Companies: BJU    DGM    MAT    POLL    XPS    YOU   

eXpansys (XPS), a retailer of “smartphones” and handheld devices, received a warm welcome from investors on its debut today. The Manchester-based group, which joined AIM alongside a £10 million placing at 58p arranged by broker Cenkos, dialled up gains of 28 per cent at 74.5p.

Earlier this week, Matica (MAT) arrived in the wake of a £1.9 million funding to help expand its business of manufacturing desk-top machines that personalise cards such as credit cards, identification cards, membership cards and mobile phone SIM cards. The Italian company intends to use its new financial firepower to expand into the Americas and Asia, as well as consolidate its position in the European market. The shares climbed from an issue price of 100p to 109p on Tuesday, but slipped back to 107.5p today.

Fuel cell business to join AIM fray

Tomorrow, fuel cell business AFC Energy, chaired by Conservative MP Tim Yeo, will join the market fray following a hoped-for £5 million fundraising with broker Nabarro Wells, which should value the company at around £50 million. Surrey-based AFC aims to produce low-cost fuel cells by ‘improving the processes and reducing the costs and number of components required for their manufacture’.

Then on Friday, Toronto-listed Versatile Systems is scheduled to make its AIM debut with an as yet unspecified sum of sterling stuffed in its coffers. This Vancouver-headquartered venture provides IT and telecoms ‘technology solutions’ to US businesses in the main, and will be advised by Irish broker NCB.

DGM loses £2.2 million

Online marketing intermediary Deal Group Media (DGM) increased its losses more than fourfold to £2.2 million last year, with a one-off spend on technology and an increasingly competitive market (leading to the loss of a major client) behind the widening deficit. Nevertheless, returning chief executive Adrian Moss remains passionate about prospects, being encouraged by cost cutting measures in the UK, and enthused by growth opportunities in Asia Pacific. The shares edged up by 8 per cent to 3.5p today.

Elsewhere, shares in online market researcher YouGov (YOU) rose 14.6 per cent yesterday to 188.4p as the group delivered a 64 per cent increase in pre-tax profits for the half to January. YouGov’s fortunes have been bolstered by an acquisition in the Middle East as well as a range of new product developments.

Juicy pickings on Thursday

On Thursday, smaller online market research rival Brainjuicer (BJU), led by ex-Publicis man John Kearon, is scheduled to announce maiden full-year results following the group’s December debut on AIM. Brainjuicer, which raised £1.4 million of new money at float, came to market with a promise from Kearon that it was about to move into profit, and the float has been well received with the shares currently priced at 150.5p, a near-40 per cent premium to the 108p issue price.

Another company set to issue maiden annual numbers tomorrow is Polymer Logistics (POLL), a Netherlands-based provider of packing crates for supermarkets that double as display cases. This venture joined AIM just four months ago with a £15 million fundraising at 82p handled by Collins Stewart, and the share price has skipped higher to 97.5p since, stirred by an upbeat January update in which management said results would hit forecasts.