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Syncona Ltd on Thursday said its net asset value increased during the first quarter of its financial year, citing strong clinical execution. The London-based investor in life science companies said net asset value increased 0.5% to 171.8 pence per share at the end of June from 170.9p at the end of March. During the first quarter of financial 2026, overall net assets were down 0.7% to £1.045 billion from £1.053 billion while the value of the life science portfolio grew 1.1% to £774.0 million from £765.4 million. Syncona said the return in the life science portfolio reflects the appreciating in the share price of Autolus Therapeutics PLC, the increase in valuation of Beacon’s deferred consideration amid positive clincal results, and negative foreign exchange movements. Autolus shares are up 49% on Nasdaq in New York since March 31. Syncona has a capital pool of £271.4 million at the end of June, it said, with £6.6 million deployed during the quarter. Syncona said it has a ‘maturing portfolio with strong strategic and clinical execution against continuing challenging market conditions’. It said discussions with third parties about a new private fund, offering exposure to new and early-stage life science companies, continue. It expects to update the market in September concerning progress made with proposals outlined in a recent strategy update. In June, Syncona proposed a change of investment objective to move to an orderly realisation of assets, as it reported a decline in net asset value. At the time, Syncona said it ‘engaged extensively’ with shareholders are part of a ‘comprehensive review of options to maximise value,’ against a backdrop of underperformance for the biotech sector. It said it intends to propose a change to the investment objective and policy to move to an orderly realisation of its portfolio assets, ‘with a view to achieving a balance between returning cash to shareholders in a timely manner and maximising value’. On Thursday, Chair Melanie Gee said: ‘I am very grateful to all those stakeholders who have shared their perspectives on the strategic update, which are important to us as we refine our proposals. The high regard for the [Syncona Investment Management Ltd] team and the widespread acknowledgement of the important work the team do in supporting UK life science has been very evident.’ SIML Chief Executive Officer Chris Hollowood added: ‘Syncona now has one commercial stage company, seven clinical-stage companies in the portfolio and a further two expected to be clinical-stage over the next 12 months. ‘We believe this portfolio is well positioned to deliver significant upside as companies continue to deliver against the key value inflection points, and we remain focused on unlocking value by guiding them to late-stage.’ Shares in Syncona were down 0.4% at 97.50p in London on Thursday morning. The stock is down 16% in the past 12 months. Copyright 2025 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
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