REG - Molten Ventures VCT - Half-year Financial Report
02/12/2025 07:00
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RNS Number : 7769J Molten Ventures VCT PLC 02 December 2025
Molten Ventures VCT plc
LEI: 2138003I9Q1QPDSQ9Z97
Half-Year Results
For the six months ended 30 September 2025
RECENT PERFORMANCE SUMMARY
30 September 31 March 30 September
2025 2025 2024
pence pence pence
Net asset value per share ("NAV") 40.6 43.0 43.2
Dividends paid in period 2.15 2.5 2.5
Cumulative dividends paid since launch 119.75 117.6 117.6
Total Return (NAV plus cumulative dividends paid per share) 160.3 160.6 160.8
DIVIDENDS
Recent Amount per share Date of payment Ex-div date Record date
2025 Interim 1.00p 25 April 2025 27 March 2025 28 March 2025
2025 Final 1.15p 30 September 2025 21 August 2025 22 August 2025
A full dividend history for the Company can be found at
https://investors.moltenventures.com/investor-relations/vct
(https://investors.moltenventures.com/investor-relations/vct)
CHAIRMAN'S STATEMENT
I am pleased to present the Half-Yearly Report for the Company for the six
months ended 30 September 2025 and welcome Shareholders who joined us as a
result of the recent offers for subscription.
We believe the cycle of venture capital markets is improving; we have seen a
steady level of new investment activity in the industry, and, for this VCT, we
actually find the budget announcements of 26 November creating an opportunity
for investors. I explain why later.
Net Asset Value and results
At 30 September 2025, the Company's Net Asset Value per share ("NAV") stood at
40.6p, a slight decrease of 0.25p since 31 March 2025 (after adding back the
dividends paid during the period).
Dividends
In the period, the Company paid dividends totalling 2.15p in April and
September, tax free to all entitled Shareholders.
The Company targets annual dividends of 5% of net asset value and remains
committed to that dividend policy which it intends to continue for current and
future subscribing Shareholders. Shareholders are also reminded that the
Company operates a Dividend Reinvestment Scheme, which allows them to reinvest
their dividends automatically into new shares in the Company and obtain
further income tax relief on that investment. Further details about how to
opt-in can be found in the "Shareholder Information" section on page 3 of the
Half- Yearly report.
The ability to pay dividends and perform buybacks (see below) are subject to
the VCT's Distributable Reserves and at the end of September 2025, of the
Company's distributable reserves, £18.3 million were available to be
distributed; a further £16.0 million of distributable reserves are expected
to become available for distribution under the VCT rules by 1 April 2026, and
a further £16.8 million by 1 April 2027.
Venture capital investments
The Company's close association with Molten Ventures plc provides the Company
with access to the Manager and the Molten Ventures Platform. The Company
benefits from the Manager's distinctive abilities in technology investment and
diversification across enterprise and consumer technology, deep tech and
digital health. The investment team has the specialist experience and skills
to seek, analyse and structure early-stage investments and engage with
founders, management and advisers to determine and execute on the right
success factors to drive value creation.
Since November 2017, the Company has invested over £85 million into 49
companies, including some outstanding and leading-edge technology businesses.
During the period of this report, the Company made 2 new and 1 follow-on
investments, at a total cost of £3.3 million. New investments were made in
General Index Limited and Duel Holdings Limited and a follow-on investment was
made in Oliva Health Limited.
At the period end, the Company held a portfolio of 48 venture capital
investments, valued at £85.0 million, a loan note valued at £0.5 million,
and held net cash for investment of £26.5 million.
As usual, the Board has reviewed the valuations of the unquoted investments as
at 30 September 2025 and a number of adjustments to their carrying values have
been made. This has resulted in a net valuation downturn of £15,000 for the
period across the whole portfolio principally affected by an AIM-quoted
investment, Pulsar plc, valued at its share price as at 30 September 2025
which saw a decrease of £0.6 million over the period and was valued at £2.7
million.
