Braveheart profits up as momentum builds on tech drive

Braveheart said the positive performance is down to growing in confidence in its ability to pick winners from the technology sector.

The firm said it continued to invest in its strategic investment portfolio in the 2017 year to March 31 which saw it up its stake in life sciences company Kirkstall from 28 per cent to 37 per cent and Paraytec (to 47 per cent from 33 per cent).

The latest results follow July’s talks to dispose of a stake in one of its investee companies, mLED Limited.

The share price doubled, and though it came off the boil after the sales was confirmed in September, shares remain up 77 per cent over the year.

The group has also retained a 1.25 per cent direct holding and 3.75 per cent stake held through subsidiary Strathclyde Investment Fund in mLED.

Proceeds from the sale were £399,000 in cash compared to a book value of £96,000, with the windfall used to invest in more promising technology companies.

This resulted in January’s purchase of a 47 per cent stake in Gyrometric Systems Limited, an engineering firm using technology developed at Nottingham Trent University.

Gyrometric provides monitoring technology that measures the performance of drive shafts in a wide variety of applications.

The large stake taken by Braveheart represents a continuation of the change of strategy to a tech orientation.

Steady income has also been provided by Braveheart’s wholly-owned subsidiary, Viking Fund Managers.

Viking’s main fund management income comes from the Finance Yorkshire Equity Fund contract, but it also provides specialist fund management services to other funds that are in ‘run-out’ mode.

This specialised management work tends to generate enhanced fees in excess of standard fund management fees due to the intensive nature of this work.

Braveheart chief executive Trevor Brown, said: “We are pleased with our progress over the past year and have cash on our balance sheet available for further investment opportunities over the coming months.”