For immediate release                                                                                  24 June 2022

RiverFort Global Opportunities plc (the "Company")

Financial Statements

for the year ended 31 December 2021

RiverFort Global Opportunities plc, the investment company listed on AIM, is pleased to announce its audited final results for the year ended 31 December 2021 (extracts from which are set out below) and that the financial statements will shortly be posted to shareholders and made available on the website www.riverfortglobalopportunities.com

For more information please contact:

This announcement contains inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of Regulation 2014/596/EU which is part of domestic UK law pursuant to the Market Abuse (Amendment) (EU Exit) regulations (SI 2019/310).

CHAIRMAN'S STATEMENT

HIGHLIGHTS

· Total operating income generated of £2,469,441

· Net profit generated of £1,040,012

· Net asset value of £11,748,821 - an increase of 27% since the beginning of the year

· Net asset value of 1.49 pence per share - an increase of 10% for the year  

· Substantial cash balance available for further investment

· New funds raised for investment

· Investments made in pre-IPO opportunities in technology, including the cyber security sector

· Expected payment of a dividend for 2021 of 0.038 pence per share representing a current gross yield of 4%

INTRODUCTION

We are very pleased to report our results for the year to 31 December 2021.  This period has been another active period for the Company and the Board is pleased with the results that have been achieved. 

REVIEW OF THE YEAR

The Company has been actively deploying its investment capital by investing principally in listed junior companies through debt and equity linked products.  These investment structures lower volatility and risk and enable the Company to drive profits and cash income.  We believe that this is an attractive investment strategy and by investing in the Company, investors are able to gain access to this investment strategy via a publicly listed vehicle. Activity during the early part of the year was lower due to the strength of the equity markets, however, activity has increased as the period has progressed.  As at the end of the year, the Company held around £5.8 million of its investment portfolio in this type of investment, with investments in over 20 different companies.

At the same time, as previously announced, the Board has identified pre-IPO investment opportunities as an attractive area of investment focus where there is potential to achieve gains between the pre-IPO stage and a listing or exit. The logic for this being that, at this stage of an investee company's development, valuations can be noticeably lower, notwithstanding the proximity to an exit or listing. 

Consequently, during the year, the Company has deployed capital in this area as demonstrated by its investments in Pluto Digital plc ("Pluto") and Smarttech247.  Pluto is a crypto technology and operations company with a focus on Decentralised Finance (DeFi) and the Metaverse (blockchain gaming and NFTs). 

Smarttech247 is a global managed detection and response company with a leading market position in security operations.  Its platform provides threat intelligence with managed detection and response. Smarttech247's service is geared towards proactive prevention using the latest in cloud, big data analytics and machine learning, along with its incident response team.  Smarttech247 is an established profitable business and is actively progressing a listing on AIM.

The Company's principal listed equity investment comprises its shareholding in Pires Investments plc ("Pires").  Pires is an investment company listed on AIM focused on investing in next generation technology which has been extremely active over the period.  The majority of its investments have been revalued upwards during the period and the company has made a number of new investments, including into a new Sure Valley Ventures venture capital fund alongside the British Business Bank.  Pires has recently published its results for the year to 31 December 2021, which clearly demonstrate the progress that this company is making.  Furthermore, it is also now subject to a share for share offer from Tern plc, on terms that equate to 8 pence per Pires share, representing a 53.6% premium to the Pires share price prior to announcement, based on the respective companies share prices just prior to announcement. This offer is subject to approval by both Pires and Tern plc shareholders.  The Company has provided an irrevocable undertaking to accept this offer in respect of its shareholding. If the offer proceeds on the terms envisaged then based upon the share price of Tern plc at the point of announcement, the Company's carrying value of this investment, including warrants, would be £2.67 million compared to the value as at 31 December 2021 of £2.31 million.

On 10 May 2021, the Company announced a placing to raise £1.64 million, at the prevailing market price of 1.7 pence per share, in order to provide funds for further investment and to specifically fund the investment in Smarttech247 which was also announced at that time.  This fund raising was supported both by current and new investors.

The Company also expects to declare a dividend of 0.038 pence per share in relation to 2021, which would equate to a current gross yield of 4%.  This continues the Company's track record of providing a cash return to shareholders.

