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Yolo carpes the diem by widening investment horizons
Media investor Yolo Leisure and Technology said it was mulling potential investments into areas such as artificial intelligence, blockchain and cryptocurrency after its net asset value shrank slightly in the first six months of its financial year.
Yolo, named after the acronym 'you only live once', reported a fall in NAV to 9.9p per ordinary share as of the end of March from its investments in two listed companies, AudioBoom and Gfinity, and three private companies, TVPlayer, Simplestream and Magic Media Works.
After carrying out a 10-for-one share consolidation just before the end of March, where existing investors received one new share in exchange for every ten existing ordinary shares, cutting its total share capital to 44.1m new ordinary shares. Its NAV per share had last been recorded at the end of September at 1.02p per share, equivalent to 10.2p if allowing for the share consolidation.
The AIM-listed firm's investment strategy is based around backing innovative companies that are "creating and capitalising on new user experiences which engage and enable consumers to enjoy media content at their convenience via a variety of platforms".
Yolo said its five portfolio companies had each made "significant investments" in their technology and "continue to grow as valuable standalone businesses", claiming they were also being "seen as potential acquisition targets".
Yolo had cash and equivalents of just under £418,000 in the bank at the half-year after it reported a £163,547 loss before tax having spent cash of £152,000 on its own operations and investing just £50,000 in the half-year, which was a convertible loan made to TVPlayer as part of a £2m fundraise from existing investors.
Notable events in the period included Magic Media Works securing funding of £2m from existing shareholders and due to "significant interest" from external parties in its new ROXI product, has extended the current round to £2.5m.
Yolo's board said that as well as continuing to evaluate and consider investment opportunities in the technology, travel, leisure and media sectors, it is "also evaluating the use and integration of artificial intelligence, blockchain and cryptocurrency into its chosen sectors and will only make investments in those areas which the board believes will create value for shareholders".
As of 1040 BST, Yolo shares had jumped 15.79% to 5.50p.