Smaller companies spotlight

EACH week, former Fleet Street City Editor Patrick Lay keeps This Is Money readers up-to-date with a neglected, but exciting sector of the stock market - smaller companies.

Tasty turnover at Savoy

FORMER Chancellor and Tory grandee Kenneth Clarke has not had much to cheer about in recent months, but he will have taken some pleasure from the results of Savoy Asset Management for the year to end-March.

Mr Clarke is chairman of the company and takes his role very seriously. The fact that the company more than doubled its turnover in the year - and reported a pre-tax profit of £243,614 against a pre-tax loss of £312,743 in the year to March 2003 - shows there are some rewards that come from effort.

Chief executive Christopher Saunders says talks are taking place with various stockbrokers and fund managers for them to join the group and he is presenting to a number of 'chosen institutions with a view to increasing the profile of the group and the marketability of the company's shares'.

Meanwhile, Peter Ashworth, analyst at Charles Stanley needs no more convincing, he says the shares are a 'buy' at 127p.

Baltimore

A LITTLE more light has been thrown on the 'corporate turnaround' expertise of David Buchler, who has become chairman of Baltimore Technologies following the ousting of the former board by Acquisitor Holdings.

You may recall that a fortnight ago I attempted to establish exactly how Mr Buchler had built his reputation as a 'turnaround specialist' when his most public face is that of deputy chairman of Tottenham Hotspur, a team and company that needs a 180-degree turnaround.

Baltimore's new financial public relations company, Bishopsgate Communications, has published details of all the new Baltimore directors and for the enlightenment of all I shall publish, in full, the facts that apply to Mr Buchler. They say:

'With a career spanning 30 years, David Buchler is recognised as a leading practitioner in the field of corporate turnaround. In 2003, David established DB Consultants in order to concentrate on turnaround assignments where a significant hands-on involvement at board or senior management level is required by people with the necessary experience and skills to manage a sustainable recovery.

'A founding partner of Buchler Phillips, and until 2003, chairman of Kroll for Europe and Africa, his appointments have included cases on behalf of major banks, lawyers, accountants, the Courts and the Department of Trade and Industry.

'His investigation work has enabled him to lead inquiries into some of the largest and most complex expert witness and fraud cases, both in the UK and worldwide. In 1992 he was appointed by the courts to investigate the recoveries that could be made from the Robert Maxwell estate.

'David is specifically recognised for his success in reorganising and restructuring companies. He was also responsible for representing Kroll's interest in the turnaround market in the UK and other parts of Europe. David began his career in 1970 at Bernard Phillips & Co, where he qualified as a chartered accountant and became a partner in 1976. In 1978 he joined Arthur Andersen as a principal, becoming a full partner in 1982.

'David is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants and a Fellow of the Society of Turnaround Professionals.

'The directorships of publicly quoted companies held by David Buchler (aged 52) over the five years preceding the date of appointment are as follows:

'Current: Tottenham Hotspur Plc, Ventura Maritime (Holdings) Plc, Volvere Plc.

Previous: None.'

So there you have it.

Terrace shareholders stay put

I AM pleased to see that the majority of the 1,200 small shareholders of property group Terrace Hill have resisted the efforts of the board to buy back their shares on the cheap. You may recall that the directors proposed, on 5 July, to buy back up to 2m shares at 28p each, without sharedealing costs.

I pointed out at the time that those accepting a similar offer at 22p a share a year ago would have lost out and, judging by announcements from Terrace Hill since 5 July, anybody accepting the latest offer might also regret the move in a year's time.

Well now I can report that the chance for the current year has passed and only 1,270,022 ordinary shares accepted the offer.

Joint managing director Ross Macdonald, who was very keen for shareholders to take advantage of the offer, now says: 'I am pleased to see that the bulk of our shareholders are holding their shares.'

Quite right too. This week Terrace Hill announced it is to sell a block of 20 flats in Glasgow for £2,325,000 – an increase of 34.3% on the carrying value of the property last November. The property was bought by Terrace Hill in November 2001 for just under £1m.

