Investors Chronicle articles from January 2006

Investors Chronicle archives from January 2006

Retailing's relevance.
January 6, 2006... Early indicators on how retailers did over Christmas are mixed. If the Confederation of British Industry and footfall are to be believed, sales were strong in early December but weak later in the month. What's interesting, though, isn't...

Nicotine cravings.
January 6, 2006... Spot the odd one out among 2005's winning sectors: mining, aerospace, tobacco, construction and building materials. Yes, tobacco really was one of last year's champions, rising by almost one-third. But, in a period when cyclical industries have...

Attractive properties.
January 6, 2006... What a difference a decade makes. While investors shunned the commercial property market for most of the 1990s, attitudes to the sector in the current decade have quickly progressed from keen interest to a state of mild euphoria. A confluence...

Hazardous chemicals.
January 6, 2006... Being a chemicals firm is seldom easy. But the industry has been an even tougher place to do business lately. The high oil price has made raw materials much dearer. Soaring energy bills mean that processing those materials costs that much more,...

Private-equity buyers target media sector.
January 6, 2006... The media sector could be the target of a raft of private-equity buyouts in the new year amid reports that cable company NTL is being stalked. Private-equity groups Apax Partners Worldwide and Kohlberg Kravis Roberts are said to be looking at...

RBS's chinese venture gets the green light.
January 6, 2006... Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) has been granted regulatory approval for its investment in Bank of China. RBS, together with Merrill Lynch and the Li Ka-Shing Foundation, now owns 10 per cent of China's second-biggest bank. RBS put up GBP0.9bn of...

Cookson sells SCS to meet its target.
January 6, 2006... Industrial materials group Cookson has achieved its 2005 target of GBP100m-worth of disposals with the sale of speciality coatings business SCS for GBP32.3m. The money will be used to reduce debts from GBP320m to between GBP200m and GBP250m in...

Thorntons hit by cruel yule.
January 6, 2006... Chocolate logs were clearly off the shopping list for many households during the festive period. Sales of confectionery in Thorntons' network of shops slipped 4.9 per cent in the 26-week period up to Christmas Eve, marking a further...

Tarsus proving best in show.
January 6, 2006... Exhibition and conference company Tarsus has said that it expects to deliver strong organic growth in 2006. In a trading statement ahead of its 2005 full-year results in February, the company said its largest show - the biennial Labelexpo...

Eastern promise.
January 6, 2006... At this time of year, it has become customary among those involved in the business of investment to do three things. First, to make New Year resolutions. Second, to anticipate future trends and key anniversaries. And third, to make yet another...

Private equity to rule the world.
January 6, 2006... In 2006, the serious European economic recovery that we've awaited for years will move up into third gear, largely cancelling out - across the entire European Union - the drag of higher oil prices. China's growth will stutter as more cities are...

Canterbury calls in Administrators.
January 6, 2006... Pies and pastry are often given up as a New Year resolution. But the banks that finance Canterbury Foods - which makes pastry products - have given up the company for good. Canterbury is calling in the administrators after it failed to agree a...

GW Cannabis drug courts US approval.
January 6, 2006... Shares in GW Pharmaceuticals reached a year-high of 160p after the company's cannabis drug received the go-ahead from US regulators to enter Phase III trials. Studies of painkiller Sativex in patients suffering from cancer pain are expected to...

JKX profits from Ukraine gas spat.
January 6, 2006... The 'cold war' between Russia and Ukraine could directly benefit JKX Oil & Gas, which produces gas in Ukraine. Most of the company's output is sold domestically at around $1.75 per thousand cubic feet (mcf). However, the reported agreement...

Bowleven shares go into freefall.
January 6, 2006... Shares in West African oil and gas explorer Bowleven almost halved following the suspension of operations on its Bachuo-1 exploration well off Cameroon. This is the second disappointing drill result since it raised GBP53m last October at 650p....

Aerobox lands airline contracts.
January 6, 2006... Shares in airline container designer Aerobox rose 15 per cent this week as the company won a contract with Unitpool, which supplies containers to Swiss International Air Lines and Eithad Airways. The contract is worth $1.4m (GBP802,000) to...