The Budget
We are reasonably sanguine about the Chancellor's announcement in the Budget
(as we understand it). Whereas the Chancellor announced the reduction in VCT
upfront income tax relief from 30% to 20%, that is not to have effect until
April 2026. Until then 30% relief remains. HM Treasury coupled that with
confirmation that it will change the investment restrictions for VCTs broadly
as follows: the lifetime limits on any one investee company
will increase to £24 million (and to £40 million for Knowledge Intensive
Companies ("KICs") - which are your VCT manager's forté) the annual
investment limit will increase to £10 million (£20 million for KICs) and
the gross assets test will increase to £30 million before share issue, and
£35 million afterwards. We see this as comparatively positive for your
VCT. Those investors taking up our current offer to subscribe will still
get good investing relief in the current fiscal year and our investments in
sectors and the stages of companies, typically knowledge intensive, in which
your Managers have investing depth can now extend to those with more scope to
grow under the benefit of VCT finance. That gives us room to build more
strongly in the very areas that promise value to the future of the UK, promise
value to Shareholders and still gives investors a tax advantaged return.
Fundraising
Having launched another successful offer for subscription in October 2024,
which closed in March 2025 at £6.5 million net of costs, the Company
continued its practice of a new offer and launched an Offer for Subscription
in October 2025 to raise £10 million (with an over-allotment facility of up
to an additional £20 million if required). Allotment before April 2026 will
still give the higher tax relief.
Shareholders can find full details of the offer, including the prospectus, and
online application at:
https://investors.moltenventures.com/investor-relations/vct
(https://investors.moltenventures.com/investor-relations/vct)
Investors are always recommended to consult their financial adviser before
making any investment decisions.
Share buybacks
The Company continues to operate a policy of buying in its shares that become
available in the market at approximately a 5% discount to the latest published
NAV, subject to regulatory and liquidity constraints. In line with this
policy, during the period, the Company purchased 9,344,254 shares for
cancellation at an average price of 39.62p per share, meeting all demand.
Any Shareholders considering selling their shares will need to use a
stockbroker, whom you should ask to contact Panmure Liberum Limited, who acts
as the Company's corporate broker, and maintains a list of potential sellers
to be contacted when the next buyback is undertaken by the Company.
Outlook
Although we have seen a small fall in NAV over the period, the Board is
satisfied with the approach taken by the Manager in supporting existing
portfolio companies, working on realisations and continuing to identify
suitable new opportunities.
We see signs that conditions will begin to improve in 2026 and that we may now
be approaching a point in the cycle when excellent investment opportunities in
the sectors in which your Company operates are available at attractive prices
which can drive strong performance in future.
Alongside the Budget HM Treasury also launched the Call for Evidence on Tax
Support for Entrepreneurs
(https://substack.com/redirect/442fd658-6b2c-40cf-8004-fa9b32aa9273?j=eyJ1IjoibTRtcmMifQ.OxJ2PkHPmv-RBoIMsw0RiJ5bm7VyWDj5uNBpvGCEafo)
, and has released Entrepreneurship in the UK
(https://substack.com/redirect/09b595b8-7b23-4477-b7b8-77fe52efb127?j=eyJ1IjoibTRtcmMifQ.OxJ2PkHPmv-RBoIMsw0RiJ5bm7VyWDj5uNBpvGCEafo)
which have had limited Press coverage so far. The Enterprise Management
Incentive (principally options) is to be extended to enable scale-ups to
participate as well as start-ups with limits increased; this should help the
managerial energy of the very companies in which we invest. The expansion of
limits for EIS investment as well as VCTs will help EIS investment, alongside
which we are usually eligible investors. The climate for entrepreneurs is
improving. It nevertheless has further to go!
I look forward to updating Shareholders on progress in my statement in the
Annual Report to 31 March 2026, which will be published in the summer.
David Brock
Chairman
1 December 2025
INVESTMENT MANAGER'S REPORT
The first half of the year has seen Molten Ventures VCT plc continue to
execute its strategy of investing 100% of funds in high-growth, innovation-led
businesses across the UK's technology and digital sectors. That strategy
distinguishes your VCT from most others as it makes its contribution to this
country's intent to foster knowledge intensive, high-tech industry.
Whilst our focus has been on delivering an ongoing pipeline of realisations
and growing the value of the portfolio through the active support of existing
companies we have been making new investments. In the period we have made two
new investments, and one follow-on investment, alongside one profitable exit
all of which are detailed below.
