Molten Ventures trades higher following strong H1 NAV growth

(Sharecast News) - Investment firm Molten Ventures shares were higher on Monday after the firm posted a strong firsthalf trading update, with solid net asset value growth, sizeable realisations and fresh progress on scaling thirdparty capital.

Molten Ventures said unaudited NAV per share for the six months ended 30 September was expected to be up 14% to around 869p, while gross portfolio value was set to rise 11% to roughly £1.7bn. Fairvalue gains of about £244m were driven mainly by core holdings ICEYE and Revolut.

Realisations delivered £109m of cash proceeds, led by Revolut and ICEYE, taking the firm's total realisations since inception to almost £900m.

Molten deployed £44m into new and followon investments, including backing Isar Aerospace's Series D round. Isar went on to become the first European commercial space company to successfully deliver satellites into orbit.

The London-listed outfit also advanced its thirdparty capital strategy, securing a £175m first close for the Molten Ventures Growth Fund, including a £75m cornerstone commitment from the British Business Bank. Additional fund launches were said to still be on track for first closes by the end of FY27.

Molten returned £16m to shareholders via buybacks and ended the period with £76m in cash, plus £60m of undrawn RCF capacity.

As of 1355 GMT, Molten shares were up 5.09% at 702.50p.

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com

See latest RNS at Investegate