Brandon management opens buyout talks.
January 6, 2006... The executive management team at tool-hire company Brandon Hire has been given permission to explore a buyout. However, Brandon was keen to stress that discussions are only at a preliminary stage. The shares rose 13 per cent to 174p. ...

Lenigas takes reins at Lonrho Africa.
January 6, 2006... Mining entrepreneur David Lenigas has taken over as chief executive of Lonrho Africa. Mr Lenigas built his reputation as joint managing director of Bangladeshi coal-mine developer Asia Energy, and wants to build an African mining business with...

Ubiquity warning.
January 6, 2006... Teleconferencing technology specialist Ubiquity Software has warned that delays to the signing of two "sizeable" deals will push its full-year results significantly below market expectations. Ubiquity, which raised GBP20.3m at its float last...

Stanley Gibbons on track to hit targets.
January 6, 2006... Shares in stamp dealer Stanley Gibbons rose 4 per cent this week as the company issued an upbeat trading statement, saying that profits for 2005 will be in line with market expectations. It also extended the closing date for its rare stamp...

Week Ahead...
January 6, 2006... News Tuesday 10 january In July, Inter Link Foods, the UK's second-largest cake maker, reported that it already had 120m orders for mince pies for the festive Christmas season. So the company's interim results, announced on Tuesday,...

Benchmark portfolios see bunched returns.
January 6, 2006... It doesn't much matter what stocks you buy because different strategies yield similar returns. This is the lesson of our benchmark portfolios in 2005. The best of these was the mega-cap portfolio, comprising the UK's 20 biggest stocks. It...

Mortgage approvals point to price rises.
January 6, 2006... Figures released by the Bank of England this week hint at a recovery in house prices this year. They showed that the number of mortgage approvals rose to a 19-month high in November, of 115,000. These have been a great leading indicator of...

New issue rush threatens Aim's tax status.
January 6, 2006... Aim has started 2006 as it ended 2005 - with a rush of new issues. Four companies - Rusina Mining, Appian Technology, Stratex International and Dermasalve Sciences - came to the market within two days of the holiday period coming to an end. The...

Illuminator to switch investment focus.
January 6, 2006... Illuminator, the cash shell run by activist investor Julian Treger, has revealed a change of name and investment focus, and a fund-raising. Mr Treger has targeted South Africa, where he believes the government's Black Economic Empowerment rules...

AstraZeneca rebuilds pipeline with acquisitions.
January 6, 2006... AstraZeneca's New Year's resolution has been to boost its flagging drug pipeline, by snapping up cancer drug developer Kudos Pharmaceuticals in December and signing a licensing deal with US company Targacept for its Alzheimer's disease and...

Investor preference hints at low returns.
January 6, 2006... Retail investors really are a contra-indicator of future returns. That's the lesson from unit trust returns in 2005. Figures from the Investment Management Association show that the unit trust sectors that investors sold in December 2004...

Licensing boost for Innovata.
January 6, 2006... Innovata has signed a licensing deal with US company Baxter International for its adhesion product, Adept. The company, formerly known as ML Laboratories, says that Baxter will take over responsibility for the global sales and marketing of the...

Next expects to exceed forecasts.
January 6, 2006... High-street retailer Next has confounded its critics by forecasting stronger-than-expected full-year profits following a strong performance in the six months to Christmas Eve. Profits are now expected to be GBP435m-GBP450m, against an earlier...

Property pension plans punctured.
January 6, 2006... New pension regulations come into force on 6 April (so-called A-Day), but a last-minute change of heart by Gordon Brown means that it will not now be possible to buy direct residential property inside a self-invested personal pension (Sipp), as...

Trust restored.
January 6, 2006... The investment trust sector is starting the new year in relatively healthy shape. This is partly due to the recovery of markets, but also because of the narrowing of discounts. The good news is that the sector average discount is now just...

CITYBLOCK (CLK).
January 6, 2006... Modestly-sized Cityblock can boast some big firepower. The company has a GBP50m borrowing facility from Royal Bank of Scotland and another borrowing facility of GBP25m from Yorkshire Bank. With that money, it intends to develop a number of...