OUTLOOK AND STRATEGY

The Company has continued to generate attractive returns through investing by way of structured financings in order to provide funding for junior companies.  This strategy continues to have the benefit of providing both cash returns and downside protection. Furthermore, given the recent developments in global equity markets, the demand for the Company's investment capital has been growing strongly.  This strategy is now complemented with the pre-IPO investments that have been made, with Smarttech247 actively progressing towards a listing.

In summary, we are pleased that the results for 2021 demonstrate a continuing trend of progress for the Company. The current year has also started well and we look forward to some exciting results for 2022.

Philip Haydn-Slater

Non-Executive Chairman

23 June 2022

REVIEW OF THE BUSINESS AND FUTURE DEVELOPMENTS

Introduction

The Company is an investment company listed on the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange.  It is focused on investing in junior listed companies by way of debt or equity-linked debt investments.  Returns are principally generated through a combination of fees, interest and other equity linked or performance-based instruments.  This investing strategy enables the Company to reduce the risk and volatility normally associated with investing in junior companies solely by way of equity, and to generate cash income and returns. It also seeks to invest in exciting pre-IPO opportunities that are attractively valued and where there is a clear path to a liquidity event.

For the year to 31 December 2021, the Company made a profit from continuing operations of £1,040,012 (2020: £1,497,305). The net asset value of the Company as at 31 December 2021 was £11,748,821 (2020: £9,239,936), representing a significant increase compared to the previous year. Whilst the operating income figure was similar to the previous year, profit after tax was lower due to the impact of a non-cash accounting charge in relation to share based payments and higher investment advisory fees.  

The Company's investment portfolio at 31 December 2021 is divided into the following categories:

Debt and equity linked portfolio

During the year, the Company has continued to develop its portfolio and, as at the year end, the value of these investments amounted to £5.8 million.  The portfolio currently includes over 20 companies such as Jubilee Metals plc, Challenger Exploration Limited, Deepverge plc and Troy Resources Ltd.

These investments principally generate income in the form of fees and interest.  Investments are either made directly or by way of participation certificates in RiverFort Global Opportunities PCC Limited ("RGO PCC"), a Gibraltar based fund.  These certificates are reference linked financial instruments that provide similar economic benefits to the holder as if they were co-investing directly in the underlying investment.  Whilst there is no direct security into the underlying investment, the holder will benefit from the enforcement of any such security.

Equity and other portfolio

At the year end, the Company's equity portfolio comprised the following:

During the course of 2021, the Company has exercised warrants that it held in Pires and therefore its shareholding had increased to 19.5% or 30,914,193 shares as at the period end.  It also still held 4,814,200 warrants in Pires, exercisable at 4 pence per share, although these have subsequently been exercised post period end.

Pires has continued to invest in next generation technology and, during this period, a number of its investments have significantly increased in value.   

The company recently invested in a new Sure Valley Ventures ("SVV") fund ("SVV2"), alongside the British Business Bank ("BBB") who have committed £50 million to the new fund with other private investors, including Pires investing up to £35 million.  SVV2 is being managed by the same team which, to date, has been highly successful in achieving a number of cash realisations from, and upward revaluations of, companies in the first SVV fund ("SVV1").

Furthermore, the profit share arrangements within SVV2 are designed to encourage the involvement of private investors alongside the BBB, meaning that Pires and the other private investors would expect to receive a significantly enhanced share of the total return generated by the fund compared to industry standard.

Also, Getvisibility, one of Pires' investments that it holds both directly and via its holdings in SVV1 and Sure Ventures plc, has recently raised €10 million at a significantly higher valuation compared to when Pires first invested.  

Getvisibility, is a leader in data visibility and control, using state-of-the-art artificial intelligence ("AI") to classify and secure unstructured information. Getvisibility also provides risk and compliance assessments as well as enforcing protection on sensitive data.

The company operates across the US, Europe and the Middle East and North Africa with a presence in several industry sectors including banking, healthcare and the public sector. Getvisibility's clients include a leading global producer of energy and chemicals, a major airport group, one of the largest financial institutions in the Middle East as well as US government entities in the pharmaceutical and manufacturing sectors.

Pires' direct stake in Getvisibility (including its recent additional investment) is now valued at circa €1,500,000 or over 4 times its total investment cost to date since it made its first investment two years ago. In addition, Pires has a further interest in Getvisibility via its 13% interest in SVV1 and an indirect interest through its holding in Sure Ventures plc, which together are now valued at circa €1,330,000. Pires' interest in Getvisibility, in aggregate, is therefore now valued at circa €2,830,000.  As at the period end, RGO had a 19.54% stake in Pires.

