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Aim's charge towards the 600-member mark continued unabashed this month with ten new companies entering the fray. As of 30 June London's junior market was home to 575 businesses – 12 months ago that figure stood at 429. Generating the most attention was GW Pharmaceuticals, which develops prescription medicines from cannabis. GW successfully completed a £16 million placing with the aid of Collins Stewart. Time management software specialist Atlantic Global is also worth keeping an eye on. The company raised £1.6 million prior to listing and counts the likes of Barclays, AstraZeneca and Ericsson among its clients. Elsewhere the trend of struggling Full List stocks seeking refuge on Aim has shown no sign of slowing, with ActionLeisure, Alexanders, Headway and United Industries becoming the latest to take the now well trodden path down.

Gameplay – game over?

The fate of beleaguered computer games distributor Gameplay looks increasingly bleak. Another dismal month saw the group – once valued in excess of £400 million – combine the redundancy of most of its remaining staff with the £3.4 million disposal of profitable Spanish games retailer CentroMAIL. Gameplay, which recently posted a thumping £56.1 million pre-tax loss for the six months to January, plans to keep things ticking over at technology subsidiaries Gameplay Media and Gameplay Technologies, in the hope of salvaging something from the ruins.

Another company in trouble was digital TV content developer e-district.net. The shares were suspended at 108p back in January when it emerged that figures relating to users and revenues had been significantly overstated. Following an internal review, chief executive Steven Laitman was sacked and two senior managers later resigned. The Fraud Squad is now investigating the issue, a factor which contributed to the 90 per cent slump in the price to just 10.5p when trading resumed.

Mixed month for software

Making the headlines for all the right reasons, meanwhile, was information and content management software developer i-Documentsystems (i-dox). Shares in the company powered up by 44.4 per cent to 19.5p on the back of two new contracts. Most significantly, i-dox has entered into an agreement with software consultancy MVM, which will see its Image-Gen document management system incorporated into MVM's applications. Also benefiting from news of two new contracts – worth a combined £1 million – was recruitment and tourism software developer Bond International. Shares in the company initially surged to a new 52-week high of 92.5p following the news but have since subsided to 84p.

Heading in the opposite direction was RTS NetWorks, the mobile internet business solutions company spun out of Robotic Technology Systems in December 1999. Shares in RTS plummeted 40 per cent to 12p as maiden figures for the 16 months to December revealed a £19.7 million pre-tax loss. News that Robotic has agreed to aid its former protégé with a £1.5 million loan facility ensured it also slipped back, losing 14.8 per cent to 144p.

Unloved sector thrives

As the makers of a certain Irish stout are eager to inform us, 'good things come to those who wait', so it was for investors in Mulberry and Aquarius. Frequently overlooked in recent times, the household goods and textiles sector at last had something to shout about, with both companies gaining around 30 per cent. Clothing designer and retailer Mulberry's ascension to 50p was sparked by full year figures revealing a return to profitability after three years of losses. Aquarius, meanwhile, climbed to 53.5p after the management announced its intention to seek separate Aim listings for its furniture and bathroom divisions. The new companies will be called Collins & Hayes and Airbath respectively.

Looking forward

Range Cooker will be hoping to keep its flag flying high next month when it announces results for the year to April. At the interim stage Range, which develops and distributes up-market cookers, saw pre-tax profits leap 44 per cent to £1.8 million (£1.4 million) on £6.7 million (£5.8 million) of sales. Following the management's recent assertion that trading 'continues to remain buoyant' a full year profit of around £3.5 million (£2.9 million) is anticipated when the figures are released in early July.