BioPharma Credit (BPCR) announced its annual results for the year end 31 December 2024. The company generated net income per share of 9.99 cents and paid 10.18 cents in dividends, 3 cents above target.
It reported net income return from ordinary activities of $122m. On 31 December 2024, the company’s shares closed at a share price of 88.4 cents, above the closing price on 31 December 2023 of 84.0 cents an increase of 5.2%. NAV per share in issue decreased during the same timeframe by 3 cents from 102.93 cents to 99.63 cents, falling 3%. The company made three dividend payments over the calendar year, which related to 2024, totalling 7.29 cents per share, referencing net income for the three quarters ending 30 September 2024. This brought the total dividends paid in 2024 to 14 cents per share. The company was therefore able to maintain its record of paying a dividend of at least 1.75 cents per share in every quarter since 30 June 2018. Following the end of the year, the company declared a further dividend in respect of the last quarter of 2024 of 2.89 cents per share made up of an ordinary dividend of 1.75 cents together with a special dividend of 1.14 cent that was paid on 28 February 2025.
Over the course of 2024, the company and its subsidiaries committed a total of $994.1m into seven new transactions. The company also saw repayments totalling $750.2m from Akebia, Coherus, Immunocore, ImmunoGen, and LumiraDx. Along with this, the company received $17.4m in prepayment and make-whole fees. These repayments helped secure a very attractive rate of return on those investments and gave the company the ability to deploy a substantial amount of capital in new investments.
The company committed a total of $435m to four investments: $35m to Alphatec, $100m to Geron, $200m to Novocure, and $100m to Tarsus. The company also refinanced a total of $369.1m with three existing borrowers, UroGen, Collegium, and Insmed, along with funding additional tranches totaling $190m to Collegium and Insmed.
The company funded $731.6m over the year to Alphatec, Collegium, Geron, Insmed, Novocure, Tarsus, and UroGen and has additional unfunded commitments with Geron, Novocure, and Tarsus totalling $250m. Including assets and liabilities from its financing subsidiary, BPCR Limited Partnership, the company ended the year with total net assets of $1,181.7m, comprising $1,044.5m of investments, $168.6m of cash, less $31.4m of other net liabilities.
Pedro Gonzalez de Cosio, CEO and co-founder of Pharmakon Advisors, LP, the investment manager of BioPharma Credit PLC, commented:
“We are pleased to report on another successful year, noting in particular that net income per share increased notably over the course of the year, from 8.28 cents per share in 2023 to 9.99 cents per share. This income supported a strong total of 10.18 cents per share in dividend distributions. We continue to build and manage an attractive portfolio of secured loans, with $435m deployed across four new investments over the course of the year. The recovery of LumiraDx’s loan was also largely resolved over the course of the year, with approximately 96 per cent of invested capital having been recovered.
“We are pleased to note that the company’s updated discount control mechanism has assisted in managing the discount to NAV at which the company’s shares trade over the course of the year. In fact, we have been one of the leaders across alternative investment companies in the quantum of shares bought back during the course of the year, at a total cost of $106.7m, delivering accretive benefits for our shareholders.
“Our core focus remains on being a specialist, premier provider of debt capital to the life sciences industry, offering our shareholders consistent returns and exposure to a diversified portfolio of secured loans with an unbroken track record of dividend payments. We have an attractive pipeline of new opportunities and look forward to updating shareholders on our progress.”
BPCR: Active year for BioPharma Credit
