"the acquasitions may have been good value but they have...

"the acquasitions may have been good value but they have undoubtedly increased the number of shares on issue .... hence diluted the SP"

Mike i dont think you understand dilution... it has nothing to do with share price...

dilution is a reference to Earnings Per Share only

EPS = Net Income / Shares On Issue...

there is no dilution, if the increase in the top half of the equation outweighs the new issues down below... if this is the case the SP should theoretically increase, all things being equal...

regardless, if you want to compare apples with apples, you can use some calculations to remove the effect of the extra shares... then do your comnparison calcs between NMS's peers... you also have to consider other capital issues like options and convertible debt...