Augmentum Fintech delays interim results to await Zopa Bank launch
ZOPA backer Augmentum Fintech has decided to delay publication of its interim results as it said it cannot value the peer-to-peer lender until it launches its long-awaited bank.
The investment trust said on Monday that it is awaiting further clarity over the valuation of the its largest holding, Zopa, before publishing its results that were due on Tuesday.
“On 4 December 2018, the company noted that Zopa Bank, a subsidiary of portfolio company Zopa Group, had been granted a banking licence with restrictions, and that a full licence was expected to be granted once it meets the conditions set by its regulators,” Augmentum Fintech said in a stock market update.
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“The mobilisation period is typically 12 months.
“The board understands Zopa is pursuing various options around the potential launch of the bank and, as such, the board has decided to postpone the finalisation of the interim results to early December 2019 when there is expected to be greater clarity over the valuation of the company’s holding in Zopa.”
The announcement said valuation work on the rest of the portfolio as at 30 September 2019 was substantially complete and, excluding the effect of any revaluation of Zopa, the fund is expecting its net asset value to have grown by approximately £10.6m.
Augmentum Fintech is currently trading at a discount to NAV of 0.5 per cent.
Zopa announced in 2016 that it was launching a digital bank, which would run alongside its P2P business.
It was granted a provisional banking licence last December.
Zopa Group said in its annual accounts last month that its key priorities for 2019 would be the continued development of its bank and the completion of the capital raise required to enable the regulators to lift the remaining restrictions on its banking licence.
It is reported to have been struggling to raise the necessary funds and is believed to have recruited Bank of America Merrill Lynch to help secure the £100m to £150m it requires to launch.