Smaller companies spotlight

EACH week, former Fleet Street City Editor

Padding up

WITH almost a Premiership of football clubs now quoted on the stock market, it was inevitable that other sports would try their luck. First in line is Hampshire County Cricket Club which, under the guise of Rose Bowl Plc, is planning to come to the Alternative Investment Market. The first step is the raising of up to £5m (minimum £2.4m) through a private placing to investors and the 4,839 existing members.

Only two years ago Hampshire was on the brink of bankruptcy, having splashed out on a new pavilion and other facilities. Step in committee member Rod Bransgrove, who injected funds, became chairman and steered the club into liquidity.

The club sits on the 150 acre Rose Bowl site outside Southampton, southern England, and the new money will be used to develop the site into a sports and leisure complex that will include a 9-hole golf course, a nursery ground and pavilion, a cricket 'academy', a health and fitness club, a proposed 'play golf' driving range and a hospitality and outdoor event catering business.

Future developments include a hotel and extending the golf course to an 18-hole championship course. Outdoor music events are planned and other joint ventures.

Cricket has come a long way since raffle tickets were sold along with the cake in the tea interval.

A true visionary

EVERY once in a while there comes along an innovation that really deserves to succeed, such as the 'Batcane' developed by a subsidiary of Ofex-quoted Sound Alert Technology.

The Batcane is designed to help blind and partially-sighted people build a 'mind map' of their environment. It looks like a conventional white can, but it helps the user detect obstacles in front of, around and above the normal head height. The cane sends out ultrasound pulses and 'listens' to the echo to determine objects. It requires no programming and runs on AA batteries.

Prototypes are being tested in the UK, US, Canada and Germany and results of the tests are expected by the end of April. Graham Cooper, chairman of Sound Alert, expects the Batcane to become available some time in the third quarter of this year.

Top of the league

ACCOUNTANCY firm Grant Thornton is the most active nominated adviser for AIM in a league table published by The AIM & Ofex Deal Monitor this week. Having floated 72 companies since the market began, the company not only tops the league but is the only accountancy firm listed in the top 20 advisers, a list dominated by stockbrokers and investment banks.

Moving ahead

HELPING people move ahead of the crowd has put Lo-Q into a situation where it is, itself, moving ahead of the crowd. The company, whose system helps leisure park operators control queues on popular rides, plans to move from Ofex to AIM in the next three months.

Lo-Q recently signed a multi-million pound contract with Six Flags Over Georgia, the world's leading regional theme park operator, to install its system in ten of its parks. Lo-Q plans to raise more money through an institutional placing when it moves to AIM.

Corporate Synergy has been appointed nominated adviser and Daniel Stewart & Co. nominated broker.

Some you may have missed

TRAVEL software and systems company Cyberes, which provides European travel agents with an online reservation system, is to expand its offering to car rental and hotel room reservations. It is also planning to expand its software to add the core travel services of foreign currency, travellers cheques and insurance.

OFEX newcomer, Wren Homes - it joined last November through a reverse takeover of Sardis International - has reported a 825% leap in turnover to £2.18m with a 353% rise in pre-tax profits to £402,090. Managing director Paul Treadway says the group has options on more than 40 contracting sites that are in the planning process. Other sites are being negotiated.

JULIAN Blogh, chief executive of Ultra Electronic Holdings, does not rest on his laurels. Hardly was the ink dry on the group's year-end results, showing a 5.6% rise in sales to £240m and a similar jump in pre-tax profits at just over £27m, then he was announcing yet another contract. This is for a £30m systems integration contract for London Heathrow Terminal 5. Blogh says 'the board is confident about prospects for growth in 2002 and beyond'.

CORPORATE Synergy, the company that brings smaller and medium-sized companies to the junior markets and arranged its own AIM quotation last April, has reported on a successful first year. Despite 11 September adding to the woes of the market, operating profits rose 5.6% to just under £500,000.

The group advised on 20 transactions, including five AIM flotations and 11 fund raisings against a backdrop of difficult market conditions. The current financial year has 'started satisfactorily'.

A MAJOR reconstruction of the group in the past year has left Belgravium Technologies with what chairman John Kembery describes as 'an exciting future'. With sales up 26% at £4.5m and pre-tax profits up 62% at £1.34m he is sufficiently confident to restore the dividend with a payment of 0.15p a share. He adds: 'we look forward to proposing both interim and final dividends in 2002'.

JERSEY-based, AIM-listed Westmount Energy is selling its Louisiana, US-based, Westmount Resources Inc to Lepco, oil and gas, for £495,000 in cash and shares.

Some to watch out for

WITHIN the next few weeks Abinger Investments is expected to be appointed nominated adviser to several new client companies, according to SQC Research. It describes Abinger as 'an interesting penny stock, with genuine profits potential'.

THE net debt of Transport Systems is expected to be eliminated this year and a maiden dividend is on the cards for the year to March 2003, according to Stephen Thomas at broker Teather & Greenwood. He believes the firm's underlying position is strong despite a temporary setback, and recommends the shares as a 'buy' for recovery.

WEB-research group MoneyGuru has been justified in its support for equipment rental group Lavendon - full-year results show a 33% rise in sales for 2001. The target price is set at 250p a share, against the current 205p.

HOW honest of David Taylor, analysts at broker Teather & Greenwood, to write: 'It pains us to write 'buy' notes on stock at absolute and relative highs. However, last week's 2001 finals were impressive, and the sort of contribution the newer activities might make, indeed the overall growth path, is now much clearer.' The company he favours so strongly is construction and building materials group Morgan Sindall. 'A stock to own,' is how Taylor sums it up.