Hill's shorter odds on success.
January 6, 2006... Business is galloping ahead again at William Hill. Having dampened investors' expectations for its profits just a few weeks ago, the bookmaker has said it will actually do rather better than it thought. Management is also optimistic about the...

Sound Alert Technology.
January 6, 2006... Ofex. Directional sound applications

Tecteon.
January 6, 2006... Aim. Oil and gas producer

Eliza Tinsley.
January 6, 2006... Aim. Engineering

Trading New Homes.
January 6, 2006... Aim. Property trading & developing

Gong sounds for Rank's film arm.
January 6, 2006... By selling its film-processing business for $750m (GBP430m), Rank has taken another step towards becoming a pure leisure business. The leisure group is now weighing up how much cash it can give back to shareholders. However, the loss of...

Triad.
January 6, 2006... Main market. Business consultancy

United Carpets.
January 6, 2006... Aim. Carpet & floorcoverings retailer

Waterline.
January 6, 2006... Aim. Fitted kitchen appliances

Wyatt.
January 6, 2006... Aim. Consultancy services

ACC.
January 6, 2006... ACC is the new name for Assured Care Centres following the sale of its last nursing home in March last year for over GBP1.3m. The company is now keen to build up a portfolio of unquoted investments. At present, it holds a 30 per cent stake in...

Your Space.
January 6, 2006... Aim. Serviced accommodation

Total Systems.
January 6, 2006... Main market. Software developer

Wilshaw.
January 6, 2006... Aim. Cash shell

PARK (PKG).
January 6, 2006... Chairman and founder Peter Johnson's attempts to pull off a management buyout of the sub-prime lender and gift voucher company have failed. Mr Johnson, who owns 74 per cent of Park's shares, had been working on some kind of deal since 2004 and,...

Advance Visual Comms.
January 6, 2006... Aim. Shell company

Coe.
January 6, 2006... Aim. CCTV systems

Clarkson Hill.
January 6, 2006... Ofex. Independent financial adviser

European Nickel.
January 6, 2006... Aim. Nickel mining

FeONIC.
January 6, 2006... Ofex. Magnetostrictive devices

Hidefield.
January 6, 2006... Aim. Mineral exploration

SEVEN ARTS PICTURES (SVA).
January 6, 2006... Seven Arts reversed into cash shell Cabouchon in September 2004. So these latest results include six months' turnover of GBP2.21m from Seven Arts and operating losses of GBP901,000. There was also a loss on investments of GBP3.2m. The company's...

India Star.
January 6, 2006... Aim. Oil and gas investments

EiRx Therapeutics.
January 6, 2006... Aim. Pharmaceutical research

Leeds.
January 6, 2006... Aim. Finance leasing

Niche.
January 6, 2006... Aim. Investment company

Probus Estates.
January 6, 2006... Aim. Commercial property

Rheochem.
January 6, 2006... Aim. Chemicals & services to the oil industry

Elite Strategies.
January 6, 2006... Aim. Financial advisory service

Glen Group.
January 6, 2006... Aim. Telecommunication services

WILLIAM SINCLAIR (SNCL).
January 6, 2006... Summer weather is critical to William Sinclair's fortunes. It owns (with no value in the balance sheet) and leases a number of peat bogs in Cumbria and Scotland. But a wet summer in 2004 made it much harder - and sometimes impossible - to...

Qonnectis.
January 6, 2006... Aim. Environmental technology

CONTENTFILM (CFL).
January 6, 2006... ContentFilm has made remarkable progress by switching from film making and large losses to film distribution and positive cash flow. Almost all of the 2004-05 deficit was covered by a GBP6.47m (from GBP7.52m in 2003-04) write-down of film...

PM GROUP (PGP).
January 6, 2006... PM's shares have been on a roller-coaster ride during the past 14 months. They hit a peak of over 260p in November/December 2004, but then got hammered in March 2005 when the company reported that full-year trading would be "significantly"...

TRISTEL (TSTL).
January 6, 2006... Tristel joined Aim via a placing at 37p this June. But it was only in October, after the release of the company's 2004-05 results, that its shares started to rocket. The company sells infection controls using patented chlorine dioxide...

