MARKET REPORT: Amcomri float brings Christmas cheer to Aim market

The Aim junior market in London received a Christmas gift yesterday to close a difficult year with the IPO of Amcomri.

The group focuses on acquiring and upskilling specialist engineers and its listing comes after Aim was reduced to its smallest size by number of companies in 23 years.

Amcomri raised £12 million from an initial public offering to fund its ongoing growth strategy. The placing price was 55p, with 21.8 million new shares issued, giving it an initial market capitalization of £39.5 million.

The company’s co-founder and non-executive vice chairman is Paul McGowan, who has worked in corporate finance and restructuring for more than 20 years.

He serves as CEO of Hilco Capital, the asset-based lending and restructuring firm.

McGowan has particular experience in stressful or distressed situations, including transactions involving department stores HMV, Habitat and Allders in the UK.

Investors seemed excited about the opportunity offered with Amcomri, pushing the share price up to 57.5p at the close of its first day of trading.

London benchmarks were concerned about the central bank’s caution in the face of persistent inflation.

But traders took comfort from a lower-than-expected US inflation gauge released yesterday.

The FTSE 100 index recovered from earlier heavy losses to finish down just 0.3 per cent, or 20.71 points, at 8,084.61, and the FTSE 250 index finished up 0.3 per cent. , or 51.31 points, to 20,450.69.

Water companies led the retreat, after being among the few winners in the previous session, as analysts analyzed the latest price determinations from Ofwat.

United Utilities fell 1.7 per cent, or 18.5 pence, to 1,045.5 pence and Severn Trent lost 2.3 per cent, or 58 pence, to 2,516 pence, as Goldman Sachs analysts cut their profit targets. prices. Although, on the contrary, Barclays analysts set objectives for both.

Elsewhere, JD Sports lost 2.2 per cent, or 2.1 pence, to 95 pence, along with a drop in Nike after its second quarter earnings, and the US sportswear giant saw a significant drop in its revenue in the third quarter and said it would take time and money. to turn the business around.

And oil majors suffered as crude prices retreated amid caution over economic growth and concerns about oversupply, with BP ending steady at 379.05 pence and Shell falling 0.5 per cent, or 11p, to 2394.5p.

But on the plus side, in a firmer property sector, Segro rose 2 per cent, or 13.6p, to 695.6p after analysts at Citigroup restarted coverage of the warehouse group with a rating of ” buys”.

Services group Rentokil Initial also gained 2 per cent, or 8p, to 399.6p, as investors focused on the recent stake acquisition by US activist investor SW Investment Management.

On the FTSE 250, technology company Raspberry Pi was also boosted by share-building moves, gaining 15.8 per cent, or 80 pence, to 588 pence, when a US investment firm revealed a 3.0 per cent stake. 59 percent.

IP Group added 2.9 per cent, or 1.5 pence, to 52.8 pence after two listed companies in its life sciences portfolio, Intelligent Ultrasound and Abliva, agreed to cash in takeover bids.