from independent newspaper (uk)

I hope I'm not repeating this? BTW, up 2.25p over here, (on the below news perhaps) don't know where the 3p quote comes from!


The Investment Column: Hardman and NETeller are the stars in our look at AIM's big five
Civica keys in a neat programme for growth
Edited by Stephen Foley
16 June 2005


The top five largest companies on AIM would all be contenders for mid-cap status were their shares to trade on the main list, but they prefer to be big fish in a different pond. In their various ways, they reflect the good and bad of AIM.

We have two connected with the hot investment area of the moment, online gambling; two foreign oil explorers of contrasting reputations; and one retailer run as a personal fiefdom and dragged kicking and screaming off the main list by its chairman in 2003.

Hardman Resources has earned investors' respect since it arrived on AIM in 2002. It is an Australian company of long standing, a speculator which has hunted for gold and for diamonds in the past but which has now focused on oil and gas and where its pioneering work in Mauritania is paying off. It has stakes in several exploration blocks off the coast of the West African country, where its bigger partner is close to commencing production from the first block. Its shares have risen in line with this progress, but there could be upside from further work in the area, and from its other interests across the globe, including in Uganda and the Falkland Islands.

An ex-BP executive is a recent arrival as chief executive, and it appointed JP Morgan Cazenove yesterday to support its long-standing broker Oriel Securities. Both appointments suggest ambition to become a serious player in exploration and production, and the next fundraising may see it graduate to the full list. The shares look a decent long-term buy.