Companies: ASHL    FAN    FUM    OKD    RPT    SNX    SOV    TVZ   

Investors in controversial oil explorer Regal Petroleum (RPT) effectively threw in the towel this week, after the beleaguered company lost an appeal in Kiev against an earlier ruling that had stripped it of certain Ukrainian oil licences.

This sent the shares down more than two thirds to 34.75p, a record low. Last March the share price topped 500p. Regal aside, the markets as a whole started February in quieter mood, with the FTSE 100 slipping back 34 points to 5735.5 and the AIM Index up just 6.2 points at 1143.4.

Developer disappoints

Another high profile concern to suffer this week was residential property developer Oakdene Homes (OKD), which said delays would mean pre-tax profits for 2005 would be flat ‘at around £5 million’. That is below market expectations.

The company’s problems stem from a large site picked up when acquiring rival Honeygrove just over a year ago. Instead of selling a portion of this as previously planned, the group will now develop it in-house and sell it in 2007.

Oakdene believes house prices will rise modestly this year, but the shares, off 5p at 146.5p this week, are below the 170p high they hit last year.

Medical advances

A number of medical-related companies made progress over the week.

Clinical trials services business Synexus (SNX) put on a penny to 82.5p, after snapping up its first acquisition since raising £3.5 million at 65p on admission last November. For a total outlay of £2.5 million, including £245,000 of debts, Synexus will pick up Polish concern SCM, which specialises in organising drug trials involving osteoporosis sufferers. Synexus wants to expand into other Eastern European markets.

Meanwhile Futura Medical (FUM), which is developing a cream to alleviate erectile dysfunction, rose 11.75p to 80p. The company will soon start phase III trials for its main product and is currently in final discussions with a major pharmaceutical group about marketing the cream, which will be sold over the counter.

Leisure plays

Football player agency First Artist (FAN) continued its recovery, putting on 0.5p to 7.12p after turning a £493,000 annual loss into an £809,000 pre-tax profit. Chief executive Jon Smith has made a number of acquisitions that have reduced the group’s reliance on football earnings. The group now runs a wealth management division and an events company. In the year to October turnover rose 51 per cent to £5.9 million.

Former Ofex stock Travelzest (TVZ) rose 2.5p to 125p after the group’s transformation, under former Airtours executive Chris Mottershead, shone though in maiden final figures as an AIM concern. Last time’s £14,300 loss became a £59,000 pre-tax profit on £12.2 million sales. Travelzest moved to AIM after raising £5.2 million in October. Mottershead plans to make a series of niche acquisitions and has already snapped up ‘Best of Morocco’ and ‘Holiday Express’.

Coming up: Bodisen

Expect lively trading when shares in Chinese fertiliser maker Bodisen Biotech start trading on AIM on Monday. The company, backed by AIM-listed investor SovGem (SOV), has just raised £12 million through a placing arranged by broker Charles Stanley.

However, the company is already listed on US stock exchange AMEX, where the shares have recently traded at $18 – substantially above the $13 price at which the oversubscribed AIM placing was carried out. At the American price, the company, boasts a market value of $279 million.

Bodisen, which makes organic fertiliser in both liquid and compound forms, is the biggest Chinese business yet to float on AIM, joining such ventures as orange grower Asian Citrus.