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Syncona Ltd on Tuesday reported a decline in first quarter net asset value, reflecting mixed investment fortunes. The London-based life science investor owns a diversified portfolio of companies spanning across clinical stages. In the three months that ended June 30, net asset value per share fell 4.9% to 179.4 pence from 188.7p at March 31. It was down 2.8% from 184.6p a year prior. Performance was predominantly driven by a decrease in the share price of Autolus Therapeutics PLC. This was partially offset by valuation uplifts in Beacon Therapeutics and Forcefield Therapeutics, alongside a positive return from the capital pool and accretive share buybacks. Shares in Nasdaq-listed Autolus Therapeutics are 46% lower in the year to date. Syncona said the value of its life science portfolio was £739.0 million at June 30, compared with £786.1 million at March 31, a fall of 8.3%. Chief Executive Chris Hollowood said: ‘Our companies continue to execute on their clinical strategies and have attracted substantial investment from external partners in the quarter, with Beacon and Forcefield raising capital from high-quality investors. Despite both financings contributing positively to performance, these uplifts have been offset by declines in value from our quoted holdings, which have weighed on the overall life science portfolio return.’ Hollowood said he was pleased with the positive momentum across the portfolio with six clinical-stage companies in its portfolio of 13 companies. ‘We are excited about the opportunity ahead, with Syncona well placed to deliver long-term returns for our shareholders and transformational treatments for patients.’ Syncona continues to anticipate that deployment into the portfolio and pipeline in the financial year to March 31 2025 will be £150 to £200 million. This excludes the capital allocated to the share buyback programme, Syncona noted. ‘The board of Syncona continues to view the current share price as a compelling investment opportunity given the potential value within our portfolio,’ the company stated. The firm said £35.4 million has so far been allocated to buy back shares. Shares in Syncona were down 1.7% to 116.02 pence in London on Tuesday. Copyright 2024 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
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