This announcement contains
information which, prior to its disclosure, was inside information
as stipulated under Regulation 11 of the Market Abuse (Amendment)
(EU Exit) Regulations 2019/310 (as amended). Upon the publication
of this announcement via a Regulatory Information Service, this
inside information is now considered to be in the public
domain.
Press release
28 June 2024
Phoenix Digital Assets
PLC
("Phoenix" or the
"Company")
Annual
results
Notice of Annual General
Meeting
Phoenix Digital Assets PLC (AQSE:
PNIX), an investment company, is pleased to announce its audited
results for the 12 months ended 31 December 2023.
Financial highlights
|
·
|
Post-tax profit for the year rose to
£17.6m (2022: -£9.4m).
|
|
·
|
Change in value of digital assets
under management rose 558% to £25.2m (2022: -£5.5m).
|
|
·
|
Total assets under management rose
to £46.1m (2022: £25.1m).
|
|
·
|
Net cash stood at £0.7m (2022:
£5.8m) as at 31 December 2023 following the Company's capital
deployment into the digital assets markets.
|
Notice of Annual General Meeting
The Company will hold its Annual
General Meeting (AGM) on 25 July 2024 at 3:00p.m. at the offices of
Fladgate LLP, 16 Great Queen Street, London, WC2B 5DG.
Details of the arrangements for this
year's AGM are set out in the Notice of AGM. The
Notice of AGM, together with the Form of Proxy,
will be posted to shareholders on 2 July 2024.
Jonathan Bixby, Chairman of Phoenix, commented:
"It has been an incredible year for Phoenix. We
correctly predicted the upturn in the digital assets markets and
deployed our capital to spectacular results - we have seen our
profits increase by £27m year-on-year. In the post-period, we
carried through on our promise of returning value to shareholders
through a tender offer, returning over £33m. I'd like to thank the
Board of Directors and our shareholders for their support in what
has been a phenomenal year."
The Directors of Phoenix Digital
Assets accept responsibility for this announcement.
For further information please
contact:
|
Phoenix Digital Assets PLC
|
|
|
Jonathan Bixby
Executive Chairman
|
+44
7876 888 011
|
|
First Sentinel Corporate Finance
Limited
|
|
|
Corporate Adviser
Brian Stockbridge
|
+44
7858 888 007
|
|
Tancredi Intelligent Communication
UK & Europe Media
Relations
|
phoenix@tancredigroup.com
|
About Phoenix
Phoenix Digital Assets PLC invests
in a diversified portfolio of cryptocurrency, and/or in companies
or funds which have exposure to NFT or blockchain technology. The
Company's leadership team have an extensive track record in the
cryptocurrency sector and previously founded Argo Blockchain PLC, a
global crypto miner. Phoenix is headquartered in London, UK, and
its shares are listed on the Aquis Stock Exchange Growth Market
under the ticker symbol PNIX. https://www.getphoenix.co.uk
Notes
This announcement may contain
"forward-looking" statements and information relating to the
Company. These statements are based on the beliefs of Company
management, as well as assumptions made by and information
currently available to Company management. The Company does not
undertake to update forward‐looking statements or forward‐looking
information, except as required by law.
Chairman's statement
I am delighted to report Phoenix
Digital Assets PLC's full-year results for 2023.
This period has been the most
successful in Phoenix's history. Our post-tax profit rose to £17.6m
(2022 -£9.4m), an increase of £27m year-on-year. The value of our
digital asset holdings surged since last year, increasing in value
by £25.2m. The Company had a net asset value of £46.1m at the close
of the period, an increase of 83.74% from 2022.
We changed strategic focus in 2023,
moving from a fund predominantly investing in companies and assets
related to non-fungible tokens (NFTs), to an investment company
with the intention of becoming the premier large cap crypto
currency fund in the UK. This strategic change was reflected in our
name, which we changed from NFT Investments PLC to Phoenix Digital
Assets PLC in January 2024. Phoenix better reflects our diverse
range of crypto-assets and investments across our high performing
fund.
In last year's results, we noted
that the cryptocurrency markets had begun to recover, and we
expected this trend to continue as the Bitcoin 'halving'
approached. The halving is an automated process every four years
following which the rewards of mining Bitcoin are halved, typically
leading to an uptick in the Bitcoin price. Our prediction of an
increase in the price of Bitcoin has been proven entirely correct,
and as a result we have generated significant value for our
investors.
