AIM

Asian Citrus Shares Suspended

Asian Citrus (ACHL) is one of those Chinese AIM companies that you have heard so much about - for example in the BBC Radio Programme reported on in my last blog post. The revenue has been falling and the losses rising at Asian Citrus but any investors still holding the stock are going to have a very bitter taste in their mouth after the latest announcement. Today (29/9/2016) the company announced that it could not issue its Annual Accounts on time and ...

AIM – Is Enough Being Done to Protect Investors?

Last night (27/9/2016) BBC Radio covered the topic of the AIM market and asked whether enough was being done to protect investors. See File on Four www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b07wby0z . Here's a brief summary of the contents with some comments. The BBC visited Hotel Chocolat, a recent AIM listing, and spoke to Angus Thirlwell, the CEO. He indicated they wanted "light touch regulation" so as to avoid a lot of paperwork and said it was one of the attractions of AIM. Comment: it seems ...

BBC Radio Programme on AIM

Are British investors being ripped off by unscrupulous businesses exploiting the AIM market? This is one of the questions being tackled on the BBC tomorrow night (27/9/2016) in a File on Four radio programme - BBC R4 at 8.00 pm - see http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b07wby0z It should make for interesting listening. It certainly came up as a topic of conversation in our meeting with LSE management today where we discussed the problems of AIM. More on that later and I hope to write a report ...

Berkeley Results, Pay, Brexit and AIM

We are now definitely in the usual summer doldrums in the market, compounded by the uncertainty over Brexit. It is obvious that private investors have been taking their money...

AIM Campaign Comments

ShareSoc Proposes How the AIM Market Should Be Improved

ShareSoc has issued the following press release today: The AIM market run by the London Stock Exchange (LSE) has been criticised by many people for the quality of companies listed on the market and for the way it operates. ShareSoc and our Members think that some reform is necessary. There is no denying that it is possible to invest in successful AIM companies but as any experienced AIM investor knows, doing so consistently and avoiding those that either never establish a profitable business, ...

ShareSoc slams LSE over AIM failures

ShareSoc slams London Stock Exchange over AIM failures - that was the title of a press release which ShareSoc has issued after the LSE Group's AGM which was held today - see https://www.sharesoc.org/pr76lseaim.html ShareSoc Director Mark Bentley spoke at the AGM and suggested that "AIM is full of dubious businesses led by dubious people". He asked them to do something about it. Perhaps the merger with the German Deutsche Boerse will mean the introduction of a more disciplined approach to some of ...

Spreading Rumours About Stocks

The Financial Times reported today on the curious case of Iraj Pavazi, a stock market trader currently on trial at Southwark Crown Court. In his defence testimony he apparently admitted that he once spread false rumours about a stock to push up the share price. The article reports that he bought all the shares in the stock of Pacific Media (a "penny" share listed on AIM) that were available and then spread a story that a Malaysian tycoon was going to reverse ...

Spotting the Duds

There was a good article in this weeks Investors Chronicle (31/12/2015) by ShareSoc Director Mark Lauber on how to weed out those small cap companies that will prove to be disappointing investments. Here's one quote from it: "If you don't mind throwing some babies out with the bathwater, just eliminate all resource stocks and all foreign stocks from your AIM portfolio - you'll protect yourself from a lot of losses with this simple step." He mentions one resource company he invested in that ...

PLUS500 – the Last Word (Hopefully)

I have been meaning to write something on Plus500, an Israeli based provider of CFD trading, for some time. This may be the last opportunity. It is listed on AIM and was discussed at the last ShareSoc Masterclass in Peterborough, with different opinions on it from panel members. Today (1/6/2015) it has become the subject of an agreed cash offer from Playtech at 400p per share, which surely investors in the company will accept. They may be happy to get out ...

Chinese AIM Companies – Sorbic et al

A good letter in the Financial Times today (29/5/2015) from Sorbic investor John Gunn about how AIM rules have failed to protect shareholders. He said it is "a terrible state of affairs" and suggested the AIM regulations had failed completely to protect shareholders. Sorbic International (SORB) is an AIM listed Chinese company which has encountered major governance and legal problems and its shares have been suspended. To quote from the latest RNS, after the board fired Mr Wang Yan Ting, the CEO: "Since ...

Two more AIM Exits – Ludorum and Armour Group

Two more departures from AIM were recently announced - Ludorum (LUD) and Armour Group (AMR). Ludorum have been developing a market for their animated children's TV series based on Chuggington trains and associated consumer products. But revenue has never really taken off as investors hoped. Along with the interim results announced on the 15th December (again somewhat disappointing), the company announced a proposed delisting from AIM.  These are the reasons given in the announcement: The factors taken into consideration by the Directors in ...