GETMOBILE EUROPE (GETM).
January 6, 2006... Fitzwilliam floated as a shell on Aim in July 2004. Just over a year later, and after more than 20 suitors had been interviewed, German mobile phone vendor Getmobile reversed into it. The deal was valued at E65m, and partly financed by cash...

MKM (MKM).
January 6, 2006... MKM joined Aim in June 2004 via a placing at 44p, but its shares then fell precipitously from early in 2005. This related to the GBP1.16m of exceptional costs incurred in sorting out a cruise promotion for Express Newspapers that went horribly...

CORVUS CAPITAL (CVS).
January 6, 2006... Corvus is still looking to back a "sizable company with a proven stable and strong cash-generating business" worth between GBP250m and GBP1bn, and with unrealised value. Its aim is to invest in cash and income generating operations -...

HEALTHY LIVING CENTRES (HLC).
January 6, 2006... Following the acquisition of Fitness & Leisure Group in 2001, Healthy Living Centres (formerly Reflex) runs 35 gyms, with five more franchised. The clientele are mainly "slightly larger ladies" who are "in their later years", and for whom...

WHITTARD OF CHELSEA (WOC).
January 6, 2006... In 2004, Whittard's shares were NEAR to 200p. Then, in January 2005, they sank after a profit caution, followed by a full-blown profit warning in April. But news of a takeover from Icelandic retail owner Baugur has put some pep back into the...

BLACK ARROW (BLKA).
January 6, 2006... Black Arrow's share price appears to have a mind of its own. When prospects are good, it goes down - and when they are poor, it rises. It's now close to a 12-month peak even though the company reported 2005-06 half-year figures that "do not...

CHERWELL CAPITAL.
January 6, 2006... A report released last January, which was funded by Lord Sainsbury's Gatsby Foundation, stated that new technology businesses spun out of the UK's 10 leading universities have a failure rate of less than 10 per cent against more than 60 per...

Anglesey Mining.
January 6, 2006... Main market. Two new holes drilled at the Parys mountain project have produced encouraging results. Anglesey has also bought an interest in an iron ore project in Canada.

CH Bailey.
January 6, 2006... Aim. Chairman Charles Bailey was disappointed with the first-half results, due to poor performances from two of the UK engineering businesses.

Birse Group.
January 6, 2006... Main market. Settlement of litigation with Citibank during the first half lifted Birse investor's spirits. Management now foresees improved market conditions in the second half.

BROOKS MACDONALD (BRK).
January 6, 2006... Brooks Macdonald joined Aim this March via a placing at 140p. It went public to raise its profile, attract more fund managers and to be able to offer share options. The business is split between fund management, with GBP460m under management at...

Bits Corp.
January 6, 2006... Aim. Bits has invested in the development of new technology to allow it to enter the world of internet gambling. A fund-raising meeting is scheduled for January to pursue this strategy.

CLYDE MARINE.
January 6, 2006... Although Clyde Marine is now a focused business, it actually made more money when it was a conglomerate. So, to improve results, it wants to sell to the larger powerboat market. It can do that already with some products, such as bow thrusters,...

NORTHACRE (NTA).
January 6, 2006... For two long years, Northacre's share price has been battered not only by large losses, but also by bad news on its central London developments. First, there was a two-year delay to the construction of luxury GBP4m-GBP5m apartments on Kings...

NEW MEDIA SPARK (NMS).
January 6, 2006... New Media Spark (NMS) announced a 9.4 per cent rise in its net asset value in the six months to end September, buoyed by some impressive disposal gains on its portfolio of technology investments. The sale of its stake in Elata to US giant...

Central African Min. & Exp'n.
January 6, 2006... Aim. Central African Mining & Exploration raised GBP10.75m during the first half to help fund a metal-lurgical processing complex in Democratic Republic of Congo and interests in Mali and Mozambique.

Chaco Resources.
January 6, 2006... Aim. Chaco's investments in Colombia are going well. It has a farm-in agreement on one field, and an exploration and production agreement for another.