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Although new issues on AIM raised £6.2 billion last year, fewer companies joined the market than during 2006, according to research from GrowthBusiness’ sister publication Growth Company Investor. There were 222 new entrants in 2007 compared to 362 the previous year, a fall of 39 per cent.

Investors in AIM IPOs showed continued appetite for companies of all sizes, according to the study, but there was a move towards the lower end of the market. A majority of new companies (53 per cent) raised less than £10 million, an increase from the 40 per cent seen in 2006, and only seven per cent raised £100 million or more.

Once again, the largest amounts of cash found their way into the property, equity investment instruments and general financial sectors, which raised nearly £4 billion between them, or almost two-thirds of the total. However, all these sectors raised less than they did the previous year. One sector that bucked the general trend by raising more money in 2007 than the year before is support services, where funds raised rose from £174 million to £195 million.

The report also draws attention to the performance of AIM companies’ brokers. Collins Stewart was the most active by some margin, floating 16 companies compared to second-placed Evolution’s ten. NM Rothschild raised most money, pulling in £637 million through the IPOs of four large investment funds. However, Beaumont Cornish and Daniel Stewart led the way in terms of price performance. The businesses floated by both brokers saw average share price gains of 72 per cent, though this figure is affected by the outstanding performance of a handful of companies.

To find out more about the full report, New Issues on AIM 2007/8, call Danica Pasinis on 020 7250 7039 or email.

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