Companies: MLT    OPT    ROM    RWS    STT    ZOO   

Bid news and fundraisings have continued to dominate activity on Aim, keeping the junior market's renewed optimism going strong. The international flavour of some of the bigger deals has remained, with New York-based Keryx Biopharameucticals successfully securing $15 million (£8.3 million) among a bounteous crop.

Media stocks have also been popular with the institutions. Virtue Broadcasting managed to pick up £1.1 million of extra money at 4p just a month after raising £687,000 at 2.25p. Interactive digital entertainment specialist Zoo Digital meanwhile announced plans to place £5.75 million of shares at 10.5p with new and existing institutions.

On the new issues front, The Telecommunications Group and RWS respectively reversed into shells Roxspur and Health Media, while Ocean Power Technologies, Straight and Romag all raised money for new listings. There is plenty more to come too, as Aim continues to be swelled by a seemingly never-ending flow of companies coming down from the Full List. The latest transferee was tool hire business Multi Group.

ASK and City Centre announce tie-up

But among all this activity, confirmation that the highly profitable pizza restaurant chain ASK Central was looking at a possible merger with fully listed City Centre Restaurants really stood out. ASK, which operates more than 150 restaurants (most branded ASK and Zizzi) advanced 13 per cent to 165.5p after revealing that it might join forces with City Centre rather than Whitbread as some speculators had suggested. Analysts continue to think that ASK looks like good value.

Accountancy consolidator Numerica was also in on the act. It confirmed press reports that it is the target of a potential bid from bigger rival BDO Stoy Hayward. Since its admittance, however, another bidder has come on the scene, though discussions with BDO have apparently lapsed, leaving the shares at 49.5p, up 36 per cent. Self-storage company Lok'nStore meanwhile cranked up 37 per cent to 107.5p after it likewise revealed that it had received an approach.

Recruitment services business Hot Grouphas been keeping up the pace in its own consolidation drive, coupling a relatively disappointing set of full year numbers with details of its £5.6 million cash and share-based acquisitions of profitable teacher recruitment business International Teachers Network and the much smaller jobsin.co.uk. The shares edged up half a pence to 19.5p.

Clipper sails ahead

Ocean racing play Clipper Ventures has been sailing ahead lately, doubling to 22p on the back of race sponsorship agreements with Liverpool, the State of Western Australia and Durban in South Africa.

Real-time financial data distributor CMS Webview has also starred, more than trebling to 13.5p after announcing the signing up of another 12 corporate clients for its ProphetX product.

Shares in SP Holdings, the revamped sports marketing and financial services business formed from the merger of World Sports Solutions and SP Financial Services, moved up 2p to 15.5p on news of 'a substantial improvement' in the second half to October. The first half of 2003-4 is expected to be profitable now too.

Historically loss-making, financial information provider Hemscott delivered some good news, rising 22 per cent to 33.5p after it released an unexpectedly bullish trading update. Full year results to December will be 'significantly ahead of current market expectations', though investors will have to wait until early 2004 to see how close to break-even the company will finish. Of late Hemscott has begun charging for many of the services that it used to offer for free.

Revolution runs out of steam

By contrast, Inventive Leisure, operator of the Revolution vodka bars, stood out like a sore thumb, slumping 38 per cent to 86.5p after warning that its results for the year to December were going to be 'significantly behind current market expectations'. This was because the downturn in like-for-like sales experienced in the first 13 weeks of the financial year, which the company blamed on the hot summer, had continued into the autumn. KBC Peel Hunt promptly moved its previously positive stance to 'Sell'.

Although several other branded bar operators have experienced similarly poor trading, the more traditional-style pub operator Honeycombe Leisure showed that it was not inevitable by reporting first half like-for-like sales up three per cent, helping its shares gain 1.5p to 70p.

Vantis interims coming soon

Vantis, the rapidly expanding accountancy and professional advisory group, is reporting interims for the six months to October on 17 December. House broker Charles Stanley is looking for £5.2 million of pre-tax profits for the year to April 2004, to deliver 9.7p of earnings per share after recent institutional placings, rising to 12.6p in 2004-5. The shares now stand at 111p and are likely to yield 3.1 per cent this time around.