August 2007
New micro entrants continue to aspire to Aim status
EDITOR'S NOTE
New micro entrants aspire to Aim status
Although attention is increasingly focused at the top end of Aim there is still a flow of new micro-sized companies on to Aim. Read more
Profile
Matica
Italy-based Matica designs, manufactures and sells card printing, embossing and mailing machines. They can be used to produce personalised credit and debit cards, smart cards, identification cards, pre-paid telephone cards, mobile phone SIM cards, membership cards, loyalty cards and electronic payment cards. Read more 'Matica'
Features
Technology company performance prompts concern
Academic research funded by venture capital firm MTI Partners* appears to show a disappointing performance from technology companies that have joined Aim. This could have an effect on the ability of small technology companies to raise money. Read more 'Technology company performance prompts concern'
What investors are looking for
At the recent Growth Company Investor Show at the Barbican in London Peter Webb of Unicorn Asset Management talked about what he looks for in companies and why he might decide to sell one of his shareholdings. He also outlined his preferred shares for the current year. Read more 'What investors are looking for'
IR website countdown
It is a matter of weeks before the Aim website deadline. Aim companies need to make sure that they have all the requisite corporate and financial information on their website by 20th August. Read more 'IR website countdown'
Companies
ILX
A poor performance from its IT training subsidiary hit last year’s figures from ILX but it should recover this year. Read more 'ILX'
Datong
Surveillance equipment manufacturer Datong is looking to move into new market sectors, most likely via acquisition. Datong’s core market is military and police intelligence gathering. Read more 'Datong'
ADD Leisure
Health insurer BUPA is taking a 29.9% stake in Aim-quoted health and fitness company ADD Leisure. Read more 'ADD Leisure'
Evolutec
Fund manager Gartmore has scuppered plans to wind up Evolutec after its hay fever treatment made from tick saliva failed to do better than a placebo. Read more 'Evolutec'
Chromogenex
Medical and aesthetic laser devices developer Chromogenex is launching a new laser system which it claims will help stop people smoking. Read more 'Chromogenex'
Consolidated Vending
Photo booths and vending machines operator Consolidated Vending is paying £600,000 in cash and shares for Kiddies Rides, which operates coin-operated rides for children. Read more 'Consolidated Vending'
Private & Commercial
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'
Intellego
Intellego wants to be a consolidator in the e-learning market. Targets should be in similar markets. Intellego believes it can increase turnover and cut costs by integrating the acquisitions. Read more 'Intellego'
Blue Star Mobile
Blue Star Mobile swung from a loss of £65,000 to a profit of £101,000 in the year to March 2007 as its turnover moved ahead from £3.06m to £4.43m. The first half of the financial year benefited from the 2006 football World Cup. Most of the annual growth came from the mobile branding and promotions operations and that should continue this year. Read more 'Blue Star Mobile'
AxisMobile
Like many technology companies AxisMobile appears to have numerous opportunities but its finances are limited. It has signed up new customers this year but it will take time for the revenues to come through. Read more 'AxisMobile'
Surgical Innovation
Surgical Innovations recently raised £4m to finance marketing in the US, additional stocks and further product development. It also wants to sign product licences for devices developed by other companies and sell them through its own distribution channels. There is a move towards instruments where part of the instrument is reused and other parts are replaced each time it is used. The shares were placed at 3.5p even though they were trading at 6p a few weeks prior to the fund raising. The share price dipped just after the 2006 results were published although the placing price is still higher than the market price six months ago. Read more 'Surgical Innovation'
Curidium Medica
Insurers and governments don’t want to pay for drugs that don’t work but only 40% of patients respond to prescription medicines in the CNS area. There are also a lot of drugs that don’t make it through clinical trials because the results are not good enough. Yet many of these drugs would work on particular subgroups. Homomatrix can select the patients most likely to respond to a particular drug in clinical trials thereby reducing the risk and cost of developing new treatments. It can cost up to $1.2bn (£600m) to get one drug onto the market. Homomatrix can also stop existing drugs being prescribed to people who will not respond to them. Read more 'Curidium Medica'
Clearstream Technologies
Analysts believe that the annual market for coronary (heart) products could reach $10bn by 2010. ClearStream’s products only cover part of this overall market but this is currently the main source of revenues even though, at around €9m, they are a tiny percentage of the market. ClearStream’s catheters incorporate small balloons which can be inflated to open up an artery. They can also be used to put a stent in place which reduces the likelihood of re-blocking of the artery. Regulatory problems because of worries about rival products have meant that sales of ClearStream’s drug eluting stents have been minimal. Read more 'Clearstream Technologies'
Parallel Media
Parallel has shown it can make a profit and it needs to build upon that base. Chairman David Ciclitira’s reputation in the industry helps what is a very tiny business punch above its weight. He has unwound PMG’s Asian joint venture and this will make it easier for the company to win direct business in Asia. It took on two existing tournaments as part of the deal. Read more 'Parallel Media'
Betbrokers
Betbrokers offers regular gamblers or bookies confidentiality when they take or lay bets in any size. By holding money in a central account gamblers can access money and place bets with any bookie. Read more 'Betbrokers'
Mariana Resources
Mariana is a very small company but some of its exploration is being financed by bigger companies such as Dynasty Metals & Mining, Anglo American, Apex Silver and IAMGOLD Corporation, which has recently made gold discoveries in Ecuador. Apex Silver is also a direct investor in Mariana. Mariana managing director John Sutcliffe has been involved in gold discoveries and mines in South America, Spain and Yemen as well as copper in Chile. Read more 'Mariana Resources'
African Eagle Resources
African Eagle Resources is packaging up its uranium assets into one division. That could lead to a decision to spin off this part of the business as a separate quoted company. It has six projects in 11 exploration licence areas in Zambia and Tanzania and hopes to gain eight more exploration licences in Tanzania and Mozambique. There should be further news on the new division in the coming months. Read more 'African Eagle Resources'
Zambezi Nickel
Zambezi Nickel intends to change its name following the joint venture deal with its main shareholder Zambezi Resources. It will retain its nickel interests in Zambia and Mozambique but the main focus will switch to Uranium. Zambezi Nickel is a company with a large number of prospects to choose from but it has to make sure that it doesn’t spread itself too thinly. Look out for the first results from drilling which could be issued in August. Read more 'Zambezi Nickel'
Beowulf Mining
Beowulf Mining is exploring for gold and copper in Sweden but it also has an interesting iron and titanium opportunity at Routevare. Beowulf is in discussions with potential joint venture partners. Drilling should commence before the end of the year. Read more 'Beowulf Mining'
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