MERCK'S NUMBERS

Merck Mercuriadis’ Hipgnosis Songs Fund released its first annual report today spelling out its financials since going public on 7/11.

Between 7/11 and 3/31, Merck’s company acquired 12 catalogs of just over 3,000 songs for £120m and since then have added another 10 catalogs—2,795 songs—at a cost of £121m. Revenue between 7/11 was 3/31 was £7.2m.

The company spelled out two of its revenue generators: The Bernard Edwards catalog generated $512,000 through sync licenses in April; and one song from The-Dream has pulled in $125,000 2019 to date.

“We focus on acquiring catalogs that are built around proven hit songs,” Mercuriadis wrote. “The key consideration from our due diligence is whether historical performance demonstrates that the songs’ earnings are predictable and reliable. These characteristics reduce risk and improve performance as they have long dated income streams that can be analyzed and forecasted.

“In addition, we are focused on helping the company to build a portfolio which produces a high proportion of copyright income derived from streaming.”

Total capital raised by the company now stands at £343.7m ($437.5m)—£202.2m from the IPO and £141.5m from a placing program issuance in mid-April that came mostly from existing institutional investors.

The company’s future target dividend yield is 5% per annum on the Ordinary Shares and the company intends to continue to pay four interim quarterly dividends.

The company will hold its general meeting on 9/10 in London.