financial

Private & Commercial

From: Patience required by Aim micro companies, first published in August 2007.

Figures for the 15 months to March 2007 show a recovery for Private & Commercial Finance whose car finance business has had its problems in recent years. It made profits of £366,000 in the period and appears to be on a much sounder footing now. Read more 'Private & Commercial'

Sovgem

From: Patience required by Aim micro companies, first published in June 2007.

SovGem is confident about finding more good Chinese investments. It relies on advisers to do the due diligence and then present it with opportunities. So far it has invested in 19 companies introduced by nine different brokers. Read more 'Sovgem'

Lighthouse

From: Patience required by Aim micro companies, first published in June 2007.

Lighthouse was worth less than £20m before its deal with Liverpool Victoria, which is outsourcing its IFA operations to the company. Since then the shares have soared taking Lighthouse out of the ‘micro’ category but it is still worth a look. Read more 'Lighthouse'

Diamond Lifestyle

From: Patience required by Aim micro companies, first published in June 2007.

The process of buying a council home can take up to nine months and that is why some mainstream lenders aren’t interested in the business. Read more 'Diamond Lifestyle'