Small cap movers: Kefi Minerals up on Saudi permit
After a slow start to the week, the AIM market finally got moving today.
Among the risers Kefi Minerals (up 1.85p today at 6.8p today) was at the top of the pile, as it sealed a long-awaited exploration permit in Saudi Arabia.
Shares in Capital Pubs (up 36p, at 191.5p today) were also on the up after it knocked back two takeover bids, the first at 175p followed by a 200p-a-share offer, from rival Fuller Smith & Turner (up 6.75p at 659.5p).
Going the other way was media distributer MBL (down 2.75p, at 8.25p today) which saw its shares slump as a dispute with the supermarket chain Morrisons, relating to a cancelled supply deal, rumbled on.
CCTV specialist Indigovision (down 150p, at 290p today) also shed a third of its value today as it issued a profit warning.
For the past four of the five trading days, the sellers have been in command.
The FTSE AIM 100 index slipped 127 points over the week, or about 3%, though at midday the main small-cap index was up marginally (2.92 points) at 3,885.43.
'Volumes have dropped again, but there's been selling in size among a lot of the top AIM stocks,' one senior trader said.
'People are taking chips off the table for the summer, which is pretty much the pattern we've seen for the last few years.'
Earlier this week Britain's largest care-home operator, Southern Cross Healthcare (down 0.46p, at 8p today), avoided collapse, for now at least. The group has taken a hammering over the past 18 months, as dwindling occupancy and rising rent brought the stock to its knees.
On Thursday the group confirmed a deal to reduce rent payments after a last-ditch meeting with its landlords. Southern Cross now has four months to prove that a newly-restructured business can survive.
Such a reprieve had been speculated about since last Friday when the group denied reports that it would be forced into closing its care homes. After falling from 150p to less than 5p since early 2010, the shares have rebounded from the lows and are up 60% in the past five days.
Elsewhere there has been a lot of support for Harry Hill – the former Countrywide boss and Rightmove founder, not the big-collared slaphead comedian – and his new internet property venture, In-Deed Online (down 1.25p at 56.5p today). The stock is now up more than 30% from Wednesday's 42p listing price.
The business-to-consumer internet portal adopts a similar model to popular insurance websites such as gocompare or comparethemarket. Its users are introduced to conveyancing lawyers. Hill also has his eye on opportunities for other legal services, such as will writing and personal injury claims.
In the resource sector it has been another disappointing week for Kurdistan-based explorer Sterling Energy (unchanged at 35p today).
The shares were marked down 20% before Monday's open after flow tests from the ill-fated Sangaw North well, first spudded last February, failed to demonstrate commercial rates. Last September Sterling's shares were riding high at around 150p each.
Meantime, Gulf Keystone (up 6.25p at 147p today), a more successful Kurdistan oil explorer, updated investors on its four-rig drill programme and confirmed that it will start oil exports from Iraq in the coming weeks.
On Thursday shares in fashion designer Mulberry's shares were up 13% over the week – although they succumbed to profit-taking today as they fell 33p to £14.17. The driver was a stellar set of results which unveiled a 358% increase in annual pre-tax profits to £23.3m.
The fashion label, famous for its handbags, experienced strong demand and it says a 695% increase in sales has delivered a step change in profitability.
Other than that, AIMs suffered a shortage of meaningful news events with AGM season saturating newswires with fluffed-up statements full of rehashed news.
However in this void a number of stocks have still been on the move, with the bulletin board-botherers and tipsters setting the tone.
One such example is tightly-held share Eruma (down 2.375p at 9.875p today), which shot up over 83% on Thursday, with just small volumes traded. A mention in Tom Bulford's Red Hot Penny shares appears to have lit the blue touch-paper.
Also moving without news was Chinese coal bed methane driller Greka (up 13.6p at 49.5p today). The stock has more than doubled in value since last Thursday, as the recently-listed firm received a great deal of buying interest.
We wondered if chairman Randeep Grewal had an explanation for the recent share spike.
'Greka is a profitable business surrounded by enormous demand for its services,' he told us. 'We expect to take on a new rig each week through the autumn.'
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