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Penny Share Review 150

Monday 16 September 2002

The Weekend's Comments

More or less blanket coverage in the weekend's press of the Alizyme (AZM) director's share buying. The Guardian from Saturday notes that a disappointed large shareholder has been dumping the stock but adds that broker Seymour Pierce started coverage with a "strong buy" recommendation and expects the Company to strike two licensing agreements over the next 12 months. The Sunday Times in its 'Sharewatch' column writes "in the spirit of hope triumphing over experience, we still think Alizyme looks very cheap. This tiny firm has a pipeline that is the envy of many better-known rivals…At 30.5p, they remain a buy - but only for your gambling money." At 10.42 the shares where up 1p to 34p from Friday's close.

The Sunday Times 'Sharewatch' column previewed Griffin Mining's (GFM) positive test drilling update announced this morning in the interim results statement. "At 4.5p, the shares have already bounced sharply from their recent low." The shares at 10.43 were unchanged from Friday's close.

The Weekend FT reports that market conditions have contributed to the recent low in Incepta's (ITA.L) share price. There has been a number of analysts' downgrades reflecting the link between the economic climate and Incepta's performance. However, the newspaper adds that the Company is "better placed to take advantage of any upturn than its consumer advertising peers, where no pick-up in spending is expected until the US election and Olympics in 2004. Its high operational gearing means any recovery will be quickly converted into profits and, perhaps, share price gains…" Forecasts for full-year profits for 2003 of between £18.3m and £20.5m put the group on a p/e of about 10.6: "an undeserved discount to its peers on about 14 times." The shares at 10.43 were unchanged from Friday's close.

Saturday's Guardian reports that Alan Page is "deadly serious" about using cash shell NWD (formerly Netwindfall) (NWD.L) to launch a bid for Cordiant. He is said to have the funding in place and is seeking to appoint a high-profile industry figure to the board of NWD. There are doubts about the wisdom of such a move given the recession in the advertising industry and although other firms are interested in some bits of Cordiant these are not market leaders "and are less attractive." At 10.45 the shares were up 0.01p to 0.15p from Friday's close.

Speculation about the future of Protagona (PTG) continues as dissatisfaction over the proposed acquisition of Swetenhams, a US based business, grows. The protest revolves rebel shareholder Paul Scott who has organised an action group to co-ordinate moves to force the Company to return cash. Saturday's Daily Express commented that Paul Scott's campaign "was gaining pace." The shares have continued on their recent upward move on the back of this speculation, as at 10.44 the shares were up 0.25p to 1.575p from Friday's close.

Today's Announcements

The following companies, in which City Equities customers may have an interest, released announcements to the market this morning. These can be found by entering the relevant company name or ticker code in the search box on this site.

Griffin Mining (GFM) Interim Results.
Hereward Ventures (HEV.L) Final Results.
Ninth Floor (NNF.L) Final Results and Issue of Equity.
Pacific Media (PCM.L) Interim Results.
Symphony Plastic Technologies (SYM.L) Result of EGM.

Look Out For This Week

16 Sept - Griffin Mining (I), Hereward Ventures (F), Ninth Floor (F), Pacific Media (I)
17 Sept - UK RPI (Aug), US industrial output (Aug)
18 Sept - UK BoE MPC meeting minutes, US CPI (Aug), US Trade Deficit
19 Sept - UK BBA analysis of lending, CML mortgage lending survey (Aug), Retail Sales (Aug), PSNCR (Aug), RICS residential housing survey.
20 Sept - No data scheduled.

Compiled by Andrew McLintock



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Risk Warning

There is an extra risk of losing money when shares are bought in some smaller companies including 'Penny Shares'. There is a big difference between the buying price and the selling price of these shares. If they have to be sold immediately, you may get back much less than you paid for them or you may have difficulty in selling them. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future results. The price may change quickly and it may go down as well as up. You could lose every penny put into a particular share.

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