On 1 June 2022, Tern plc ("Tern") announced a recommended share offer for the issued and to be issued share capital of Pires on the basis of 0.51613 Tern shares for each share in Pires. This valued each share in Pires at 8 pence based on the closing price of Tern shares on 31 May 2022 and represented a premium of 53.8% to the closing price of a Pires share on 31 May 2022.  This offer is subject to approval by both Tern and Pires shareholders.

On 15 June 2022, Pires published its results for the year to 31 December 2021, which clearly demonstrated the progress that this company is making. 

Often as part of the Company's investment, the investee company will issue warrants.  The value of the warrants attributable to the Company's investments are calculated using the Black-Scholes option pricing model and the resulting figure is discounted by 75% to reflect the level of expected return associated with such holdings given their highly volatile nature.  This balance is included within Other as set out in the table above.

Pre IPO investments

Pluto is a crypto technology and operations company with a focus on Decentralised Finance (DeFi) and the Metaverse (blockchain gaming and NFTs).

During the period, Pluto has invested in Maze Theory Limited ("Maze Theory"), a London‐based digital entertainment studio, with a view to developing high quality games that incorporate token economics. As part of this arrangement, Pluto and Maze Theory formed a new gaming blockchain and metaverse studio joint venture called Emergent Games. Given the experience of the team at Maze Theory and the work that they have done, Pluto is planning to extend its relationship with Maze Theory as it believes that this is a sector that provides an exciting growth opportunity. Also, during 2021 Pluto fully acquired the YOP platform and has been actively developing this platform to help enable users to operate in and navigate the DeFi space, which has been growing rapidly.

As at 31 December 2021, the Company's equity holding in Pluto was valued at £1.3 million based on a price of 6 pence per share, which is the price at which the company's most recent funding raising took place.

Good progress continues to be made on the listing of Smarttech247, by way of a proposed reverse takeover of Smarttech247 by Conduity Capital plc. Smarttech247 is a global managed detection and response company with a leading market position in security operations.  Its platform provides threat intelligence with managed detection and response. Smarttech247's service is geared towards proactive prevention using the latest in cloud, big data analytics and machine learning, along with its incident response team.

The company also recently hosted a global cybersecurity conference in Dublin which included over 25 speakers from organisations around the world who discussed many aspects of cybersecurity, from new technologies and new attack vectors to regulations that are reshaping cyber and business risks. Notable speakers included representatives from Microsoft, IBM, NCIS and the Institute of Cancer Research.

Following on from Smarttech247's performance for the period ended 31 July 2021, where revenue and profits increased by circa 50% compared to the previous year, the company has continued to win new clients.  The company is also progressing the roll out of its stable of internally developed automated security products currently consisting of the successful ThreatHub (threat and vulnerability modelling and management) and NoPhish (an AI driven phishing response solution to threat emails).

Smarttech247 continues to go from strength to strength as the world is increasingly exposed to cybersecurity attacks which can wreak havoc at companies and institutions around the globe. 

Cash resources

The prior period end cash balance was higher as it included amounts that were due to RGO PCC at the year end in connection with the investment made in Tanzanian Gold Corporation which was partly held by the Company on behalf of RGO PCC. However, the Company still has a significant cash balance available for investment.

Investment income derives principally from the fees and interest income in relation to our debt and equity linked debt investments. The net gain from financial instruments at FVTPL represents the impact of valuing the investment portfolio at fair value as required under IFRS 9.

Whilst the total income figure was similar to the previous year, operating profit was lower due to the impact of a non-cash accounting charge in relation to share based payments and the payment of higher investment advisory fees.

KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATORS

The key performance indicators are set out below: 

KEY RISKS AND UNCERTAINTIES

Investments in junior companies can carry a high level of risk and uncertainty, although the returns can be attractive.  At this stage there can be no certainty of outcome and the Company may have difficulty in realising the full value from its investments in a forced sale.  Furthermore, the Company limits the amount of each commitment, both as to the absolute amount and percentage of the target company.  Details of other financial risks and their management are given in Note 22 to the financial statements.

FINANCIAL RISK MANAGEMENT OBJECTIVES AND POLICIES

Details of the Company's financial risk management objectives and policies are set out in Note 21 to these financial statements.