The valuation movements over the period showed a small NAV Total Return
("NAVTR") decrease of -0.5% after adding back dividends paid in the period.
This was primarily attributable to the performance from one AIM listed legacy
portfolio company Pulsar Group plc where AIM has generally suffered from poor
market conditions. While this holding has impacted overall returns, the newer
portfolio companies have generally shown resilience and encouraging progress.
Portfolio
At the period end, Molten technology companies represented 87% of the
portfolio and pre-Molten legacy companies 13%. The total NAV of £114.6
million was split 77% in investments, and 23% in cash.
Within the portfolio our view is that, by portfolio value (excluding cash),
60% of the portfolio is performing, or emerging as performing broadly as we
might expect. A further 16% are at an early stage of their commercial journey
with reasonable prospects, and the balance require further help to get on to a
viable growth path or exit.
Within the portfolio (using the latest management data available) we have 12
companies with revenues or Annual Recurring Revenue ("ARR") above £5 million.
Of these 10 companies have revenues/ARR above £10 million and 4 have revenues
above £20 million.
Across the portfolio our companies continue to have strong cash runways, with
over 90% of the portfolio with sufficient cash or in advanced funding rounds
and are expected to be able to fund their business for the next 12 months
without requiring more capital.
At this time, we consider that several portfolio companies have the potential
to contribute positively to NAV. Below you will find a high level overview of
selected companies within the portfolio and the Manager's view on potential
for value creation:
Well funded potential category winners
• Thought Machine (core banking software), Form3 (cloud native real time
payments platform), Riverlane (error correction software for quantum
computers)
These three companies represent £20.7 million, 18.0% of NAV and have a
current combined Enterprise Value ("EV") of over $2 billion. We have
well-founded expectations of target EVs that could represent increases over
the current carrying values.
Near term potential uplifts (12-36 month horizon)
• IMU (immune system blood profiling), Modo (data analytics for renewables
battery storage), Anima (integrated GP care communications platform)
These three companies represent £7.5 million, 6.5% of NAV and are all
performing well and receiving significant inbound interest from third party
investors to invest in future funding rounds at materially higher valuations
than the current carrying values.
Emerging companies with exciting prospects
• Satvu (thermal emissions monitoring via satellite), Paragraf (single layer
graphene manufacturer), AltruistIQ (platform for monitoring carbon emissions
in the supply chain), BeZero Carbon (carbon credits rating agency), Focal
Point Positioning (geospatial positioning software)
These five companies represent £19.8 million, 17.3% of NAV and are a mix of
enterprise and deep tech companies. Focal Point Positioning is developing
software that significantly enhances location accuracy, resilience. While
pre-revenue, the company is building commercial traction with leading OEMs and
chipset partners. The enterprise companies AltruistIQ and BeZero Carbon are
both in emerging climate tech categories.
Valuation movements
Within the period there was a relatively stable valuation environment with 10
companies having positive aggregate valuation uplifts of £0.9 million and 6
companies having negative aggregate valuation movements of £0.9 million,
excluding the exit of Freetrade which realised £1.1 million.
The largest positive movement was Binalyze up £196k following the prior
period uplift of £1.9 million. The largest negative movement was Pulsar Group
Plc an AIM listed software business (LSE: PULS) with a decline of £580k.
Pulsar is an software platform pioneering an audience-first approach to the
marketing, communications and media industries. Their SaaS products and
services help thousands of organisations - from leading consumer brands and
blue-chip enterprise companies, to marketing agencies and public sector
organisations, and recently reported sales of over £60 million. There were no
write offs in the period.
Exit Highlights
Following on from an active period of exits in the prior year where we sold 3
companies and received proceeds of £11.0 million, the period to date has
yielded one exit so far.
This was Freetrade, a consumer stock trading platform, which was sold to IG
Index Group yielding proceeds of £1.1 million and a multiple of 1.9 times
cost. The acquisition is seen as a strategic move by IG to expand its reach to
younger, retail investors and integrate Freetrade's scalable technology into
its own offerings.
Post the period end we can also report the sale of Juliand Digital (trading as
Zaptic). This was a defensive exit that completed in November and delivers an
initial 0.9x return and a further 0.1x held in escrow for 18 months.
