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Penny Share Review 216

Monday 05 January 2004

The Weekend's Business spotlighted Advanced Medical Solutions (AMS). Delays in signing deals has the held the Group back from moving into the black, but according to the newspaper AMS "is confident the business will be profitable for the full year before goodwill write-offs." It added, "as a long term bet, AMS has a lot going for it. Advanced dressings should benefit from the ageing population in Europe and the US, as well as from efforts to cut the time patients occupy hospital beds." The Business concluded, "the shares appear to be on an upward trend and at last the group appears to have the potential to deliver over the long-term." The shares were up by 0.13p at 11p from Friday's close at 11.21.

Bright Futures (BRF) comes under the scrutiny of Derek Pain in Saturday's Independent. He has been monitoring the situation with an eye to adding the shares to his portfolio, but has been put off by director selling and the complete removal of one of the Company's corporate backers. The directors in question (Chief Executive Stephen Harpin and Finance Director Lance Hickman) remain large shareholders, with over 8% and 12% respectively. However, Mr Pain adds that there may still be some mileage in the Company, as it is expected to break even in trading for last year and SQC Research has a 20p target price. The shares were unchanged from Friday's close of 8.75p at 11.15.

Developments at Fundamental-e Investments (FEI) are picked up on by two of the weekend's newspapers. The Daily Telegraph on Saturday reported on the resignation of the Chairman and Chief Executive and also the reduction of the number of shares held by Stuart Willmott, who was the founder of the group's subsidiary Computer Components Marketing, a distributor of computer components and software. Speculation, according to the Telegraph was that the Company "could be taken private", but the news in The Mail on Sunday that entrepreneur Simon Eagle was to be appointed Chairman seems to contradict these market rumours. Mr Eagle's appointment was confirmed this morning (see RNS announcement below) and The Mail on Sunday suggests that he intends to turn it into a multimedia business supplying plasma TV screens and online content. The Company is expected to grow through acquisitions funded by share issues, with the first deal, according to the Mail, coming as early as this week in the field of games and music. At 11.15 the shares were up by 0.25p at 4.38p from Friday's close.

Saturday's Guardian picked up on London Asia Capital's (LDC) increased stake in Beijing Success Development Technology, which produces market analysis tools. The deal worth £2m made up of £0.7m in cash and 7.7m in shares took LDC's holding to 51%. At 11.16 the shares were ahead by 0.50p from Friday's close and stood at 19p.

According to Saturday's Daily Express, Motion Media (MMD.L) was ahead on talk of significant contract wins in the first quarter. The buying appears to be continuing this morning, as the shares were up by 0.5p from Friday's close and at 11.16 stood at 12.5p.

Saturday's Daily Express picked up on whispers from dealers that good figures at Osmetech (OMH) are expected at the end of this month. The talk is that there is has been big demand for instruments to help monitor treatment of the SARS virus. The market has been aware for some time that OMH supplied blood gas analysers to China, but the forthcoming interim results will provide the latest update. The shares were up by 0.08p from Friday's close and at 11.16 the shares were trading at 3.8p.

Oxford BioMedica (OXB) is one of the Daily Telegraph expert's selections for 2004. The expert in question who featured in the Saturday edition was Patrick Evershed, who is manager of the New Star Select Opportunities Fund. His selection was based on the progress made during 2003 and the hope that this can be maintained throughout 2004. If so, the expectation is that the first commercial deals could be struck, which have the potential to be very profitable, the paper adds. He cautions, "a lot could still go wrong, but the risk-reward ratio looks right for investors prepared to take a risk." At 11.16 the shares were up 0.75p at 21.25p from Friday's close.

Talk of an imminent cash return to shareholders by Seymour Pierce (SYP.L) helped the shares move ahead on Friday, Saturday's Daily Express noted. The Company is in the process of changing its name to Investment Management Holdings. The shares were unchanged from Friday's close of 8.75p at 11.17.

Transware's (TRW.L) plans to cancel its AIM listing and also the sale of 2.45m shares on Friday, representing 1.7% of the Company, at a price below the market level had the inevitable effect on the share price, according to Saturday's Daily Telegraph. The shares at 11.14 were ahead by 0.25p at 0.88 from Friday's close.

Zi-Medical (ZIM.L) is the Daily Mail's Geoff Foster "tip for 2004". It is set to launch in partnership with Baxter Healthcare an intravenous drip monitor called Red Eye, which has undergone hospital trials. Red Eye is hoped to generate £1m in annual sales by 2005, Geoff Foster adds, ZIM has an extensive range of fluid delivery products and is confident of making profits on a monthly basis in the first quarter of 2004. The chief executive bought 30,000 shares in December, ZIM boasts a strong management team and several major companies are exploring partnerships to distribute its products globally. The shares have been moving ahead recently, but Mr Foster's tip appears to have added fuel to the fire, as at 11.14 the shares were up by 2.63p from Friday's close at 12.38p.

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.

Envesta Telecom (EVS) - Trading Statement.
Fundamental-e Investments (FEI) - Appointment of New Chariman.
Oxus Gold (OXS) - Amantaytau Update.
Reversus (REV.L - form TransEDA) - Directorate Change.

Look Out For This Week

Jan 5 Monday - Nothing of note scheduled.
Jan 6 Tuesday - Staffing Ventures EGM.
Jan 7 Wednesday - Nothing of note scheduled.
Jan 8 Thursday - UK interest rate decision, Eurozone interest rate decision.
Jan 9 Friday - Nothing of note scheduled.

The next Penny Share Review will be posted on Monday, 12 January 2004.

Compiled by Andrew McLintock.

Penny Shares Online - penny shares research and information service.




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