LONDON (ShareCast) - (Sharecast News) - IP Group reported a fall in first half net asset value (NAV) in "challenging" conditions for the sector.
The company on Tuesday said NAV for the six months to June 30 fell to £1.17bn, or 110.6p per share, from £1.2bn or 121.1p per share.

IP also said market sentiment was impacted by the "well-publicised difficulties" experienced by Woodford Investment Management (WIM).

"In some cases, this has adversely impacted valuations and constrained funding availability. Funds managed by WIM remain the group's second largest shareholder. WIM-managed funds have holdings in 12 of the group's portfolio companies, which make up 34% of the group's total portfolio value," IP Group said.

Net portfolio fair value fell 3.3% during the period, of which £20.4m resulted from reductions in the quoted portfolio and £16.3m resulted from reductions in the private portfolio.

Chief executive Alan Aubrey said costs controls were delivering an ongoing benefit to NAV.

"At the same time, we continue to rationalise our portfolios and are particularly pleased with the progress made in three of our most valuable holdings during the period, Oxford Nanopore, Istesso and Ceres Power," he said.

"Internationally, we see significant upside opportunities in the US as a source of both IP and potential returns from a maturing portfolio, and in Australasia and the wider Asian region where there are significant opportunities to work closely with local long-term capital providers."

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