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2012 Winners & Losers on AIM: The cream rises

Last updated: 18:15 03 Jan 2013 AEDT, First published: 19:15 03 Jan 2013 AEDT

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To misquote Charles Dickens, AIM provided the worst of shares and the best of shares in 2012.

The market as a whole, as measured by the FTSE AIM All Share, is up 2.2% over a 52-week period, despite the index diving at the beginning of March and again at the beginning of May. As at December 20, the AIM All Share was less than 40 points above its 52-week low of 829.11, at 694.43, and a long, long way short of its 52-week high of 829.11.

It is fair to say that the index has been weighed down by the plethora of companies that are perceived to be in need of fresh capital at a time when minnows are finding it especially hard to raise funds.

The Big Beasts of AIM, however, have done very nicely, thank you. The FTSE AIM 50 index, which comprises the crème de la crème of the AIM market, is up 13.83% over the last year at 3,138.17, and is closer to its 52-week high of 3,336.01 than its 52-week low of 2,743.61.

Sometimes it is easy to forget that AIM, though it may be London’s junior market, boasts some household names such as online retailer ASOS (+126% on a year ago), Vimto soft drinks maker Nicholls (+61%) and vintner Majestic Wine (+41%) as well as the clutch of resource and pharmaceutical plays with which AIM is chiefly associated.

Hitting the target on AIM

The stock to have in your Christmas stocking this time last year was not, however, one of the AIM 50 constituents. Scancell Holdings (LON:SCLP), the developer of therapeutic cancer vaccines, was the top performer on the year.

The tightly held shares rose 668% on the year, with investors getting in a lather over the company’s development of a new platform technology that stimulates the production of killer CD4 T cells with powerful anti-tumour activity.

West African Minerals (LON:WAFM) had a terrific first half of the year but profit takers seemed to have it in their grip in the second half of the year.

Still, a 507% increase is not to be sniffed at. Positive results from an aeromagnetic survey of its six exploration properties in Cameroon were responsible for the share price excitement.

US-focused outfit Magnolia Petroleum (LON:MAGP) rose steadily throughout the year but it really kicked on in the final quarter.

It revealed towards the end of September that initial production rates from two wells in Oklahoma were above management’s expectations.

The firm expects to recover its costs on both wells in less than 12 months, and said the production rates highlight the considerable potential of the reopening Mississippi Lime and Woodford/ Hunton formations in Oklahoma.

Magnolia Petroleum’s gain on the year so far is around 500%.

Other small caps to catch the eye include: Iofina, a specialist in the exploration and production of iodine, Westminster Group, the systems solution provider to the security and safety markets, and Medgenics, the developer of the innovative therapeutic proteins Biopump delivery technology.

Iofina (LON:IOF) is up 251% on the year as investors cottoned on to the company’s unusual technology, which extracts iodine from the waste brine created by oil and gas companies in North America.

It has one iodine production plant up and running and the second should come online any day now, after which the company plans to open one plant per quarter.

Westminster Group (LON:WSG) is up 225% on the year, with investors flooding into the stock in late April after several upbeat updates.

In the space of a week the group revealed it will be supplying Saudi Arabia with airport scanning equipment, announced a strategic investment to the tune of £500,000 from a new partner, and then topped things off with news it entered into a 10 year franchise agreement with investors in Nigeria.

For Medgenics, it has been a long path to overnight success. The shares drifted sideways in 2010 and 2011 as the group went through the arduous process of clinical trials and regulatory hoop-la, but shareholders who kept the faith must be feeling good about the tripling of the share price this year, as the company passed several regulatory milestones.

Wayward AIM stocks

The UK’s largest coal producer, ATH Resources (LON:ATH) ended the year suspended at 0.33p, having started it at 42p.

It was the worst performer on AIM, and its future is up in the air after the company’s lenders, HSBC and Clydesdale Bank sold some of ATH’s banking facilities and related rights to BECAP Fund. The company is currently in administration though its principal trading subsidiary, Aarvark TMC, is not, and continues to trade.

Cash shell Kennedy Ventures (LON:KENV) was the second worst performer on AIM. In its previous incarnation as Managed Support Services, it sold off all its operations and received a much lower price than it has expected for one of them, to boot.

Pursuit Dynamics’ (LON:PDX) shares were trading hands at 700p a pop back in 2010 with one broker so in love with the firm’s vapour jet technology that it had a price target of £21.

Household products giant Procter & Gamble had a look at the technology and decided earlier this year not to pull the trigger on further trials. That decision saw the shares of the fluid technology developer crash almost 80% in a single day, since when they have, like water, been flowing steadily downhill.

It’s not quite game over for digital advertising network and online gaming group Media Corporation (LON:MDC) but it is for the advertising side of the business, Eyeconomy, which went into administration this month.

Shares have lost 92% of their value this year, and currently trade at around 0.1p, which won’t please the shareholders who bought shares at 0.2p in November when the company raised £600,000 through a share placing.

The company will use those funds to develop its betting platform, Intabet. Let’s hope that venture fares better than PurpleLounge.com, the online gaming site championed by Media Corporation’s previous management; that site went into liquidation in May, leaving the company with a bad reputation among online poker players.


Winners

1. Scancell (+684%); 2. West African Minerals (+507%); 3. Magnolia Petroleum (+502%); 4. Essenden (+455%); 5. Stratmin Global Resources (+262%); 6. Plexus Holdings (+254%); 7. Iofina (+251%); 8. Westminster Group (+225%); 9. Somero Enterprises (+215%); 10. Medgenics (+201%)

Losers

1. ATH Resources (-99%); 2. Kennedy Ventures (-98%); 3. Pursuit Dynamics (-98%); 4. Xtract Energy (-95%); 5. Shidu Capital (-93%); 6. Media Corporation (-92%); 7. Powerhouse Energy (-92%); 8. African Medical (-92%); 9. Asia Digital (-92%) 10. Pires Investments (-91%)

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