Covid 19 - Due to the nature of the Company's activities, the impact of Covid 19 on the Company has been minimal, with continuing interest from junior companies for our investment capital. Management will, however, continue to assess its impact on the Company.

PROMOTION OF THE COMPANY FOR THE BENEFIT OF THE MEMBERS AS A WHOLE

S172 of the Companies Act 2006 requires the Board to promote the Company for the benefit of the members as a whole. In particular, the requirements of s172 are for the Directors to:

·       Consider the likely consequences of any decision in the long term

·       Act fairly between the members of the Company

·       Maintain a reputation for high standards of business conduct

·       Consider the interests of the Company's employees

·       Foster the Company's relationships with suppliers, customers and others and

·       Consider the impact of the Company's operations on the community and the environment.

The Directors are collectively responsible for formulating the Company's investment strategy, and during 2021 they have continued to focus on implementing the investment strategy previously approved by shareholders in 2018 which has resulted in a significant improvement in financial performance compared to previous years. 

In addition, the application of s172 requirements can be demonstrated in relation to some of the key decisions made during 2021:

• Raising of additional funds for the Company for investment purposes; and

• The making of further investments that have generated significant returns for the Company and its shareholders.

The Board places equal importance on all shareholders and strives for transparent and effective external communications, within the regulatory confines of a listed company. The primary communication tool for regulatory matters and matters of material substance is through the Regulatory News Service, ("RNS"). We also provide an environment where shareholders can interact with the Board and management, ask questions and raise any concerns they may have. The Directors believe they have acted in a way they consider most likely to promote the success of the Company for the benefit of its members as a whole, as required by Section 172 (1) of the Companies Act 2006.  

GOING CONCERN

The Company's assets comprise mainly cash, debt securities and quoted securities.  As at the year end, the Company held a significant balance of cash.  Furthermore, the Company has prepared cash forecasts to June 2023 that show that the Company has sufficient cash resources for the foreseeable future. The Directors have also considered the impact of Covid-19 and have concluded that, given the cash reserves in place and the level of the Company's ongoing costs, there are no material factors which are likely to affect the ability of the Company to continue as a going concern. Accordingly, the Directors believe that as at the date of this report it is appropriate to continue to adopt the going concern basis in preparing the financial statements.

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD

Nicholas Lee

Investment Director

23 June 2022

INDEPENDENT AUDITOR'S REPORT

Opinion              

We have audited the financial statements of Riverfort Global Opportunities plc (the 'company') for the year ended 31 December 2021 which comprise the Statement of Comprehensive Income, the Statement of Financial Position, the Statement of Changes in Equity, the Statement of Cash Flows and notes to the financial statements, including significant accounting policies. The financial reporting framework that has been applied in their preparation is applicable law and UK-adopted international accounting standards.

In our opinion, the financial statements:

•     give a true and fair view of the state of the company's affairs as at 31 December 2021 and of its profit for the year then ended;

•     have been properly prepared in accordance with UK-adopted international accounting standards; and

•     have been prepared in accordance with the requirements of the Companies Act 2006.

Basis for opinion

We conducted our audit in accordance with International Standards on Auditing (UK) (ISAs (UK)) and applicable law. Our responsibilities under those standards are further described in the Auditor's responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements section of our report. We are independent of the company in accordance with the ethical requirements that are relevant to our audit of the financial statements in the UK, including the FRC's Ethical Standard as applied to listed entities, and we have fulfilled our other ethical responsibilities in accordance with these requirements. We believe that the audit evidence we have obtained is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our opinion.

Conclusions relating to going concern

In auditing the financial statements, we have concluded that the director's use of the going concern basis of accounting in the preparation of the financial statements is appropriate. Our evaluation of the directors' assessment of the company's ability to continue to adopt the going concern basis of accounting included a review of the directors' statement in note 2 to the financial statements and the company's budgets for the period of twelve months from the date of approval of the financial statements, including checking the mathematical accuracy of the budgets and discussion and challenge of significant assumptions used by the management.

Based on the work we have performed, we have not identified any material uncertainties relating to events or conditions that, individually or collectively, may cast significant doubt on the company's ability to continue as a going concern for a period of at least twelve months from when the financial statements are authorised for issue.

Our responsibilities and the responsibilities of the directors with respect to going concern are described in the relevant sections of this report.