Investment Activity
In the period total new investments made were £3.3 million (previous year
period £3.3 million). Additionally, a further £1.0 million in the shares of
PERSUIT Global Holdings were acquired as a result of a sale of Apperio
Limited. PERSUIT is the leading legal software platform for outside counsel
selection and management and has more than 4,000 firms and 500,000 lawyers on
its platform including blue chip clients Shell, Wells Fargo, Heineken, BASF,
and Anglo American.
New investments
New and follow on investments alongside the Molten EIS and Molten Ventures plc
funds were made during the year into the following qualifying companies:
Oliva Health Follow on investment £516,084
Duel Holdings New investment £1,799,998
General Index New investment £960,304
PERSUIT Global Holdings Shares from a sale of Apperio Ltd £1,079,103
Total £4,355,489
Duel Holdings is a brand advocacy software platform that enables brands to
mobilise and manage communities of social affiliates, content creators, and
micro-influencers. This helps brands transform their customers and fans into
their most powerful acquisition and retention channel, driving revenue and
growth through organic word-of-mouth and social proof.
General Index is a data technology company that provides independent energy
price benchmarks and analytics. Its platform leverages advanced data science
and cloud infrastructure to deliver transparent, cost-effective, and reliable
pricing information to energy market participants. By challenging traditional
incumbents, General Index aims to modernise and democratise access to energy
market data.
Post the period end we also completed a new investment into Polymodels Hub a
London-based software company revolutionising process development in the
biopharmaceutical industry. Its platform, ModelFlow, enables pharmaceutical
companies to digitise and automate the complex workflows involved in
developing and manufacturing new drugs. The company has secured contracts with
Astra Zeneca, Johnson & Johnson and Sanofi and is positioned as a backbone
for process development in "Big Pharma". It is targeting a $32bn annual market
that remains largely unaddressed by modern software solutions.
We also supported existing portfolio company Oliva Health through a follow-on
funding round helping them to scale their operations and accelerate product
development.
The Budget
The recent budget is a mixed bag. We obviously welcome the uplift in the
annual and lifetime limits and the gross assets tests which mean that we can
keep investing in our portfolio companies for longer to help them on their
growth journey. Given the length of this journey for deep tech businesses from
IP to commerciality this is a welcome and overdue change.
However, the drop in initial tax reliefs from 30% to 20% from 6 April 2026 is
a negative for the whole VCT sector as it may drive down annual subscriptions
and thus limit the amount of capital available to young UK businesses. We will
watch the VCT fundraising landscape unfold in the following months and years.
Given the change in these reliefs we take the opportunity to announce that our
fundraising offer for this season which ranks for 30% initial tax reliefs is
open and available at the following link https://city-ora.uk/offers/mltn-2526
(https://city-ora.uk/offers/mltn-2526)
Outlook
Looking ahead, we remain cautiously optimistic. While the external environment
is likely to remain volatile, we believe the fundamentals underpinning our
investment strategy are strong. The UK continues to foster world-class
entrepreneurial talent, and our pipeline of potential investments remains
healthy.
Our priority remains to support our portfolio companies and to selectively
deploy capital into promising new opportunities. We will maintain our
disciplined approach to capital deployment, focusing on companies with clear
growth trajectories and the potential to deliver meaningful returns.
At Molten, our model of investment and active management is deep rooted in the
long-term conviction about the power and value of 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 Blockchain, and offer
considerable potential for value creation, building leading technological
companies of the future.
We thank Shareholders for their continued support as we navigate both the
challenges and opportunities in the current market environment.
In summary the portfolio remains well diversified among the four technology
investment sectors with companies at different stages of maturity. We've
maintained a strong level of activity this year, with significant realisations
that have provided capital to pay dividends and maintain the buyback scheme.
Elderstreet Investments Limited
Part of the Molten Ventures Group
1 December 2025
SUMMARY OF INVESTMENT PORTFOLIO
Portfolio of investments
The following investments were held at 30 September 2025. All companies are
registered in England and Wales, with the exception of Fulcrum Utility
Services Limited, which is registered in the Cayman Islands, Anima which is
incorporated in Delaware with a UK establishment and PERSUIT Global Holdings
Pty. Ltd which is incorporated in Australia.
