AIM Recovery

This week I have taken the opportunity to look back at some of the AIM companies that we have featured recently in Share Watch. The market has dropped a long way since the credit crunch first began to take its grip, however, as I stated in an article in March, there were encouraging signs that we were at, or close to the bottom of the market. Since then the FTSE AIM All Share Index has risen from 392.03 to 503.09 (up 111.06) or 28.3per cent. Three companies have benefited from this rise and that we featured last month are Straight PLC, Dart Group and Glisten.

Straight should be well known to many regular readers as it has been a company that we have featured many times over the years. The Leeds-based supplier of kerbside recycling boxes and other waste container solutions has had a hard time over the last few summers, with wet weather conspiring against the company. Last month we restated that the shares looked attractive at 52.5p and since then they have briefly been over 70p, and as I write they stand at 62p. I believe that they still look attractive for the long term at this level.

Dart Group is another local company that should be well known to readers as it runs Jet2.com, the low cost airline.

We have watched this company for some time and believe that it has strengthened its position recently with decent financial results and it ended the year financial with positive cash balances. The shares have moved in the right direction since I wrote about the company last month and are currently at 56.25p, an increase of 6.1 per cent.

My colleague, Chris Bragg, wrote about Glisten on April 9 when the share price was 61.5p and they rose above 135p earlier this month before easing back to 117.5p, which is where the shares stand today. A more than satisfactory return on your investment if you had timed it correctly. Glisten is an impulse snack and confectionery group which was only founded in 2002 and like many other companies has seen its value depressed recently by a market that frowned upon any significant borrowings.

There is no suggestion that the company is struggling to manage debt and forecasts suggest that pre-tax profit for the current year could be as high as £6m.

WARNING: Opinions expressed are the writers’ judgments at the time of writing. The information does not constitute a personal recommendation and readers should seek their own professional advice as to the suitability of the investments.