By
Jamie Ashcroft, Proactive Investors
14:39 GMT, 15 March 2013
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14:39 GMT, 15 March 2013
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Small Cap investors may soon be able to tuck their growth
stocks a little further away from the tax man, as the government is mulling
over proposals to allow AIM stocks to be held in ISAs.
Such an incentive would be another boost for the junior
market which has recently enjoyed a revival in investor activity, particularly
among private investors.
Wily investors may already have squeezed in a handful of AIM
stocks, which are also listed other exchanges, into their tax efficient
portfolios.
Tax free saving: the Government is believed to be considering whether to allow ISA savers to invest in AIM-listed stocks.
But allowing all AIM shares may open up new opportunities
for those looking to the longer term.
That said, at this preliminary stage there remains a touch
of suspicion that the devil may be in the detail.
“We await with interest the outcome of the consultation,”
said Georgina Mitchell, head of investor services at private client stockbroker
Redmayne Bentley.
“But, we have concerns that any such changes may impact on
other benefits of AIM shares such as their ability to qualify for business
property relief and therefore be used as an inheritance tax mitigation tool.”
On the markets, it was another so-so week for the FTSE AIM
100 small cap benchmark which, standing at 3,338 this morning, was down almost
1 per cent over the past five days.
On Friday, health technology firm Mediwatch (up 58 per cent today at
3.38p) was in focus as it signed new distribution contracts in the U.S.
Meanwhile explorer Rare Earth Minerals (up 23 per cent today at 0.06p) and drug maker
Summit (up 21 per cent today at 5.5p) were also rising.
Internet TV technology group Motive (down 30 per cent today at
0.02p) was among the week’s biggest winners as it more than doubled, despite
pulling back on Friday.
On Wednesday it confirmed speculation that set-top boxes,
powered by its software, were now being made ready for a rollout across Turkey.
Reports claimed the software would be loaded onto ‘tens of
thousands’ of new boxes, but, in a stock market statement the AIM quoted firm
said it did not have visibility on the number of boxes ordered.
Another winner was Bahamas Petroleum (up 3 per cent today at 6.2p),
which shot up over 40 per cent at one point on Monday as it received the go ahead to
drill an exploration well.
The Bahamas government will allow the well to be drilled
before the island state holds a referendum its oil policies, so that the
presence and potential scale of petroleum reserves is established.
Shares in Anglesey Mining (unchanged today at 9.38p) soared
almost 100 per cent at one point after its Canadian associate struck a new partnership
with Tata Steel.
It was revealed that Labrador Iron Mines (TSE:LIM), which is
15.3 per cent owned by Anglesey, has agreed to jointly develop iron ore deposits within
Canada’s Labrador Trough with Tata Steel Minerals Canada.
The deal will see Tata acquire a 51 per cent stake in LIM’s Howse
iron deposit for $30million (£19.8million) in cash, and give LIM the opportunity to acquire the
adjacent Tata Timmins 4 deposit.
Together with these parallel developments, the new partners
also intend to jointly enhance and expand the export route, including both rail
and port infrastructure.
Arian Silver (up 12 per cent today at 12.12p), another miner on that
side of the Atlantic, struck a deal to buy a processing plant for its San Jose
mine in Zacatecas, Mexico. This promises to treble output from the mine.
South Africa focussed Pan African (down 3 per cent today) completed
its deal to buy the Evander gold mine, meanwhile Australian mine developer
Bullabulling (unchanged today at 4.12p) launched a £5.3million funding which will
help it complete the definitive feasibility study (DFS) at its flagship project
in Western Australia.
In the oil and gas sector, Nostra Terra (down 5 per cent today at
0.46p) acquired a new project in Texas which it believes could have similar
potential its successful, expectation beating, Chisholm Trail play in Oklahoma.
Leni Gas Oil (up 3.5 per cent today at 1.02p), meanwhile,
unveiled a deal which could also add assets, as it backed Maxim Resources that
is currently in litigation over its rights to an interest in a licence block in
Trinidad. It says it will provide C$5million to Maxim, if it wins, to cover the
cost of work programmes on the oil field. In return Leni will receive a 50 per cent
stake.
Tech investors continue to be impressed by blur Group (up
0.28 per cent today at 179.5p), an online firm which promises to revolutionise the way
in which businesses commission service providers.
On Thursday, blur confirmed the momentum in its emerging
business as it reached a milestone of having more than 1,700 briefs
commissioned across its online exchange.
Ceramic Fuel Cells (down 14 per cent today at 4.5p) signed an
agreement with a leading German power distributor for up to 600 of its BlueGEN
generators to be installed by 2015.
Meanwhile, Ceres Power (down 3 per cent today at 9.4p), another
developer of fuel cell technology, launched a placing to raise much needed
cash. It wants £9.7million to add to the £3.3million raised just three months for its
restructuring strategy.
Ceres is in negotiation with equipment makers so that it can
commercialise its IP and says the new funding will reassure potential partners
that the company will still be around to deliver the technology.
Rounding off a trio of fuel cell specialists, AFC Energy
(down 0.8 per cent today at 31p) lent a pile of its equipment to the engineering
department at Lancaster University to help with their research.
AFC’s technical director, Dr Gene Lewis, described it as the
first step to creating a strong technical partnership with the university.
Shipping firm Hellenic Carriers (down 10 per cent today at 16.5p)
was among of the losers, sliding 12 per cent on Friday after it revealed a sharp drop
in revenues and a $9.4million loss last year adding this year would also be
challenging.
Also falling, were Asian e-transaction specialist
MobilityOne (down 9% today at 3.75p), oil firm Petrel (down 4 per cent today at 14.75p)
and natural resources investor Paternoster (down 7.5 per cent today at 0.36p).