RADNOR, Pa., March 3, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Safeguard Scientifics, Inc. (NYSE: SFE) today announced fourth quarter and full-year 2015 financial results. Safeguard’s partner companies achieved significant developmental milestones and continued aggregate revenue growth during the three months and full-year ended December 31, 2015. Safeguard partner company aggregate revenue was $449 million, up 25% from $359 million in 2014.
“Safeguard is well-positioned to realize significant gains from exit transactions in 2016 due to continued revenue growth and milestone achievements amongst our partner companies,” said Stephen T. Zarrilli, President and CEO at Safeguard. “Safeguard has grown its roster of healthcare and technology partner companies to 29. We believe that this growth will lead to more consistent exit activity. When combined with our disciplined approach to deployments and exits, we remain confident that Safeguard can realize aggregate cash-on-cash returns at our goal of 2x.”
2015 Financial Highlights
- Realized $9.1 million and $7.8 million in cash proceeds from the sales of Safeguard’s interests in partner companies DriveFactor and Quantia, respectively. Milestone and escrow payments received during 2015 related to previous years’ exits were $2.9 million for Crescendo Bioscience, $1.7 million for Alverix, and $3.3 million for ThingWorx.
- Deployed $51.6 million of capital in eight new partner companies during the year, increasing the roster of partner companies to 29 at year-end. This total includes fourth quarter deployments of $11.0 million as part of a $20.0 million Series B financing for Cask Data, and $7.0 million as part of a $17.0 million Series A financing for Zipnosis.
- Deployed $33.3 million in follow-on funding during the year to support growth of 12 existing partner companies.
- Repurchased $5.0 million of common stock in open market transactions under an ongoing $25 million share repurchase program authorized in the third quarter. Through December 31, 2015, approximately 300,000 shares were repurchased. Approximately $3.3 million of the shares were repurchased during the fourth quarter.
- Net cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities at December 31, 2015 totaled $21.9 million, after subtracting carrying value of debt outstanding of $51.7 million
For the three months ended December 31, 2015, Safeguard’s net loss was $14.3 million, or $0.69 per share, compared with a net loss of $15.1 million, or $0.73 per share, for the same quarter of 2014. For the year ended December 31, 2015, Safeguard’s net loss was $59.5 million, or $2.85 per share, compared with a net loss of $5.1 million, or $0.25 per share in 2014.
SELECT PARTNER COMPANY HIGHLIGHTS
Significant accomplishments by Safeguard’s partner companies during 2015 include:
~ Product Launches/Regulatory Approvals ~
AdvantEdge Healthcare Solutions passed third-party audits to meet the data security requirements of HIPAA and the SSAE SOC 1 Type 1 and Type 2 examinations.
Apprenda launched a new Apprenda Certified Expert program to certify customers and partners on enterprise platform-as-a-service (“PaaS”).
Aventura launched Sympatica, its lead software platform for integrating electronic medical records with third-party applications at the point of care, and Aventura for Speech Recognition, a workflow optimization solution that addresses common technical obstacles with speech recognition applications.
Beyond launched its online subscription-based service, which provides small business with ongoing access to Beyond’s 45 million members and 500+ niche talent communities.
Bridgevine enhanced its programmatic marketing service, allowing advertisers to identify and engage consumers who are moving, and it launched SocialShare, a turnkey social media referral program.
CloudMine increased its depth into security and compliance. The company achieved information security program compliance in ISO 27001:2013 and EU/CH Safe Harbor, plus further invested in existing HIPAA HITECH controls.
Clutch Holdings deployed an array of technology enhancements to its customer-marketing platform, including a comprehensive integrated email service provider system and an advanced customer-scoring dimension, amongst its existing analytics portal.
Full Measure Education launched its student-facing mobile application to its first institution. The mobile app is now available in the App Store and Google Play Store.
Good Start Genetics launched EmbryVu, a new lower-cost pre-implantation genetic screening test that improves the chances of successful in vitro fertilization (“IVF”) by identifying embryos that have an increased chance of implantation and successful pregnancy.
Hoopla launched the next-generation of Hoopla TV, a visual communication platform that empowers companies to develop a performance-driven culture.
Lumesis launched DIVER Underwriter solution for the municipal bond market.
MediaMath launched Helix, a new business unit offering large-scale, proprietary data sets to clients to drive advertising and marketing decisions. Helix is now available to U.S. clients and will be rolled out globally by region in 2016.
Medivo launched its OPAL De-Identification Solution, which allows tracking of patients over time on an anonymous basis, and is used by partner labs as the first step in lab data commercialization.
Propeller Health received clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”) to market its system for use with asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease medications administered through GlaxoSmithKline’s Diskus dry powder inhaler, and with the RESPIMAT soft mist inhaler from Boehringer Ingelheim.
Putney received FDA approval for three new generic veterinary products, increasing its product portfolio to 11.
QuanticMind released over 100 enhancements to its platform across the optimization, reporting, dashboarding and forecasting engines. QuanticMind Search added new capabilities for keyword expansion, Bing Ads Enhanced Campaigns and Yahoo! Gemini integration. QuanticMind Social developed Facebook tracking, reporting and analytics capabilities to enable marketers to compare search and social performance in a single interface.
Sonobi introduced guaranteed targeting on display campaigns through its JetStream platform.
Spongecell launched CORECreative Optimization and Relevance Engine. Part of Spongecell’s creative management platform, CORE empowers marketers to leverage data and brand content to personalize and optimize creative experiences for maximum relevance across all digital channels.