Cost Valuation £'000 Valuation % of
£'000 movement NAV
in period £'000 by value
Top ten venture capital investments (by value)
Fords Packaging Topco Limited 2,433 8,091 - 7.1
Form3 UK Limited* 1,420 7,980 - 7.0
Thought Machine Group Limited * 2,400 6,588 - 5.8
Riverlane Limited * 2,661 6,088 - 5.3
Focal Point Positioning Limited * 3,800 6,002 - 5.2
Expanding Circle Limited (trading as AltruistIQ)* 5,412 5,412 (144) 4.7
Global Satellite Vu Limited * 4,689 4,844 18 4.2
Binalyze OU* 2,161 4,274 196 3.7
Melio Healthcare Limited (trading as IMU Biosciences) * 2,520 3,067 - 2.7
Koru Kids Limited * 1,500 3,000 - 2.6
28,996 55,346 70 48.3
Other venture capital investments 54,866 32,868 (85) 28.6
Cash and cash equivalents 26,469 26,469 - 23.1
Total investments 110,331 114,683 (15) 100.0
All venture capital investments are unquoted unless otherwise stated.
* These companies have also received investment from other funds managed by
the Molten Ventures Group (Molten Ventures plc and Molten Ventures EIS) as at
30 September 2025.
INVESTMENT MOVEMENTS FOR THE SIX MONTHS ENDED 30 SEPTEMBER 2025
Additions
Cost
Venture capital investments £'000
Duel Holdings Limited 1,800
PERSUIT Global Holding Pty ** 1,079
General Index Limited 960
Oliva Health Holdings Inc* 516
4,355
Disposals
Value at
Cost 1 April 2025 Gain/(loss)
Proceeds vs cost
£'000 £'000 £'000 £'000
Venture capital investments
Freetrade Limited 600 1,143 1,143 543
Apperio LImited 1,597 900 1,079 (518)
Hampshire Sport & Leisure Limited - - 121 121
Ravelin Technology Limited * - - 35 35
2,197 2,043 2,378 181
These investments were revalued over time and until sold, with any unrealised
gain/(losses) included in the fair value of the investments.
*These companies have also received investment from other funds managed by the
Molten Ventures Group (Molten Ventures plc and Molten Ventures EIS) as at 30
September 2025.
** Shares received in exchange for shares in Apperio Limited.
UNAUDITED INCOME STATEMENT
for the six months ended 30 September 2025
Six months ended Six months ended Year ended
30 September 2025 30 September 2024 31 March 2025
(unaudited) (unaudited) (audited)
Revenue Capital Total Revenue Capital Total Total
£'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000
Income 622 - 622 908 - 908 1,665
Gains/(losses) on investments
Realised - 181 181 - 6,158 6,158 4,569
Unrealised - (15) (15) - (12,366) (12,366) (10,622)
622 166 788 908 (6,208) (5,300) (4,388)
Investment management fees (310) (931) (1,241) (319) (958) (1,277) (2,472)
Other expenses (281) - (281) (313) - (313) (648)
Gain/(loss) on ordinary 31 (765) (734) 276 (7,166) (6,890) (7,508)
activities before
tax
Tax on gain/(loss) - - - - - - -
Gain/(loss) attributable to equity Shareholders being total comprehensive 31 (765) (734) 276 (7,166) (6,890) (7,508)
income for the period
Pence Pence Pence Pence Pence Pence Pence
Basic and diluted return 0.0 (0.3) (0.3) 0.1 (2.6) (2.5) (2.8)
per share
All Revenue and Capital items in the above statement are derived from
continuing operations. No operations were acquired or discontinued during the
period.
