Seraphim Space Investment Trust (LSE:SSIT), the London-listed vehicle investing in early and growth-stage private SpaceTech companies, reported net asset value per ordinary share of 240.49p for the year ended 30 June, up 102.9% from 118.52p a year earlier.
The trust's portfolio valuation more than doubled, rising 133.0% to £605.5m from £259.8m, with fair value against cost climbing to 359.6% from 131.9%.
ICEYE, the Finland-based satellite radar company that accounted for 53.9% of NAV at year end, drove the bulk of the gain, its fair value rising from £105.1m to £379.7m after a €1bn Series F round led by General Atitude at a valuation above €10bn, alongside a €150m Series E round and a €1.7bn contract awarded to its Rheinmetall joint venture to supply Germany with space-based reconnaissance capability. The ordinary share price rose 119.4% to 187.8p, narrowing the discount to NAV to 21.9% from 27.8%.
Across the wider portfolio, private companies in the top 10 holdings grew revenue by 237% year-on-year on a fair value-weighted average basis, and portfolio companies collectively raised more than $4.8bn during the year, which the trust called the strongest financing period in its history, including six rounds above $100m each across five companies.
The trust ended the year with £152.9m in cash and liquid resources, alongside £42.2m in listed holdings, after deploying just £4m into three existing holdings (ALL.SPACE, QuadSAT and Taranis) as it held capital in reserve ahead of its C Share issue.
Disposals generated £6.2m in proceeds from full exits of Arqit and Spire Global, while HawkEye 360, 5.3% of NAV, completed an oversubscribed New York listing in May raising approximately $416m at a market capitalisation of around $2.4bn.
"The past year was a watershed period for the space sector, cementing SpaceTech as a defining technological force," said Will Whitehorn, chair of Seraphim Space Investment Trust, pointing to accelerating M&A and record public and private investment across the sector.
Chief executive of Seraphim Space Manager, Mark Boggett, said fair value now stands at 3.6 times cost and that the gross portfolio internal rate of return reached 27.9% five years after the trust's listing, with annualised NAV total return per ordinary share at 19.1%, broadly in line with its long-term target of at least 20%.
Since the year-end, the trust said ALL.SPACE completed its acquisition by York Space Systems on 8 July for up to $300m in cash and stock, though a subsequent fall in York Space's share price has cut the value of SSIT's resulting holding from £21.3m at completion to £6.1m as of 13 October.
Xona Space Systems completed a further financing round in October in which SSIT invested $15m, lifting the fair value of its existing holding by approximately £52.4m and making Xona the trust's second-largest holding.
As at 13 October, £72.5m of the proceeds from the trust's £137m C Share issue had been deployed across five existing holdings and one new investment, a level the company said has satisfied the conditions for converting the first tranche of C Shares, with the conversion ratio due to be announced alongside the 30 September results on 25 November.