Companies: AI.    CAE    PWR    SSPH   

Cash shells face boot

Thirty companies quoted on AIM as 'cash shells' face cancellation of their listing this week, as the London Stock Exchange (LSE) clamps down on 'investment companies' yet to delight backers with a deal.

Back in April the LSE began this clean-up process by suspending 38 shell companies that had raised less than £3 million on admission - they were given six months to find a suitable acquisition by reverse takeover, or risk being booted off AIM.

Since the suspension, only five of the 38 have completed a satisfactory investment and three have been de-listed for 'other reasons'. Companies are now required to raise over £3 million on admission to AIM, leading some to speculate that, along with the thirty shells facing cancellation, such companies will now look to the reinvigorated PLUS (formerly OFEX) as an alternative route to market.

Newcomers

SSP Holdings, provider of business critical IT systems to the insurance industry, enjoyed a decent debut on AIM today, sparking up from its 98p placing price to a premium of 105.5p. With the help of broker and adviser KBC Peel Hunt, the company raised approximately £31 million gross, joining AIM with a £70 million market price tag.

Over the course of the three years ended in March, revenues at SSP increased by 59 per cent to £30.7 million and EBITA by 51 per cent to £7.6 million. Executive chairman David Rasche insists 'the listing will enable the Group to continue our expansion into continental Europe.'

Another newcomer, set to gush onto AIM on Wednesday, is Arrik Energy, which plans to search for hydrocarbon resources in the Cook Inlet in Alaska. Currently it holds four onshore petroleum leases in the Cook Inlet known as 'North Alexander', covering approximately 23,000 acres, and six 'contiguous offshore petroleum leases' in the same region, called 'East Kitchen' and covering approximately 30,000 acres. Arrik is looking to raise £15 million by way of a placing handled by Investec.

Results season slows

Though the pace of another frenetic results season has started to slow, investors can still expect a steady trickle over the coming weeks. Tomorrow, business and IT management consultant Charteris will unveil its annual numbers to July. On the back of guidance following a June trading update, analysts expect pre-tax profits to have fallen 38 per cent due to the ending of several major projects which Charteris' management has found trouble replacing. Turnover is thought to have remained flat at £20 million. However earnings could be down by as much as 50 per cent to 0.92p and the dividend may well be scrapped.

Also reporting final results tomorrow is five-a-side football centre operator Powerleague. Drawing on consumers' insatiable urge for a kick-about, analysts at KBC Peel Hunt are forecasting pre-tax profits of £3.86 million, a 25 per cent increase, on sales up 20 per cent to £20.97 million. Earnings per share are forecast to rise 36 per cent to 3.35p.

Lastly, Aero Inventory, the inventory management service provider to aerospace, plans to publish its numbers for the year to June on Friday. Forecasts in the market are bullish, suggesting profits up more than half to £11.2 million on revenues of £60 million, a rise of almost 40 per cent. A 25 per cent dividend spike to 10p is also likely.