Penny Share Review:

• Issue 474 : 05 Jan 2009
• Issue 473 : 29 Dec 2008
• Issue 472 : 22 Dec 2008
• Issue 471 : 15 Dec 2008
• Issue 470 : 08 Dec 2008
• Issue 469 : 01 Dec 2008
• Issue 468 : 24 Nov 2008
• Issue 467 : 17 Nov 2008
• Issue 466 : 10 Nov 2008
• Issue 465 : 03 Nov 2008
• 2009 Archive
• 2008 Archive
• 2007 Archive
• 2006 Archive
• 2005 Archive
• 2004 Archive
• 2003 Archive
• 2002 Archive

Penny Share Review 230

Tuesday 13 April 2004

Eckoh Technologies' (ECK) new Who Wants to be a Millionaire? Telephone game has been a hit, according to Friday's Independent and that revenues are flowing in fast. At 10.45 the shares were up 0.25p from Friday's close and stood at 11.75p.

Emerald Energy (EEN) featured in the 'Broker Buys' section of Saturday's Daily Mail. Teather & Greenwood is the broker in question and the recommendation was to 'buy' at 1.2p, as the Company offers "excellent recovery potential". The shares were up 0.12p from Friday's close to stand at 1.28p at 10.45.

The Times from Friday picked up on the news that the executive chairman at Galahad Gold (GLA) had topped up his holding. Ian Watson spent £95,356 on 794,633 shares to take his interest in the gold company to 39.28%. The shares have continued their upward move, as at 10.46 they were ahead by 1p at 15.75p.

Events at Gaming Corporation (GMC.L) were featured in Tuesday's Independent. According to its Small Companies Notebook the Company is in talks to buy an Israeli software house that would give it the technology to launch a wide variety of new interactive games. The gossip is that if it were able to complete the purchase, then it would be able to offer new poker games and diversify its product offering, which currently relies on software that is licensed from Boss Media. Any acquisition is likely to be funded by new equity, the paper added. Chief Executive Justin Drummond pointed out, "Our business model has a fixed cost base and as such future growth will be driven by our ability to recruit next players with innovative new products." At 10.46 the shares were unchanged at 2.88p from Friday's close.

Tuesday's Independent picked up on further changes at Ofex Holdings (OFX.L), as the Company's attempts to shape a reputable, attractive and liquid stock market to challenge AIM moved ahead in a much quieter fashion. According to the newspaper, Ofex discreetly dropped seven corporate finance houses, which were previously allowed to act as nominated advisers to Ofex-listed companies. At 10.47 the shares were unchanged at 29.00p from Friday's close.

Pipex Communications (PXC.L) featured in an article on investing in AIM companies in The Sunday Times. It highlighted that investors who bought shares when it floated on AIM in October 2002 have seen their original stake soar 400% as the shares have risen from 2.25p to 11.25p. The shares were off 0.63p from Friday's close and stood at 10.63p at 10.47.

One of the four special rules to follow when investing in small-cap firms, according to Saturday's Independent, was to focus on the people behind the Company. It highlighted the situation at Planestation (PTG) as an example. The larger institutions apparently disliked Oliver Iny and the shares did little while he was there, which supports the point that "the case for numerous shares rests on the track record of a key director". At 10.48 the shares were unchanged at 4.78p from Friday's close.

Saturday's Guardian reported that Stanelco (SEO) has been telling clients of broker Fiske that it is confident of winning its patent battle with BioProgress. It appears that this news has stirred up some activity as at 10.48 the shares had moved forward by 0.50p and stood at 5.75p.

Wigmore Group (WGT.L) unveiled plans to raise £495,000 via the issue of 22m shares at 2.25p, which was picked up by Friday's Independent. This comes on the back of last week's final results that revealed turnover of over £22m and losses before tax of £302,000. At 10.49 the shares were unchanged at 2.75p from Friday's close.

Zi Medical's (ZIM.L) recent corporate history involving the launch of Red Eye and the institutional placing at 12p, which was regarded as being a "sensible price", was reported in Tuesday's Independent. The paper added that Zi's second big product - a syringe pump - is "even more exciting" and that at 14.25p, after upbeat results, "it could be time to look again at the stock". The shares had edged forward by 0.25p to stand at 14.50p at 10.49.

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.

Ovoca Resources (OVG) - Heads of agreement.
TripleArc (TPA) - Contract win.

Look out for this week

Tue, 13 Apr - UK BRC retail sales monitor (Mar), US business inventories (Feb).
Wed, 14 Apr - Nothing of note.
Thr, 15 Apr - nothing of note.
Fri, 16 Apr - Elite Strategies EGM, UK labour market report.

The next Penny Share Review will be posted on Monday, 19 April 2004.

Compiled by Andrew McLintock

Penny Shares Online - penny shares research and information service.