Agronomics (LSE:ANIC) is a penny share that has fallen 25% since July and 60% in five years. Shareholders didn’t have much to cheer about.
However, Chairman Jim Mellon clearly sees value at 6p per share. According to my data provider, he spent a total of £168,488 collecting shares on two separate occasions in February. This was the first significant internal procurement activity of the year.
Obviously, Mellon has grown up by then. Should I follow him and add a few stocks to my portfolio?
Image source: Getty Images
Solid progress
As a quick return, Agronomics is a £71m venture capital firm focused on the emerging field of mobile agriculture. Often referred to as ‘clean meat’, this is where meat and fish are grown in cells rather than killed for consumption.
Besides the moral benefits, this technology makes them “it is possible to grow meat quickly, cleanly and locally, without the need for importsThe security of the food chain is becoming more important to nations, as are concerns about deforestation for animal agriculture.
The company is involved in 20+ startups, with the hope that a number of them will achieve commercial success and bring in significant returns for shareholders. As the share price tells us however, this has not really happened. At least for now.
Earlier this month, Agronomics published results for the six months ending 31 December. The company made a profit of around £10m during the period, a reversal from a loss of £6.5m the previous year.
Net asset value (NAV) per share increased by 11.7% to 13.78p, up from 12.34p in June 2025. The strong performance was driven by unrealized gains in key assets, including Liberation Bioindustries (£4.1m) and Blue Nalu (£4m), following successful funding rounds.
Holdings
Blue Nalu is a marine aquaculture company that makes products from fish cells. The primary focus is bluefin tuna, one of the world’s most expensive and overfished seafood.
If the tuna is approved, Blue Nalu says it targets “The best sushi and fine dining restaurants across the United States, work with chefs, distributors, and strategic partners to provide consistent, high-quality product with year-round availability.“.
With the world’s population expected to reach nearly 9.5bn by 2050, we cannot continue to overfish the oceans. That is clearly not sustainable.
In theory, this company has a very big opportunity to trade in the future. As such, it has a 12% weighting in the portfolio, making it the second largest after Liberation Bioindustries.
Top 10 Holdings (on 31 December 2025)
| Company | Concentrate | Weight |
|---|---|---|
| Liberation Bioindustries | A precision fermentation contract manufacturer | 25% |
| Blue Nalu | Farmed bluefin tuna | 12% |
| Big Meat | Domesticated chickens | 11% |
| Onego Bio | Egg proteins are cultured | 8% |
| Bio form | Planted milk proteins | 7% |
| All G Co Holdings quotes | Planted milk proteins | 5% |
| The Clean Eating Group | Planted palm oil | 5% |
| Sun Food | Novel wind proteins | 5% |
| ALL Company | Egg proteins are cultured | 4% |
| Meat | Farmed pet food | 3% |
Worth a punt?
The big risk here, of course, is that none of these startups are likely to achieve commercial success. One called Meatable fell by the wayside last year, resulting in an £11.9m write-down for Agronomics. Others could follow.
Another thing worth mentioning here is that this penny stock is very volatile. It can go up and down 50% in the blink of an eye, so it’s definitely not for the risk-averse.
The shares are currently trading at a 50% discount to NAV. So, in theory, there could be a bargain here, assuming the portfolio continues well and the market is growing well in Agronomics. Loading Mellon is obviously a good sign.
On the other hand, there is no guarantee that the discount will decrease. To me, Agronomics is like a roll of the dice. I see a safe alternative to my ISA.
