pipelines of potential
new business in front of them, we are optimistic for further NAV per share
progression in the year ahead."

 

 

Portfolio Activity

 

The most significant event over the quarter was the IPO of Klarna on the New
York Stock Exchange on 9 September at a price of $40 per share, equivalent to
a market cap of approximately $15 billion.

 

The Investment Adviser recommended not to sell shares at the point of IPO,
partly due to the IPO process itself - which involved irrevocable selling
indications, regardless of price received - but also due to its belief Klarna
would continue on a robust growth path in the medium term, which would drive
significant profits. The Company is subject to a customary six-month lock-up
period from IPO.

 

Following strong initial performance post IPO, Klarna's shares weakened
towards the end of the quarter, in line with a wider sectoral pullback.

 

Elsewhere, the Company continued to enact its Capital Allocation Policy
("CAP"); in particular the second element of this, namely the return of up to
£100 million to shareholders, which has been undertaken in the form of a
share buyback. Over the quarter, a further £17 million of shares were bought
into treasury, taking the total capital returned to £86 million by quarter
end, which has subsequently risen to £93 million as of 31 October.

 

Portfolio Update

 

Starling

 

Starling has seen a busy period of corporate news flow.

 

In July, a new marketing campaign - "Good with Money" - was showcased ahead of
a brand relaunch later in the year which will feature across owned and
above-the-line channels. This was followed in September by a refresh of the
bank's brand identity.

 

Following June's launch of "Spending Intelligence" - an AI-powered tool that
allows customers to ask questions of their spending habits - Starling revealed
its second AI application for customers, "Scam Intelligence", in October. Scam
Intelligence allows customers to upload pictures of ads from online
marketplaces to assess them for fraud. The AI application can then spot
potential red flags, such as the image of the item not being genuine, the
payment details not matching those of the seller, or pricing anomalies. Given
authorised push payment ("APP") fraud cost the UK c£450 million in 2024, this
feature is expected to provide another layer of security for Starling users.

 

The Investment Adviser believes that Starling's software stack offers it a
significant advantage in the provision of AI to its users as it has a single
data set for analysis, rather than many different systems operating across the
bank, as is the case for many legacy providers. The application of AI offers
the opportunity to drive significant differentiation in the future.

 

August saw Starling return to the M&A market - the first time since the
purchase of Fleet in 2021 - with the acquisition of Ember, an accounting and
tax software provider for SMEs. With "Making Tax Digital" due to be enforced
by HMRC in April 2026, Ember will help Starling's SMEs to comply with these
new regulations.

 

Strong interest remains in Starling's Engine proposition, and its pipeline is
robust, noting Declan Ferguson's (Starling CFO) comment earlier in the year
that he saw a "credible path to £100 million of recurring revenue within two
years".

 

Smart Pension

 

Smart continues to report strong growth in its Master Trust (SPMT), which sees
significant annual contributions from saving members and was assisted by the
robust performance of markets over the period. In addition, the company
expects to fully consolidate its most recent acquisition - Options - during
the latter part of the year.

 

The Pension Schemes Bill was introduced to Parliament in June 2025 and is
currently passing through the legislative process. One of its aims is to set a
minimum scale threshold for multi-employer DC (defined contribution) schemes
of £25 billion of AuM by 2030. Due to the number of schemes currently below
this threshold, the government has proposed a "transition pathway" which would
see a threshold test of £10 billion by 2030 with a credible plan required to
£25 billion by 2035.

 

With the addition of Options, SPMT should approach £9 billion in AuM by year
end, which puts it in an excellent place to achieve entry into the transition
pathway at the very least. The Bill also looks likely to drive further
consolidation in the market, with NatWest rumoured (Sky News) to be selling
Cushon about two years after buying it.

 

Elsewhere, interest in Smart's "Platform-as-a-Service" offering (Keystone)
remains significant. In part this is driven by the search for tech-led
solutions in the market, but there have also been signs of increased interest
following the Pension Schemes Bill, as providers look for a way to drive
efficiencies from potential consolidation.

