The AIM index has had a challenging session, with a strengthening pound off the back of upbeat employment news likely playing a role here. The market closed down almost nine points at 1245.98
- Victoria Oil & Gas +35%
- Universe Group +20%
- Revolution Bars -7%
- dotDigital -20%
- Gear4Music Holdings -14%
Victoria Oil & Gas LON:VOG topped the board today, adding more than 35% off the back of a positive drilling update released before this morning’s open. What’s more, the work was delivered under budget despite some challenging weather conditions having been reported. Further updates on the volumes of hydrocarbons in the well are still to come.
Universe Group [LON:UNG] also put in a solid session, adding almost 20% after it announced a new deal worth £4.4m with an existing customer. The positive response came despite management admitting there was uncertainty over the timing of when this contract would be realised, but underlines the company’s market leading position in terms of providing outdoor payment terminals.
A notable mention for Revolution Bars LON:RBG which, despite posting a bubbly set of full year numbers, failed to put any real sparkle into the share price as it slumped 7%. The stock had been trending higher over the last two weeks but despite management’s claim of an “exciting return to normal trade following investment in all brands”, investors were quite likely spooked by the fact that revenues came in at barely one third of 2020 levels rather than being lead by upbeat like for like growth in recent weeks against pre-pandemic levels.
dotDigital LON:DOTD the “leading SaaS provider of an omnichannel marketing automation and customer engagement platform” struggled on Tuesday, with the stock reversing 20% by the bell. Full year results to 30th June showed a bumper year of sales but there’s an expectation that this will continue to normalise as global economies emerge from lockdown. There could be some call to suggest that the sell-off is overdone given this now unwinds around five months of gains, although the skimpy dividend uptick is also arguably cause for discounting, too.
Interim results were issued by Gear4Music LON:G4M today, the country’s largest online retailer of musical instruments. Revenues were down 8% on a year ago, but still up by almost a third on the 2019 number. Today’s issue however stems from the board upgrading its expectations for H1 after a good first quarter, but supply chain difficulties meant this couldn’t be delivered against. Investors knocked the shares back by 14% as a result.