Syapse expanded the scope of its core products to provide physicians with an automated system to match patients to suitable clinical trials, and for clinical trial administrators to identify eligible patients at their institution. This functionality provides new options for patients for whom approved therapies have failed, and a powerful resource for clinical trial administrators to increase enrollment.
Transactis launched its new digital responsive design technology.
Trice Medical launched the newest version of its product called mi-eye+ which has been well received by the orthopedic surgeon community with its improved visualization.
~ Major Customer Wins ~
AppFirst added Konica Minolta to its customer roster.
Beyond added AT&T, HCR ManorCare, Pizza Hut and Randstad to its customer roster.
CloudMine added Thomas Jefferson University Hospital to its customer roster.
Clutch Holdings signed new strategic enterprise clients including Denali, Giro, Gold Key Resorts, Meineke, Riddell, Wet Seal and Wizard World. Clutch also expanded customer marketing solutions to its existing clients including Crabtree & Evelyn, Dylan’s Candy Bar, Marbles: The Brain Store, Rawlings and XpresSpa.
Full Measure Education began working with four institutions from the Kansas Community College system, and gained three additional clients, for a total of seven partner institutions.
Good Start Genetics continues to penetrate the IVF segment, and in late 2015, began to introduce its carrier screening products into the obstetrics and gynecology segment.
Medivo made major inroads with 16 life science clients by demonstrating the value of clinical diagnostics in conditions such as chronic myelogenous leukemia, non-small cell lung cancer, hereditary angioedema and hepatitis C virus.
meQuilibrium added Iron Mountain as a client. In addition, meQuilibrium significantly expanded business with existing customers including Comcast, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Grant Thornton, and Pitney Bowes.
QuanticMind doubled the number of subscribing customers year-over-year, including large-scale advertisers spending more than $10 million a year on search engine marketing, and continued its international expansion. New customers include Dafiti, Decathlon, Horizon Media, Ogilvy, Pet Circle, a leading financial services company in the online brokerage space, the largest automotive retailer in the U.S., and the interactive division of a big-three television network. Many of these customers replaced first-generation software from Marin Software, Kenshoo, and Adobe.
Spongecell expanded its relationship with Coles, one of Australia’s largest retailers. The Australian grocery giant is using Spongecell’s programmatic creative platform to personalize weekly ads with offers based on the buying preferences of its loyalty club members. Other notable client wins include American Express, General Motors, and McDonald’s.
Syapse won new contracts in major hospital systems and in national oncology networks including Sarah Cannon, to launch a precision oncology clinical service line; Providence Health System, to empower Swedish Cancer Institute’s Personalized Medicine program; the American Society of Clinical Oncology, to automate clinical workflows for a nationwide clinical trial; and Cancer Center Treatments of America, to enable clinical workflows for its five regional centers.
Transactis announced long-term contracts with four more of the largest financial institutions in North America and now serves 12 of the top 50 U.S. banks.
Trice Medical acquired several leading orthopedic health system accounts since the launch of mi-eye+ including Geisinger Health System, Rothman Institute, Mount Sinai Hospital, Hospital for Special Surgery, Lourdes Health System, and Ortho Texas. Geisinger Health System recently performed its 100th mi-eye exam.
WebLinc launched an e-commerce website for new client Stila Cosmetics and relaunched e-commerce websites for existing clients including FAM Brands LLC brands Marika and Zobha, as well as The Sak Brand Group brands The Sak, Sakroots, and Elliot Lucca.
~ Strategic Partnerships ~
Apprenda formed a strong business and technical partnership with Cisco, working to build integrations together with Cisco’s Metapod and ACI product offerings, and culminating in a recently announced global reseller agreement. Apprenda also joined the newly formed Cloud Native Computing Foundation, and the Open Container Initiative to help guide the industry standards for container and microservices based application development and operations.
Aventura partnered with BIO-key International to offer a biometric-authentication solution for electronic prescription of controlled substances.
Beyond announced a partnership with Udemy to enhance the quality of job applicants by combining Beyond’s career development tools with Udemy’s skills-based courses and with TextRecruit to allow text engagement.
CloudMine partnered with Xamarin, a leading tool for building cross-platform mobile apps using C# & Java, and released C# front-end libraries in order to support Microsoft (.NET) developers. In addition, CloudMine established a strategic partnership with Alpha Anywhere to provide security and compliance throughout the technology stack, while empowering IT and business users to more quickly deliver mobile optimized forms, enterprise-grade mobile apps and rich HTML5 web applications, using a low-code approach.
Clutch Holdings and Safeguard partner company, WebLinc, announced a partnership that provides WebLinc’s clients access to Clutch’s advanced customer loyalty and gift programs. Clutch also entered into a strategic partnership with POS on Cloud to provide cloud-based restaurant and retail gift card, loyalty, and customer intelligence for businesses, and with EVO Platinum Services Group for advanced small and midsize business solutions to merchants.
Good Start Genetics partnered with Johns Hopkins University for noninvasive prenatal testing; established a national relationship with UnitedHealthcare; and is collaborating with Helix to develop low-cost consumer applications that help couples understand their reproductive health.
Lumesis completed several successful partnership agreements during the year including AIREX Market, Bitvore, Build America Mutual, Ipreo and Pershing.
MediaMath developed and continued to build upon key marketing technology partnerships with 33Across, Adform, Adyoulike, Dailymotion, Digital Analytics, Globo, IBM (as part of the IBM Universal Behavior Exchange), Integral Ad Science, Interact, Navegg, Oracle, PubMatic, Teads, Tealeaf, Time Inc., and xtify.
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