Our application of materiality

For the purposes of determining whether the financial statements are free from material misstatement, we define materiality as the magnitude of misstatement that makes it probable that the economic decisions of a reasonably knowledgeable person, relying on the financial statements, would be changed or influenced. We also determine a level of performance materiality which we use to assess the extent of testing needed, to reduce to an appropriately low level the probability that the aggregate of uncorrected and undetected misstatements exceeds materiality for the financial statements as a whole.

Materiality for the company financial statements as a whole was set at £334,000 (2020: £225,000). This has been calculated based on 2.5% (2020: 2%) of Gross Assets, being the same basis as applied in the prior year. Using our professional judgement, we have determined this to be the principal benchmark within the financial statements as it is most relevant to stakeholders in assessing the financial performance of the company, based on the growth in the value of the company's investments.

Performance materiality was set at £233,800 (2020: £157,500), being 70% of materiality for the financial statements as a whole respectively.

We agreed to report to those charged with governance all corrected and uncorrected misstatements we identified through our audit with a value in excess of £16,700 (2020: £11,250). We also agreed to report any other misstatements below that threshold that we believe warranted reporting on qualitative grounds.

Our approach to the audit

Our audit is risk based and is designed to focus our efforts on the areas at greatest risk of material misstatement, aspects subject to significant management judgement as well as greatest complexity and size.

The financial asset investments balance is highly material and incorporates both equity investments and structured finance investments. We carried out a detailed review of the classification of the financial assets as fair value through profit and loss (FVTPL) and assessed the fair value of the instruments on a sample basis to ensure they are materially stated in these financial statements. This also incorporated the review of the net income from financial instruments at FVTPL.

We consider the impact of the risks related to management override of controls and related party transactions and relationships to be material. We have tested manual and automated journal entries occurring throughout the period, including journal entries at year end. Additionally, as part of our audit procedures to address fraud risk, we assessed the overall control environment and reviewed whether there had been any reported actual or alleged instances of fraudulent activity during the year. Our work on related parties included assessment of the company's procedures, as well as discussions with the directors.

Key audit matters

Key audit matters are those matters that, in our professional judgment, were of most significance in our audit of the financial statements of the current period and include the most significant assessed risks of material misstatement (whether or not due to fraud) we identified, including those which had the greatest effect on: the overall audit strategy, the allocation of resources in the audit; and directing the efforts of the engagement team. These matters were addressed in the context of our audit of the financial statements as a whole, and in forming our opinion thereon, and we do not provide a separate opinion on these matters.

Other information

The other information comprises the information included in the annual report, other than the financial statements and our auditor's report thereon. The directors are responsible for the other information contained within the annual report. Our opinion on the financial statements does not cover the other information and, except to the extent otherwise explicitly stated in our report, we do not express any form of assurance conclusion thereon. Our responsibility is to read the other information and, in doing so, consider whether the other information is materially inconsistent with the financial statements or our knowledge obtained in the course of the audit, or otherwise appears to be materially misstated. If we identify such material inconsistencies or apparent material misstatements, we are required to determine whether this gives rise to a material misstatement in the financial statements themselves. If, based on the work we have performed, we conclude that there is a material misstatement of this other information, we are required to report that fact.

We have nothing to report in this regard.

Opinions on other matters prescribed by the Companies Act 2006

In our opinion, based on the work undertaken in the course of the audit:

•       the information given in the strategic report and the directors' report for the financial year for which the financial statements are prepared is consistent with the financial statements; and

•       the strategic report and the directors' report have been prepared in accordance with applicable legal requirements.

Matters on which we are required to report by exception

In the light of the knowledge and understanding of the company and its environment obtained in the course of the audit, we have not identified material misstatements in the strategic report or the directors' report.

We have nothing to report in respect of the following matters in relation to which the Companies Act 2006 requires us to report to you if, in our opinion:

•       adequate accounting records have not been kept, or returns adequate for our audit have not been received from branches not visited by us; or

•       the financial statements are not in agreement with the accounting records and returns; or

•       certain disclosures of directors' remuneration specified by law are not made; or

•       we have not received all the information and explanations we require for our audit.

Responsibilities of directors

As explained more fully in the statement of directors' responsibilities, the directors are responsible for the preparation of the financial statements and for being satisfied that they give a true and fair view, and for such internal control as the directors determine is necessary to enable the preparation of financial statements that are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error.

In preparing the financial statements, the directors are responsible for assessing the company's ability to continue as a going concern, disclosing, as applicable, matters related to going concern and using the going concern basis of accounting unless the directors either intend to liquidate the company or to cease operations, or have no realistic alternative but to do so.

