Companies: ASC    BLD    DISL    DIWO    MIN    MXM    NETD    SUN   

Rapidly expanding IT services consolidator Maxima (MXM) is set to complete its ninth and largest acquisition on AIM to date with the £18 million cash and shares purchase of computer services business 3net. Profitable Maxima, led by chief executive Kelvin Harrison and FD Linda Andrews, has successfully raised £11.5 million at 260p (more money was on the table) to fund the bulk of the cash element.

Discover growing in caravans
Buy-and-build caravan retailer Discover Leisure (DISL) has revealed an encouraging 81 per cent rise in sales to £10.1 million for the half-year to February, although losses widened from £460,000 to £860,000. The top-line leap reflected a first contribution from September acquisition Leisure World, a deal creating one of the biggest caravan retailers in the UK. Discover Leisure, which has also sold off its non-core York riverboat business, now claims to be a major player in this fast-growing market.

Elsewhere, shares in Surgical Innovations (SUN), specialists in equipment for non-invasive abdominal surgery, lost 15.2 per cent to 4.88p following its 2006 results. As well as news of a 98 per cent surge in pre-tax profits to £696,000, the company detailed improved sales and early successes in the USA where it has enjoyed FDA approval for its products.

The seemingly inexorable rise of online fashion star ASOS (ASC) continues apace, with a trading update showing sales up 111 per cent to £38.4 million in the year to March. ‘Our target markets are all over us like a rash,’ laughs Robertson, reflecting on the buoyancy of the ‘young fashion’ subsection that the ASOS.com website – with over two million unique visitors a month – serves. However, despite the stellar growth, the shares were flat on Monday at 124p.

Forthcoming attractions

Tomorrow, technology-focused investors should watch for debut dealings in Hong Kong-based public sector software publisher NetDimensions, expected to join AIM with a modest £1.5 million funding. Representing clients such as HSBC, The American Stock Exchange and Cathay Pacific, the company provides software for clients to manage their employee training programmes.

On the same day, £45 million-cap Minoan Group transfers from PLUS to AIM to raise the profile of its plan to construct and manage a luxury resort in north-east Crete. JM Finn is broker and adviser to the company, which is seeking an introduction and will not raise any new money.

Among this week’s newcomers is Dutch residential lettings business Direct Wonen(DIWO), brought to market by Collins Stewart on Monday with a £40 million fundraising priced at 137p. Shares in the company, which operates via an online portal backed up by 23 regional branches, have slipped to 131.5p today.

Looking forward

Looking further forward, Manx-domiciled Bulgarian Land Developments (BLD) announces maiden full-year results on Friday. The residential developer raised £21 million at 100p on its IPO in March last year and by the time of a revaluation in January, which showed a net present value of 129p, 87 per cent of funds had been invested.

In February, Bulgarian Land coaxed a further £15 million from investors with a placing at 100p. After contributing almost half of the fundraising, Swedish property veteran Sten Mortstedt’s fully listed CLS Holdings group has added its chief executive Per Sjöberg to the Bulgarian Land board.