The financial statements for the six months ended 30 September 2025 and 30
September 2024 have not been audited
UNAUDITED BALANCE SHEET
as at 30 September 2025
30 September 30 September 31 March
2025 2024 2025
(unaudited) (unaudited) (audited)
£'000 £'000 £'000
Fixed assets
Investments 88,214 80,691 86,070
Current assets
Debtors 108 167 142
Cash at bank and in hand 276 316 2,332
Money market fund investments 26,193 37,853 29,856
26,577 38,336 32,330
Creditors: amounts falling due
within one year (202) (158) (168)
Net current assets 26,375 38,178 32,162
Net assets 114,589 118,869 118,232
Capital and reserves
Called up share capital 14,116 13,758 13,758
Capital redemption reserve 581 114 114
Share premium account 45,532 39,572 39,553
Special reserve 38,990 54,211 50,152
Capital reserve - unrealised 17,991 13,520 18,006
Capital reserve - realised (782) (313) (1,481)
Revenue reserve (1,839) (1,993) (1,870)
Total equity shareholders' funds 114,589 118,869 118,232
Pence Pence Pence
Basic and diluted net asset value per share 40.6 43.2 43.0
UNAUDITED STATEMENT OF CHANGES IN EQUITY
for the six months ended 30 September 2025
Capital Share premium Special reserve Capital Capita reserve- Revenue Total
Share capital redemption account reserve- Capital reserve
reserve unrealised reserve-
realised
£'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000
At 1 April 2024 12,146 62 25,510 62,190 25,886 (6,471) (2,269) 117,054
Total comprehensive income - - - - (10,622) 2,715 399 (7,508)
Transfer between reserves - - - (5,017) 2,742 2,275 - -
Transactions with owners
Issue of new shares 1,664 - 14,660 - - - - 16,324
Share issue costs - - (617) - - - - (617)
Purchase of own shares (52) 52 - (473) - - - (473)
Dividends paid - - - (6,548) - - - (6,548)
At 31 March 2025 13,758 114 39,553 50,152 18,006 (1,481) (1,870) 118,232
- - - - (15) (750) 31 (734)
Total comprehensive income
Transfer between reserves * - - - (1,449) - 1,449 - -
Transactions with owners
Issue of new shares 825 - 6,243 - - - - 7,068
Share issue costs - - (264) - - - - (264)
Purchase of own shares (467) 467 - (3,721) - - - (3,721)
Dividends paid - - - (5,992) - - - (5,992)
At 30 September 2025 14,116 581 45,532 38,990 17,991 (782 (1,839) 114,589
* A transfer of £1.4 million, representing realised losses on investment
disposals plus capital expenses in the period, has been made from Capital
Reserve - realised to the Special reserve.
UNAUDITED STATEMENT OF CASH FLOWS
for the six months ended 30 September 2025
Six months Six months Year
ended ended ended
30 September 30 September 31 March
2025 2024 2025
(unaudited) (unaudited) (audited)
£'000 £'000 £'000
Cash flow from operating activities
Investment income received 637 857 1,660
Investment management fees paid (1,241) (1,304) (2,499)
Other cash payments (268) (290) (639)
Net cash outflow utilised in operating activities (872) (737) (1.478)
Cash flow from investing activities
Purchase of investments (4,355) (3,283) (11,213)
Sale of investments 2,378 8,305 11,011
Net cash (outflow utilised in)/ inflow generated from investing activities (1,977) 5,022 (202)
Cash flow from financing activities
Equity dividends paid (5,599) (6,133) (6,133)
Proceeds from share issue 6,675 15,909 15,909
Share issue costs (225) (521) (537)
Purchase of own shares (3,721) (473) (473)
Net cash (outflow utilised in)/inflow generated from financing activities (2,870) 8,782 8,766
(Decrease)/ increase in cash and cash equivalents (5,719) 13,067 7,086
Cash and cash equivalents at start of period 32,188 25,102 25,102
Cash and cash equivalents at end of period 26,469 38,169 32,188
Total cash and cash equivalents 26,469 38,169 32,188
Cash and cash equivalents comprise of:
Cash at bank 276 316 2,332
Money market funds 26,193 37,853 29,856
26,469 38,169 32,188
NOTES TO THE UNAUDITED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
for the six months ended 30 September 2025
1. The unaudited Half-Yearly Report covers the six months to 30 September
2025 and has been prepared in accordance with the accounting policies set out
in the statutory accounts for the period ended 31 March 2025, which were
prepared in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard 102 ("FRS 102")
and the Statement of Recommended Practice "Financial Statements of Investment
Trust Companies" issued in July 2022 ("SORP").