 

Klarna

 

Klarna reported 2Q25 results in the period, which showed a significant
acceleration in both GMV and revenues, up 19% and 20% respectively
(year-on-year; like-for-like), versus 13% and 15% respectively in 1Q25 (on the
same basis). The Investment Adviser believes this faster growth was assisted
by recent strategic partnerships, such as Stripe, coming online. With Nexi,
Worldpay and JP Morgan Payments the next major partners to go live and with
the Walmart deal likely to scale over the latter part of the year, prospects
for continued strong top-line growth are positive.

 

Despite this growth and strong operating expense performance, adjusted
operating profit remained broadly flat year-on-year at $29 million. The key
impediment to profit growth at present is rising impairment provisions, which
are due to accounting rules - IFRS9 - that require lenders to record expected
loan losses as soon as a loan is issued. This means costs are recognised
upfront, making the loan appear unprofitable at first. It should be noted that
these provisions are distinct from the underlying delinquency situation, which
improved in the quarter (realised losses as a percentage of GMV fell from
48bps 2Q24 to 45bps 2Q25).

 

Klarna is expanding its Fair Financing product in the US, which offers larger
loans with higher take rates than its Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) product, and
it is early loss provisions associated with this product that are the main
reason for the increase in overall provisions - from 0.42% of GMV in 2Q24 to
0.56% in 2Q25. As Fair Financing growth stabilises and Klarna starts selling
more loans through its forward flow agreements (removing them from its balance
sheet), this pressure on provisions should ease. Combined with falling market
interest rates (which reduce costs), Klarna expects its gross margins to
improve over time. With continued revenue growth, this should lead to stronger
profits.

 

wefox

 

wefox has continued to perform well, following a period of intense
reorganisation.

 

The company has now significantly reduced its footprint, refocusing on the
Netherlands, Austria and Switzerland, as well as disposing of non-core
activities, such as the insurance carrier. As a result of this work, the
company expects a circa €100 million swing in adjusted EBITDA between FY23
and FY26e - with most of this already realised - and 2025 is expected to be
its first full year of profitability.

 

With a streamlined and significantly less cash-consumptive operation, wefox is
on a much more stable footing to enact its strategy of growing its core
markets and products; selective pieces of M&A will be assessed to
strengthen wefox's market position and grow its profit stream.

 

At the end of the period, the company appointed Dieter Bartl as CFO. Dieter
has over 25 years of experience in insurance, banking and technology,
including with Zurich Insurance and Prudential plc.

 

Brandtech

 

Utilising "Pencil", its flagship Gen AI marketing platform, Brandtech
continued to develop its AI proposition over the period. Pencil integrates
with platforms like TikTok, Instagram and YouTube, allowing marketers to
produce high-performing content quickly and cost effectively. Pencil has also
partnered with Google and it is now integrated into Google Cloud and available
directly through Google Cloud Marketplace, allowing marketing teams to use its
tools for ad creation, predictive performance and campaign optimisation.

 

The Investment Adviser believes that Brandtech's offering is resonating well
in the market and the current level of engagement with clients and the growth
in Brandtech's pipeline is supportive of that; however, the market backdrop
and the performance of many listed peers has been subdued year-to-date, with
some delays evident in pipeline conversion.

 

Overall, the transition to widespread adoption of AI in the industry is
occurring at a slower pace than the Investment Adviser had previously
expected, but it is still of the view that AI will have a major impact on the
marketplace and that Brandtech is well positioned to capitalise on this trend.

 

Cash Update

 

As of 30 September 2025, the Company had gross cash and equivalents of
approximately £118 million, and positions in Klarna and Wise of approximately
£115 million and £3 million respectively, giving a total liquidity position
of approximately £236 million (representing approximately 27% of NAV). The
gross cash position reduced over the quarter largely because of the ongoing
share buyback being pursued by the Company.