The Bitcoin price rose from $16,625
as at 1 January 2023 to $42,823 as at 1 January 2024. The price
continued to rise in the post-period, reaching $61,222 as at 24
June 2024 (source: CoinMarket
Cap, 2024). Other cryptocurrencies have followed Bitcoin's
positive trend, with the price of Ether increasing 40% between
January 1 and 24 June 2024.
The price increase was spurred on by
the US' Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approving the
first Bitcoin exchange traded funds (ETFs) in January 2024, which
increased inflows of institutional capital into the digital asset
markets. We expect volatility in the digital asset markets to
continue to decrease as institutional involvement rises.
Our investment success further
widened the share price discount to NAV, supporting the Board of
Directors' intention to return value to shareholders via a tender
offer after the Bitcoin halving. In 2023 and the post-period we
took a number of steps to facilitate the tender offer and correct
the price discrepancy. In March 2023 the High Court of England and
Wales confirmed the reduction of our share capital by way of
cancellation of our share premium account, which paved the way for
the tender offer.
Following shareholder approval at a
General Meeting on 11 June 2024, we purchased 625,000,000 Ordinary
Shares from our shareholders at the tender price of 5.39p, equal to
Phoenix's NAV per share as at 21 May 2024, a 35% premium to the
share price at the same time.
In total, we returned £33,687,500 to
our shareholders, and reduced our issued share capital from
1,085,875,000 to 460,875,000, a reduction of 57.56%. This has
successfully shrunk the distance between NAV and the Company's
share price.
Our intention remains to create
value for our investors by leveraging our team's expertise to
generate returns in the digital asset markets. I would like to take
this opportunity to thank our shareholders for their continued
support and look forward to a successful 2024.
Jonathan Bixby, Executive Chairman
|
|
Note
|
2023
£
|
2022
£
|
|
Revenue
|
|
-
|
-
|
|
Fair value
movements (including impairment and exchange differences) in
investments
|
10
|
(2,381,246)
|
(2,686,079)
|
|
Fair value
movements in digital assets and
tokens
|
9
|
25,263,683
|
(5,531,034)
|
|
|
|
22,882,437
|
(8,217,113)
|
|
Share based
payment
|
16
|
(153,184)
|
-
|
|
Administrative expenses
|
3
|
(2,530,188)
|
(1,556,872)
|
|
Impairment
of intangible asset
|
9
|
(62,500)
|
-
|
|
Operating profit/(loss)
|
|
20,136,565
|
(9,773,985)
|
|
Finance
income
|
5
|
-
|
402,083
|
|
Profit/(loss) before
taxation
|
|
20,136,565
|
(9,371,902)
|
|
Taxation
|
7
|
(2,570,736)
|
-
|
|
Profit/(loss) after taxation
and total comprehensive profit/(loss) for the
year
|
|
17,565,829
|
(9,371,902)
|
|
Earnings/(loss) per ordinary
share:
|
|
|
Basic
earnings/(loss) per share (pence)
|
8
|
1.75
|
(0.93)
|
|
Diluted
earnings/(loss) per share (pence)
|
8
|
1.66
|
(0.93)
|
|
|
|
Group
|
|
Company
|
|
|
|
2023
|
2022
|
|
2023
|
2022
|
|
|
Notes
|
£
|
£
|
|
£
|
£
|
|
Non-Current Assets
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Intangible assets
|
9
|
43,873,668
|
15,448,382
|
|
43,873,668
|
15,448,382
|
|
Investments
|
10
|
1,534,940
|
3,691,186
|
|
1,534,941
|
3,691,187
|
|
Total non-current assets
|
|
45,408,608
|
19,139,568
|
|
45,408,609
|
19,139,569
|
|
Current Assets
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Trade and other
receivables
|
11
|
1,284
|
125,765
|
|
388,356
|
157,837
|
|
Cash and cash equivalents
|
12
|
695,760
|
5,847,274
|
|
308,687
|
5,815,201
|
|
Total current assets
|
|
697,044
|
5,973,039
|
|
697,043
|
5,973,038
|
|
Total assets
|
|
46,105,652
|
25,112,607
|
|
46,105,652
|
25,112,607
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Shareholders' equity
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Share capital
|
15
|
1,009,000
|
1,003,000
|
|
1,009,000
|
1,003,000
|
|
Share premium
|
