AIM Prospector

AIM Investor Focus, the Blackthorn Focus (publisher of AIM Prospector) event for AIM-quoted companies and their investors will next run on Tuesday, April 21st at the City offices of finnCap.AIM Investor Focus has been running since April 2012. In that time, some of the very most successful companies on AIM have participated. Five of the companies listed in this article 'The Ten Most Successful Companies…

Apologies - I am going for £3m market cap drinks firm Distil (LON:DIS) as story of the week again. The share price of Distil (LON:DIS) has fallen in the past year as the company has continued to report losses. However, progress does appear to be being made. I made Distil (LON:DIS) story of the week just a few weeks ago, when it announced that it…

OK, so here is a story that illustrates the value of an AIM listing to a company. It is that of engineering consultancy WYG.WYG announced a strategic review on Monday, that it has effectively put itself up for sale.http://www.investegate.co.uk/wyg-plc--wyg-/rns/str......the Board has initiated a formal review of strategic options open to the CompanySince its financial restructuring was completed in July 2011, WYG has implemented a strategy…

This week I am going to for this announcement:http://www.investegate.co.uk/distil-plc--dis-/rns/blackwoods-us-approval---distributor-agreement/201501210700156808C/from beverage firm Distil (LON:DIS).This announcement details US approval and a distributor agreement for Distil's flagship brand, Blackwoods gin.Distil (LON:DIS) is the renamed Blavod. The company owns a collection of spirits brands. The business model has changed in recent times as the company has come under new management.This makes past comparisons tricky.Half-year results:http://www.investegate.co.uk/distil-plc--dis-/rns/half-yearly-report/201412160700187930Z/Turnover falls as the Group…

Hi,Once again, I'm tempted to highlight shenanigans at Rangers International Football Club (LON:RFC) for story of the week. There continues to be an acrimonious battle for ownership of the club. What is clearly needed is for a serious buyer to come along with a sockdolager offer for the club that will make current shareholders bite their hands off.Instead, it seems that a stream of inadequate…

It's in the gold and lending business and got a double sucker punch a couple of years ago by the payday lending review and the collapse in the gold price.Not sure about that, Ed. 2014 Final Results (announced March 5th: http://www.investegate.co.uk/h--38-t-group-plc--ha... )High cost short term credit interest rate capOn 11 November 2014 the FCA published its rules relating to a cap on the interest rate…

Hi janebalocha,Northbridge's announcement yesterday highlighted the cyclicality of some of its operations. As you have suggested, the length and depth of such cycles is hard to forecast and profits go with that.Now, there might be some that will conclude that Northbridge is therefore a low quality of earnings business.Well, lower than some perhaps but it does not appear that Northbridge is loss-making. Given the turmoil…

Hi JMLDutch,First I would say that management have said they will hit market expectations so their reputations are on the line. Remember also that as of today, we are nearly three months into the second half so they will have almost three quarters of the full year pretty-much accounted for.I think that the bigger clue is in the 14th July trading statement:http://www.investegate.co.uk/sprue-aegis-plc--sprp...Despite the impact of…

Hi Randval, My guess is that a company secretary would be reluctant to be giving tax advice. I have some sympathy with that response. In fact, I have heard execs complain previously that they cannot get the question answered categorically either. My own stance is that if a company is predominantly involved in delivering tangible goods or services, it will be just fine. As for…

Hi Randval, AIM shares are regarded as 'unquoted' for the purpose of their classification for business property relief. This makes most of them eligible for 100% relief from IHT, provided they are held for more than two years. There is a document explaining this here: http://www.londonstockexchange.com/companies-and-advisors/aim/publications/documents/a-guide-to-aim-tax-benefits.pdf which goes on to say: Which companies qualify? IHT is more concerned with the individual’s domicile. Accordingly, a company…