Katalysen Ventures publishes report for the First Quarter 2023

Katalysen Ventures AB (publ) hereby publishes the report for the first quarter of 2023. The full report is available immediately as an attached document, and on the company's website. Below is a summary of the report. In short, the portfolio showed resilience during turbulent market conditions. The aggregated portfolio value decreased by 4.5 percent following downward adjustments in the valuations of five individual ventures. Continued adjustments in one venture contributed the majority of the change. Cost optimization and a reorganized team has resulted in reduced operational expenditure.

General KPIs [thousand SEK]:

Q1 Group, (Q1 2022 in brackets)

• Net sales: 14 (632)
• Profit after financial items: -6 247 (-3 150)
• Balance sheet total: 98 901 (90 073)
• Solidity: 94.6% (97.2%)
• Earnings per share: -0.94 SEK (-0.62 SEK)
• Number of outstanding shares: 6 675 209 (5 081 865)

Q1 Parent company, (Q1 2022 in brackets)

• Net sales: 14 (632)
• Profit after financial items: -4 380 (-2 967)
• Balance sheet total: 99 061 (88 698)
• Solidity: 97.9% (98.4%)
• Earnings per share: -0.66 SEK (-0.58 SEK)
• Number of outstanding shares: 6 675 209 (5 081 865)

Venture Development KPIs (last period in brackets)

• Number of ventures in portfolio at end of period: 27 (26)
• Estimated portfolio market value at end of period: 180 MSEK (188.5 MSEK)
• Cash resources in bank at end of period: 5.5 MSEK

Important events during the period

• 2023-01-17: Increase in total number of shares following warrants being exercised by shareholders.
• 2023-01-31: Katalysen Ventures completes a directed share issue of 805 000 shares, raising proceeds of approximately SEK 11.9 million from strategic investors.

Important events after the period

• 2023-04-18: Katalysen Ventures forms strategic partnership with issuing specialist Nordic Issuing.
• 2023-04-18: Katalysen Ventures announces that portfolio company Manico is preparing a possible IPO.
• 2023-04-19: Katalysen Ventures AB (publ) appoints Mangold Fondkommission AB as liquidity guarantor for the company's shares listed on Spotlight Stock Market.
• 2023-04-19: Katalysen portfolio company InvitePeople reports strong progress in German market.
• 2023-04-24: Katalysen Ventures appoints Anders Dahlgren as new CFO.

Report from CEO Peter Almberg

As noted in our 2022Q4 report, considerable hands-on work and a venture development model that promotes startup-investor transparency was instrumental in safeguarding the aggregate value of our portfolio throughout 2022. This resilience was exhibited despite our firm adherence to conservative valuation methodologies and the recalibration of the entire portfolio in the face of a challenging market environment. The latter resulted in significant downward adjustments in the valuations of several individual ventures during the past six months.

During the first quarter of 2023, we observed continued subdued valuation levels and transaction volumes. In response to these market realities, we have strategically revised portfolio valuations, leading to downward adjustments in the valuation of five specific ventures.

One venture, here designated as "Venture A," continued to require a significantly enhanced commitment of time and resources during the Q1 period. In the previous quarter, we communicated substantial downward valuation adjustments for Venture A. We have chosen to maintain a conservative stance and further reduce the valuation of this venture by 25%, to accurately mirror its status at the end of Q1. We are encouraged to note that our diligent efforts in this regard have begun to bear fruit at the close of Q1.

Inevitably, these adjustments led to a contraction in the portfolio's value by 4.5% over Q1. However, as strategic long-term investors, we perceive the portfolio to be robust and well-positioned, with the majority of its future potential intact. Protecting the portfolio valuation required intensive efforts and a strategic shift in focus from new investments towards solidifying our existing portfolio - a decision we believe was correct in retrospect.

The operational expenditure (opex) optimization strategies announced in Q4 have now been implemented. Our streamlined team, reorganized from 10 to 7 seasoned professionals, now includes a full-time CFO. This team has been instrumental in transitioning venture development projects into potential exit opportunities during Q1, aligning with our goal of achieving a positive cash-flow year for Katalysen Ventures in 2023.

Recognizing that market conditions and timing are elements beyond our control, we have made concerted efforts to ensure our portfolio ventures are primed for potential exit opportunities. An example of such efforts is the announced intention of Manico to prepare for a 2024 IPO, post-Q1. During the period, we also successfully raised additional capital to sustain our strategic initiatives and mitigate the necessity of making exits at suboptimal valuations. Needless to say, we continue to carefully monitor the company’s cash situation.

In summary, we believe our concerted efforts throughout Q1 have resulted in a strengthened portfolio, a new strategic outlook with the goal of being cash flow positive in 2023, and an optimized cost base. We look forward to further discussing the impacts of these endeavors and outlining our ongoing efforts in the Q2 report.

The full report is attached as a PDF to the press release and also available on Katalysens website.

This disclosure contains information that Katalysen Ventures AB is obliged to make public pursuant to the EU Market Abuse Regulation (EU nr 596/2014). The information was submitted for publication, through the agency of the contact person, on 23-05-2023 08:49 CET.