Braveheart gears up for dividend

BRAVEHEART, the investment group, is poised to recommend a maiden dividend next year, according to house broker Seymour Pierce.

A payout of possibly 1p a share is likely if Braveheart sells stakes in some of its portfolio of companies. The broker also expects the firm to post a "modest" profit of 311,000, its first since it joined the Alternative Investment Market in 2007.

While chief executive Geoffrey Thomson wouldn't be drawn on which stakes he was looking to sell, he said Braveheart "had a number of balls up in the air" but the timing of any possible sales was still unclear.

He said that good progress was being made in exporting the Scottish group's model of working with business angels and high net-worth individuals, with franchises set up in Manchester and Dubai. Thomson added: "Our Scottish models are proving popular and we're in the early stages of discussing possible franchises in Europe."

His comments came as Braveheart posted a 63 per cent jump in fee revenue for the year to 31 March to 926,000 after the takeover of Envestors in October.

The jump in fee income helped the firm to narrow its operating losses by 20 per cent to 862,000, boosted by the sale of its stake in East Anglia University spin out Im-Sense for 168,000. But pre-tax losses widened to 1.3 million from 767,000 after a 444,000 write-down on the value of its investments.