2. The Company has only one class of business and derives its income from
investments made in shares, securities and money market funds.
3. The comparative figures are in respect of the six months ended 30
September 2024 and the year ended 31 March 2025, respectively.
4. Basic and diluted return per share
Six months Six months Year
ended ended ended
30 September 30 September 31 March
2025 2024 2025
(unaudited) (unaudited) (audited)
Basic and diluted loss per share (pence) (0.3) (2.5) (2.8)
Return per share based on:
Net revenue gain for the period (£'000) 31 276 399
Net capital loss for the period (£'000) (765) (7,166) (7,907)
Total losses for the period (£'000) (734) (6,890) (7,508)
Weighted average number of shares in issue 282,893,180 270,395,470 272,774,180
As the Company has not issued any convertible securities or share options,
there is no dilutive effect on return per share. The return per share
disclosed, therefore, represents both basic and diluted return per share.
5. Dividends
Six months Year
ended ended
30 September 31 March
2025 2025
(unaudited) (audited)
Revenue Capital Total Total
£'000 £'000 £'000 £'000
Dividends paid in the period
2025 Final (paid 30 September 2025) 1.15p - 3,240 3,240 -
2025 Interim (paid 25 April 2025) 1.0p - 2,752 2,752 -
2024 Final (paid 26 September 2024) 1.5p - - - 4,119
2024 Interim (paid 5 April 2024) 1.0p - - - 2,429
- 5,992 5,992 6,548
Including £393,000 of DRIS allotments
6. Basic and diluted net asset value per share
At At At
30 September 2025 30 September 31 March
2024 2025
(unaudited) (unaudited) (audited)
Net asset value per share based on:
Net assets (£'000) 114,589 118,869 118,232
Number of shares in issue at period end 282,310,426 275,165,959 275,169,959
Net asset value per share (pence) 40.6 43.2 43.0
As the Company has not issued any convertible securities or share options,
there is no dilutive effect on net asset value per share. The net asset value
per share disclosed therefore represents both basic and diluted net asset
value per share.
7. Called up share capital
At At At
30 September 2025 30 September 31 March
2024 2025
(unaudited) (unaudited) (audited)
Ordinary Shares of 5p each
Number of shares in issue at period end 282,310,426 275,169,959 275,169,959
Nominal value (£'000) 14,116 13,758 13,758
During the period the Company issued a total of 15,531,201 Ordinary Shares of
5p each ("Ordinary Shares") at an average price of 42.97p per share, under the
offer that launched in October 2024. The gross proceeds of the Offer were
£6.7 million, with issue costs in respect of the Offer amounting to £0.2
million.
Following the payment of a dividend on 25 April 2025, 438,011 Ordinary Shares
at an average price of 41.74p were allotted under the Dividend Reinvestment
Scheme ("DRIS"). The amount re-invested totalled £183,000.
Following the payment of a dividend on 30 September 2025, 519,509 Ordinary
Shares at an average price of 40.53p were allotted under the DRIS. The amount
re-invested totalled £210,000.
During the period, the Company purchased 9,344,254 Ordinary Shares for
cancellation for an aggregate consideration of £3,721,000, at an average
price of 39.62p per share before costs (approximately equal to a 5.1% discount
to the most recently published NAV at the time of purchase) and representing
3.4% of the issued share capital in issue at 31 March 2025.
8. Reserves
Distributable reserves are calculated as follows:
30 September 30 September 31 March
2025 2024 2025
(unaudited) (unaudited) (audited)
£'000 £'000 £'000
Special reserve 38,990 54,211 50,152
Special reserve - restricted amounts transferred from share premium * (7,355) (43,407) (43,407)
Capital reserve - realised (782) (313) (1,481)
Revenue reserve (1,839) (1,993) (1,870)
Capital reserve - unrealised: excluding unrealised unquoted gains (10,726) (13,219) (10,734)
18,288 (4,721) (7,340)
*The Special Reserve was created following the cancellation of the Share
Premium Account. The VCT regulations restrict the distribution of this Special
Reserve until a date at least three years after the year end in which the
funds were originally raised. On 1 April 2023 £6.2 million of the Special
Reserve became unrestricted, on 1 April 2024 a further £11.5 million became
unrestricted, and on 1 April 2025 a further £36.0 million of the Special
Reserve became unrestricted. A further £16.0 million of the Special Reserve
will become unrestricted on 1 April 2026.