All publicity is good publicity?

IT IS an unwritten rule in the public relations business that you do not become the story which is why Hansard, the Aim-listed financial PR group will not be happy about this week's publicity.

The shares more than doubled in value as it emerged that former City whiz-kid Terry Ramsden is taking a major stake in the company following an £11m placing to pay for the acquisition of a rival PR firm and to take over Mr Ramsden's own property leisure company Griffin Leisure. Now it seems the Stock Exchange may be looking into the share price movements.

Meanwhile, Daniel Stewart have been appointed nominated advisers and brokers to Hansard.

Some you may have missed

Wyndeham
Bryan Bedson, chairman of Wyndeham Press Group, told shareholders at the yearly meeting that: 'the contract wins together with our solid pipeline of opportunities in the magazine sector, and the anticipated incremental benefits of the actions already taken by management to re-organise the group, are such that the board is confident of continued progress in the current year and thereafter'.

Coutts
The board of Coutts Holdings, the retail communications group, says in a trading update the company 'has continued to make positive progress in the six months ended 26 June, with sales and profits for the period anticipated to be ahead of the same period last year'. Current contracts and the level of new business prospects give confidence that the company will meet, or exceed, market expectations for the full year. Interim results are due on 22 September.

Morgan Sindall
Lovell, the affordable-housing division of Morgan Sindall, has been named by Sheffield City Council as one of five preferred partnering contractors for the seven-year £1bn contract to bring the council's housing stock up to the government's Decent Homes Standard. The formal appointment is due to be announced in October.

Dana
Dana Petroleum has signed a farm-in agreement with Wintershall AG in respect of Block 8 offshore Mauritania. Wintershall will pay all of Dana's costs through to the end of the current exploration period.

Alltracel
Dublin-based Alltracel Pharmaceuticals, the biopharmaceutical research and development company, has confirmed additional first aid trade listings for SEAL-ON in the UK retail and wholesale markets, and new extended co-brand partnership agreements on leading consumer brands in Italy and Spain.

Maelor
Maelor, the healthcare group, has appointed a distribution partner for Volpex, its plasma substitute, in South Korea. The agreement with Helicon Group is an extension to the existing agreement for China.

Camec
Central African Mining & Exploration, the exploration, mining, trading and investment company, has been granted prospecting and exploration licences over 9,020 hectares in the tantalum rich Zambezia province of Mozambique.

SAR
Southern African Resources has increased its platinum grade estimates following further drilling in South Africa.

Sovereign Reversions
Profit after revaluation transfers and tax increased from £669,000 to £902,000 at Sovereign Reversions, and net assets increased from £16.5m to £39m following the £17.5m capital-raising in April.

Appointments

Terry Cave has been appointed chief executive of DataCash Group.

Craig Slater is to become group finance director of Robotic Technology Systems.

Richard Hesk has been appointed commercial director for the industrial solutions division of Inditherm.

Malcolm Diamond, until recently the chief executive of Trifast, the industrial fastening distributor, has been appointed to the board of Centurion Electronics.

Some to watch out for

Vitec
Arbuthnot Securities sends out a strong 'buy' message for Vitec Group at 337p, saying, 'the restructuring currently being undertaken – taking out duplication in manufacturing and overheads – is logical and should ensure that the returns are robust'.

ASOS
Rhys Williams, analyst at Seymour Pierce is positive about on-line retailing group ASOS claiming the company's profitability 'should grow significantly year-on-year over the medium term'. He puts a target price of £1 within the next 12 months against the current 55p.

Acambis
Stephen McGarry, PhD, analyst at Goldman, Sachs, leapt to the defence of Acambis, calming the nerves of those investors who may have been concerned by the recent announcement from Bavarian Nordic when they were granted a US patent covering MVA-BN, the wording of which 'could be interpreted as being negative for Acambis'. 'We do not believe this interpretation on any level is valid or warranted and should Acambis's shares weaken, we would buy the stock,' says Goldman Sachs.