Auditor's responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements

Our objectives are to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements as a whole are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error, and to issue an auditor's report that includes our opinion. Reasonable assurance is a high level of assurance but is not a guarantee that an audit conducted in accordance with ISAs (UK) will always detect a material misstatement when it exists. Misstatements can arise from fraud or error and are considered material if, individually or in the aggregate, they could reasonably be expected to influence the economic decisions of users taken on the basis of these financial statements.

Irregularities, including fraud, are instances of non-compliance with laws and regulations. We design procedures in line with our responsibilities, outlined above, to detect material misstatements in respect of irregularities, including fraud. The extent to which our procedures are capable of detecting irregularities, including fraud is detailed below:

·       We obtained an understanding of the company and the sector in which they operate to identify laws and regulations that could reasonably be expected to have a direct effect on the financial statements. We obtained our understanding in this regard through discussions with management and application of cumulative audit knowledge.

·       We determined the principal laws and regulations relevant to the company in this regard to be those arising from AIM rules, local tax law and regulations, UK-adopted international accounting standards and the Companies Act 2006.

·       We designed our audit procedures to ensure that the audit team considered whether there were any indications of non-compliance by the company with those laws and regulations. This is evidenced by our discussion of laws and regulations with management, reviewing minutes of meetings of those charged with governance and review of regulatory news.

·       We designed our audit procedures to ensure the audit team considered whether there were any indications of non-compliance by the group with those laws and regulations. These procedures included, but were not limited to:

·      Making enquiries of management;

·      A review of Board minutes;

·      A review of legal ledger accounts;

·      A review of Regulatory News Service ("RNS") announcements.

·       We addressed the risk of fraud arising from management override of controls by performing audit procedures which included, but were not limited to: the testing of journals; reviewing accounting estimates for evidence of bias; and evaluating the business rationale of any significant transactions that are unusual or outside the normal course of business or where the business rationale is not clear.

Because of the inherent limitations of an audit, there is a risk that we will not detect all irregularities, including those leading to a material misstatement in the financial statements or non-compliance with regulation.  This risk increases the more that compliance with a law or regulation is removed from the events and transactions reflected in the financial statements, as we will be less likely to become aware of instances of non-compliance. The risk is also greater regarding irregularities occurring due to fraud rather than error, as fraud involves intentional concealment, forgery, collusion, omission or misrepresentation.

A further description of our responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements is located on the Financial Reporting Council's website at: https://www.frc.org.uk/auditorsresponsibilities. This description forms part of our auditor's report.

Use of our report

This report is made solely to the company's members, as a body, in accordance with Chapter 3 of Part 16 of the Companies Act 2006. Our audit work has been undertaken so that we might state to the company's members those matters we are required to state to them in an auditors' report and for no other purpose. To the fullest extent permitted by law, we do not accept or assume responsibility to anyone other than the company and the company's members as a body, for our audit work, for this report, or for the opinions we have formed.

Eric Hindson (Senior Statutory Auditor)                                                                                                                      15 Westferry Circus

For and on behalf of PKF Littlejohn LLP                                                                                                                                Canary Wharf

Statutory Auditor                                                                                                                                                                  London E14 4HD

Date 23 June 2022

*£33,000 of P Haydn-Slater's salary and fees was invoiced by Musgrave Merchant Ltd, a company controlled by him.

The Directors consider that the carrying amount of other receivables is approximately equal to their fair value.

The Directors consider the carrying amount of cash and cash equivalents approximates to their fair value.

The Directors consider that the carrying amount of trade and other payables approximates to their fair value.

Trade payables and Other payables are all due within 6 months of the year end.

The fair value of the share options recognised as an expense in the income statement was £201,034 (2020: £Nil).

NOTE TO THE ANNOUNCEMENT

In accordance with Section 435 of the Companies Act 2006, the directors advise that the information set out in this announcement does not constitute the Company's statutory financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2021 or 2020 but is derived from these financial statements.  The financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2020 have been delivered to the Registrar of Companies.  The financial reporting framework that has been applied in their preparation is applicable law and international accounting standards in conformity with the requirements of the Companies Act 2006 and will be forwarded to the Registrar of Companies following the Company's Annual General Meeting.  The Auditors have reported on these financial statements; their reports were unqualified and did not contain statements under Section 498(2) or the Companies Act 2006.