SMALL CAP MOVERS: eEnergy Group shares skyrocket

In a week in which government green initiatives featured heavily, it was fitting then that one of AIM’s biggest risers is at the forefront of the sustainability revolution.

eEnergy Group’s interim results created some buzz around the share price, which rocketed 84 per cent to 5p.

Revenues from the firm, which helps households, hospitals and businesses achieve net zero targets, were up 58 per cent year-on-year as it swung back to a profit. A £26million order book bodes well for the business’ second half performance.

Across the broader market, the AIM-All Share Index made marginal gains, rising 0.6 per cent to 804 points. However, the index could not keep pace with London’s blue-chip companies on the FTSE 100, which surged 3 per cent to 7,628 points in the last week of March.

Elsewhere on AIM, Unbound’s shares more than doubled to 8p. The online fashion retailer, which specifically targets the over 55s, said it was considering a bid approach that valued the business at £6.8million.

Results: Revenues from eEnergy Group, which helps households, hospitals and businesses achieve net zero targets, were up 58 per cent year-on-year as it swung back to a profit

The 10.25p a share offer from wool, cashmere, and cotton knitwear company WoolOvers, represented a 162.5 per cent premium to Monday’s close.

Sticking with clothing retailers, Sanderson Design saw its shares climb 5 per cent to 126p after penning a “major” licensing agreement with Sainsburys.

As part of the deal, Sainsburys Habitat homeware and TU clothing will create ranges in collaboration with Sanderson’s Morris & Co and Scion brands.

Sanderson signed a similar agreement with Next last month, which also resulted in shares climbing.

Property franchise chain and financial services group Belvoir’s shares climbed by a fifth this week thanks to a strong set of full-year results, which saw revenue increase by 14 per cent to £33.7million in the year end to 31 December 2022.

Among some of AIM’s fallers this week, Scotgold Resources shed 43 per cent after the miner said gold grades had been lower than expected. It is looking to bring in a US$500,000 to fund changes to way it is mining ore at its operation close to Loch Lomond.

Another big faller on London’s junior market was Trackwise, which lost 43 per cent in value over the week, with shares changing hands on Friday at 0.6p.

The manufacturer of products using printed circuit technology warned that payments from recent contracts would be delayed because of the customer undertaking redesign and validation of parts to meet revised design requirements.

Investors in indie video game developer were shocked to hear that chief executive Debbi Beswick is looking to move into a non-executive director role, which alongside a small fall in full-year profits, sent shares 15 per cent lower to 367p.

One of Friday’s big fallers, Pensana, lost 45 per cent to 32p after the company published interim results that revealed a pressing need for more funding.

Current cash balance for the rare earths exploration and processing company stood at US$200,000 of cash and US$9.1million of outstanding creditors.

Appetite for new listings in London may be returning, with one confirmed flotation this week while another is earmarked for 4 April.

Onward Opportunities, a Guernsey based investing company, began trading on AIM yesterday.

Ocean Harvest, a specialist in producing animal feed from seaweed, is raining £6million at 16p per share with a market clause of £20.1million on admission as it looks set to become AIM’s fourth IPO this year.

Finally, the news seems go from bad to worse if you are in any way involved with the London Stock Exchange’s market for growth companies.

Research from the accountancy firm UHY Hacker Young revealed that there were only nine AIM floats in the year to 27 March 2023 compared with 74 in the 12 months prior and rolling annual average of 138.

Now a lot of that is down the volatility of the markets in the wake of the Ukraine war and against a backdrop of rampant inflation and rising interest rates.

However, over more than a decade and a half entrepreneurs have eschewed the junior bourse in favour of overseas listings or taking private equity or VC cash.

The growing and possibly undeserved reputation for being short-termism and a poor arbiter of value are some of the reasons given for avoiding the junior market – these and what are now widely regarded as prohibitively high costs associated with a stock market quote.

Currently, there are just over 800 companies listed on AIM, less than half the peak of around 1,700 back in 2007.

If IPOs have been at a premium, so have secondary fundraisers. So much so that two of the brokers most active in chasing down new capital – finnCap and Cenkos – have agreed to merge. One suspects this is a marriage of necessity than one borne of true love.

Until next week funseekers.

This post first appeared on Dailymail.co.uk