Braveheart Investments returns to the black

AIM-listed Perth wealth manager concentrates on core investments

Shares in Perth-based Braveheart Investments pushed ahead yesterday after the group revealed it had returned to profit.

The AIM-listed wealth manager posted a pre-tax profit of £779,528 in the year to March 31, a significant turnaround from the £1.69 million loss it returned the year previous.

Revenue in the year gone came in at £1.15m, a marginal increase on that seen in 2016. Total operating costs in the most recent year were more than £1m lower than in 2016.

Company chief executive Trevor Brown said the firm had focused during the year on costs and identifying strong new investment opportunities.

He told investors: “Throughout the course of the year the board has been firmly focused on deploying shareholder funds where we believe the prospects for growth are outstanding.”

Braveheart holds positions in more than a dozen companies and said the value of its portfolio had increased from £468,000 in 2016 to £862,000 at the latest financial year-end.

The company divested its holdings in mLED during the year, booking a profit of £303,000 as a result.

It said it continued to actively manage its other investments while looking for an exit wherever it was “possible and appropriate”.

Braveheart’s three core holdings are in high-performance specialist detector firm Paraytec, award-winning cell and tissues culture firm Kirkstall, and Gyrometric, a group that has developed patent protected systems to accurately monitor vibrations in rotating shafts.

The latter investment was completed in January when Braveheart took a 40% stake in the company.

Mr Brown said the trio of investments would be key in the months ahead.

“For the next year and beyond, our attention and resources will be focused upon developing the three businesses where we now have significant commercial exposure,” he said.

“All enterprises are now entering exciting periods of expansion and we look forward to updating shareholders as events unfold.

“It is likely that headline revenue will decline in the first half of next year on a relative basis due to the exceptional nature of some of the revenue and realisation gains made this year, but we expect to report a continuing improvement in overall shareholder value.”

Shares in Braveheart closed the day up 3.33% at 15.5p.

Top: Braveheart has a position with cell and tissue cultures firm Kirkstall, and above, Braveheart CEO Trevor Brown.