Seraphim asset values rocket a third as eyes of defence sector fall to satellites
Seraphim Space has helped grow the value of its assets by more than a third in the year following its £180m London IPO, despite an economic downturn weighing on tech stocks across the globe.
The value of assets under the wing of the London space investment trust, said to be the first of its kind, have appreciated by nearly 37 per cent to £239m in the year to 30 June, up from £175m in July last year.
“There’s been a selloff in technology, and [investors have] not really been looking at which ones to sell. Everything’s been sold,” CEO Mark Boggett told City PM
“We have been put into a basket with other technology growth stage private company trusts.”
Investors at this stage are not “really looking at the detail”, Boggett explained, as risk appetite shrinks worldwide and they rush toward ‘safer bets’.
However, the space boss anticipates this trend to wind down in a year, particularly with the Britain’s first-ever space launch from Cornwall later this year expected to peak investors’ interest.
“It can’t do anything but encourage interest in the sector,” he said. “The UK is not alone in wanting to get sovereign capability and wanting to launch from its own shores.”
Seraphim’s top 10 portfolio companies pull in around 94 per cent of their revenues from defence and global security, as well as climate and sustainability sectors – two divisions which are not showing signs of shrinking.
The trust’s largest portfolio company, ICE EYE, has won a large contract with the Ukrainian government for defence and humanitarian aid for its radar satellite constellation which can see through cloud coverage and on the ground, in high-resolution imagery and in near-real time.
“The majority of space companies find that defence and intelligence are very interested in what they’re doing… The defence sector is often the first cornerstone customer for any of the companies we invest into,” he continued.
“The problems around defence are not going away. We’re seeing defence budgets around the world increasing by orders of magnitude not seen since the Cold War and a portion of that is ultimately going to find its way into the space market… That’s a trend that’s a good 10 years in the making.”