AIM Comment

AIM cleantech recovery lags wider market

Tuesday, 05 January 2010 19:06

by Andrew Hore

Although the Alternative Investment Market’s cleantech sector recovered well in 2009, it still failed to outshine AIM as a whole, which rose more than twice as much. Fuel cell companies were major contributors to the cleantech recovery during the year, but these firms still have much to prove.

The last Sigma Capital Cleantech index published during 2009 was for the period up to 18 December 2009. Over the twelve months the index rose a creditable 26.6%, which compares with a rise of 59.7% for the FTSE AIM 100 index. After an initial period of underperformance, the Sigma Capital Cleantech index caught up during the summer. However, the gap between the two indices widened again during the autumn.  

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Lack of cash driving merger activity

Tuesday, 01 December 2009 22:51

by Andrew Hore

Merger activity is increasing among AIM cleantech companies, mainly at the larger firms in the sector. Low valuations and cash requirements seem to be behind a number of the bids and many are not welcomed by existing management, which is not necessarily surprising since not all the bids are particularly generous.

Some investors are sparking bids by selling their shares to potential bidders: this helps take their stakes above 30%, which triggers a mandatory bid. This sequence of events occurred at wind power generator Novera Energy, when Infinis offered 62.5p a share after its stake reached more than 30%.

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Under pressure, Hamworthy still has its war chest

Monday, 02 November 2009 11:30

by Andrew Hore

Investors seeking cleantech opportunities are losing out if they look only at companies whose operations are focused purely on the sector. Other companies less well known for their cleantech operations, but with strong management teams and a profitable history, can frequently offer greater potential.

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AIM cleantech shrinking, but building momentum

Friday, 02 October 2009 10:03

by Andrew Hore

The cleantech ‘sector’ on London’s Alternative Investment Market (AIM) has been shrinking over the past year, but the performance of cleantech shares quoted on the junior market has improved significantly in recent months.
 
The Sigma Capital Cleantech index (which is entirely focused on cleantech shares quoted on AIM) hit its low point in the week ending 20 February 2009. Since then it has risen from 296.4 points to 500.9 – an increase of 69% over seven months. Although that is a rise from a depressed level, it still suggests that investors are seeing value in the sector.

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