15
|
18,000
|
33,323,133
|
|
18,000
|
33,323,133
|
|
Share based payments
reserve
|
16
|
3,049,183
|
2,925,908
|
|
3,049,183
|
2,925,908
|
|
Distributable reserve
|
15
|
33,359,133
|
-
|
|
33,359,133
|
-
|
|
Retained earnings
|
|
5,381,281
|
(12,241,657)
|
|
5,381,281
|
(12,241,657)
|
|
Total shareholders' equity
|
|
42,816,597
|
25,010,384
|
|
42,816,597
|
25,010,384
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Non-Current Liabilities
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Deferred tax liabilities
|
13
|
2,543,536
|
-
|
|
2,543,536
|
-
|
|
Total non-current liabilities
|
|
2,543,536
|
-
|
|
2,543,536
|
-
|
|
Current Liabilities
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Trade and other payables
|
14
|
745,519
|
102,223
|
|
745,519
|
102,223
|
|
Total current liabilities
|
|
745,519
|
102,223
|
|
745,519
|
102,223
|
|
Total liabilities
|
|
3,289,055
|
102.223
|
|
3,289,055
|
102.223
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Total equity and liabilities
|
|
46,105,652
|
25,112,607
|
|
46,105,652
|
25,112,607
|
The financial statements were
approved by the Board of Directors and authorised for issue on 27
June 2024 and were signed on its behalf by: Nicholas Lyth -
Director
|
|
Share capital
|
Share Premium
|
Retained earnings
|
Share-based payments reserve
|
Distributable reserve
|
Total
|
|
|
x
|
£
|
£
|
£
|
£
|
£
|
|
Year ended 31 December 2022
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
At 1 January 2022
|
1,003,000
|
33,323,133
|
(2,869,755)
|
2,925,908
|
-
|
34,382,286
|
|
Loss for the year and total
comprehensive loss
|
-
|
-
|
(9,371,902)
|
-
|
-
|
(9,371,902)
|
|
At
31 December 2022
|
1,003,000
|
33,323,133
|
(12,241,657)
|
2,925,908
|
-
|
25,010,384
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Year ended 31 December 2023
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
At 1 January 2023
|
1,003,000
|
33,323,133
|
(12,241,657)
|
2,925,908
|
-
|
25,010,384
|
|
Profit for the year and total
comprehensive profit
|
-
|
-
|
17,565,829
|
-
|
-
|
17,565,829
|
|
Shares issued in the year
|
6,000
|
54,000
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
60,000
|
|
Share based payments
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
153,184
|
-
|
153,184
|
|
Deferred tax on share based
payments
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
27,200
|
-
|
27,200
|
|
Warrants exercised in the
year
|
-
|
-
|
57,109
|
(57,109)
|
-
|
-
|
|
Cancellation of share premium
account
|
-
|
(33,359,133)
|
-
|
-
|
33,359,133
|
-
|
|
At
31 December 2023
|
1,009,000
|
18,000
|
5,381,281
|
3,049,183
|
33,359,133
|
42,816,597
|
1 There were no transactions
in the Subsidiary and thus no impact on the Statement of Changes in
Equity
Share capital
Share capital represents the nominal
value on the issue of the Company's equity share capital,
comprising £0.001 ordinary shares.
Share premium
Share premium represents the amount
subscribed for the Company's equity share capital in excess of
nominal value.
Any transaction costs associated
with the issuing of shares are deducted from share premium, net of
any related income tax benefits.
Retained earnings
Retained earnings represent the
cumulative net income and losses of the Group recognised through
the statement of comprehensive income.
Share based payment reserve
Share based payment reserve
represents the cumulative cost of share-based payments.
Distributable reserve
Distributable reserve represents the
Share premium that was cancelled during the year as part of the
intended share buyback process. These reserves will be utilised to
implement the share buyback.
Profit/(loss) of Parent Company
As permitted by Section 408 of the
Companies Act 2006, the statement of comprehensive income of the
Parent Company is not presented as part of these financial
statements. The Parent Company's profit after tax for the financial
year was £17,565,829 (2022: £9,371,902 loss).