9. Investments
The fair value of investments is determined using the detailed accounting
policy as set out in Note 1 of the Annual Report.
The Company has categorised its financial instruments using the fair value
hierarchy as follows:
Level 1 Reflects financial instruments quoted in an active market (fixed
interest investments, and investments in shares quoted on either the Main
Market or AIM);
Level 2 Reflects financial instruments that have prices that are
observable either directly or indirectly; and
Level 3 Reflects financial instruments that use valuation techniques that
are not based on observable market data (unquoted equity investments and loan
note investments).
30 September 2025 30 September 2024 31 March 2025
(unaudited) (unaudited) (audited)
Level Level Level Level Level Level Level 1 Level Level
1 2 3 Total 1 2 3 Total 2 3 Total
£'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000
AIM quoted shares 2,639 111 - 2,750 4,207 368 - 4,575 3,137 193 - 3,330
Loan notes - - 508 508 - - 508 508 - - 508 508
Unquoted shares - - 84,956 84,956 - - 75,608 75,608 - - 82,232 82,232
2,639 111 85,464 88,214 4,207 368 76,116 80,691 3,137 193 82,740 86,070
10. Risks and uncertainties
Under the Disclosure and Transparency Directive, the Board is required in the
Company's half-yearly results to report on principal risks and uncertainties
facing the Company over the remainder of the financial year.
The Board has concluded that the key risks facing the Company over the
remainder of the financial period are as follows:
· investment risk associated with investing in small and immature
businesses;
· liquidity risk arising from investing mainly in unquoted
businesses; and
· failure to maintain approval as a VCT.
In all cases the Board is satisfied with the Company's approach to these
risks. As a VCT, the Company is forced to have significant exposure to
relatively immature businesses. This risk is mitigated to some extent by
holding a well-diversified portfolio.
With a reasonably illiquid venture capital investment portfolio, the Board
ensures that it maintains an appropriate proportion of its assets in cash and
liquid instruments.
The Company's compliance with the VCT regulations is continually monitored by
the Administrator and Investment Manager, who regularly reports to the Board
on the current position. The Company also retains Philip Hare and Associates
LLP to provide regular reviews and advice in this area. The Board considers
that this approach reduces the risk of a breach of the VCT regulations to a
minimal level.
The Company has considerable financial resources at the period end and holds a
diversified portfolio of investments. As a result, the Directors believe that
the Company is well placed to manage its business risks successfully despite
the current uncertain economic outlook.
The Directors have concluded that the Company has adequate resources to
continue in operational existence for the foreseeable future. Thus, they
continue to adopt the going concern basis of accounting in preparing the
financial statements.
11. The Directors confirm that, to the best of their
knowledge, the Half-Yearly financial statements have been prepared in
accordance with the "Statement: Half-Yearly Financial Reports" issued by the
UK Accounting Standards Board as well as in accordance with FRS 104 Interim
Financial Reporting and the Half-Yearly financial report includes a fair
review of the information required by:
(a) DTR 4.2.7R of the Disclosure and Transparency Rules, being an indication
of important events that have occurred during the first six months of the
current financial year and their impact on the condensed set of financial
statements, and a description of the principal risks and uncertainties for the
remaining six months of the year; and
(b) DTR 4.2.8R of the Disclosure and Transparency Rules, being related party
transactions that have taken place in the first six months of the current
financial year and that have materially affected the financial position or
performance of the entity during that period, and any changes in the related
party transactions described in the last Annual Report that could do so.
12. The unaudited financial statements set out herein do not constitute
statutory accounts within the meaning of Section 434 of the Companies Act 2006
and have not been delivered to the Registrar of Companies. The figures for the
period ended 31 March 2025 have been extracted from the financial statements
for that period, which have been delivered to the Registrar of Companies; the
Auditor's report on those financial statements was unqualified.
13. Copies of the unaudited Half-Yearly Report can be
downloaded from
https://investors.moltenventures.com/investor-relations/vct
(https://investors.moltenventures.com/investor-relations/vct)
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