 

The Company had a net cash position of approximately £48 million, once the
£70 million term loan is accounted for.

 

Shortly after the period end the Company elected to pay back £10 million of
the term loan, reflecting the improved liquidity position it currently enjoys.
As a result, the outstanding term loan is £60 million.

 

Portfolio Composition

 

As of 30 September 2025, the portfolio composition was as follows:

 

                                  30-Sep
                                  Carrying Value

 Portfolio Company                (£ millions)    % of NAV
 Starling                         406.6           46.5%

 Smart Pension                     123.4          14.1%

 Klarna                            115.3          13.2%

 wefox                             91.5           10.5%

 Brandtech                         36.8           4.2%

 Deep Instinct                     26.7           3.1%

 Secret Escapes                    15.7           1.8%

 Featurespace                      9.2            1.1%

 Wise                              3.1            0.4%

 Sorted                            0.3            0.0%
 Gross cash and cash equivalents  118.1           13.5%

 

Source: Chrysalis Investments Limited. The above percentages are based on a
net asset value of approximately £875 million for 30 September 2025. The
Company's Featurespace investment has been disposed and the amounts remaining
relate to deferred disposal proceeds.

 

Factsheet

 

An updated Company factsheet will shortly be available on the Company's
website:  https://www.chrysalisinvestments.co.uk
(https://www.chrysalisinvestments.co.uk) .

 

 

-ENDS-

 

 For further information, please contact:

 Media                                             +44 (0) 7921 881 800

 Montfort Communications:                          chrysalis@montfort.london

 Charlotte McMullen / Imogen Saunders

 Investment Adviser                                +44 (0) 20 7871 5343

 Chrysalis Investment Partners LLP:

 James Simpson

 AIFM                                              +44 (0) 20 7397 5450

 G10 Capital Limited:

 Maria Baldwin

 Deutsche Numis:                                   +44 (0) 20 7260 1000

 Nathan Brown / Matt Goss

 Panmure Liberum:                                  +44 (0) 20 3100 2222

 Chris Clarke / Darren Vickers

 Barclays Bank PLC:                                +44 (0) 20 7623 2323

 Dion Di Miceli / Stuart Muress / James Atkinson

 IQEQ Fund Services (Guernsey) Limited:            +44 (0) 1481 231 852

 Aimee Gontier / Elaine Smeja

 

LEI: 213800F9SQ753JQHSW24

A copy of this announcement will be available on the Company's website at
https://www.chrysalisinvestments.co.uk
(https://www.chrysalisinvestments.co.uk)

The information contained in this announcement regarding the Company's
investments has been provided by the relevant underlying portfolio company and
has not been independently verified by the Company. The information contained
herein is unaudited.

This announcement is for information purposes only and is not an offer to
invest. All investments are subject to risk. Past performance is no guarantee
of future returns. Prospective investors are advised to seek expert legal,
financial, tax and other professional advice before making any investment
decision. The value of investments may fluctuate. Results achieved in the past
are no guarantee of future results. Neither the content of the Company's
website, nor the content on any website accessible from hyperlinks on its
website for any other website, is incorporated into, or forms part of, this
announcement nor, unless previously published by means of a recognised
information service, should any such content be relied upon in reaching a
decision as to whether or not to acquire, continue to hold, or dispose of,
securities in the Company.

The Company is an alternative investment fund ("AIF") for the purposes of the
AIFM Directive and as such is required to have an investment manager which is
duly authorised to undertake the role of an alternative investment fund
manager ("AIFM"). G10 Capital Limited is the AIFM to the Company. Chrysalis
Investment Partners LLP is the investment adviser to G10 Capital Limited.
Chrysalis Investment Partners LLP (FRN: 1009684) is an Appointed
Representative of G10 Capital (FRN: 648953) Limited, which is authorised and
regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.

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