SMALL CAP MOVES: The era of cheap money is over

However, as Freddie Mercury once said, the show must go on.

The era of cheap money is definitely behind us.

No one understands this better than UK small-caps, who are finding it increasingly difficult and expensive to approach the market for much-needed working capital.

MGC Pharmaceuticals he followed this advice this Friday, when he raised £700,000 by issuing new shares at 0.12 pa pop.

This equated to a 57 percent discount on Thursday’s closing price. Unsurprisingly, MGC’s share price fell 57 percent.

versarien he also took Freddie’s advice this Friday. The Advanced Materials group raised £650,000 by placing shares at 1p each.

This equated to a 40 percent discount on Thursday’s closing price. Unsurprisingly, Versarien’s share price fell (almost) 40 percent.

If anything, it’s a vindication of MGC and Versarien’s fundamentals that investors are willing to shell out cash in these tough times…for a flawless haircut, of course.

But it wasn’t all about youth market discounts.

financial services company STM Group announced on Tuesday that it has reached a cash purchase agreement with Pension SuperFund Capital.

Under the offer, STM’s share price was valued at 70 pence; a whopping 162 percent premium over Monday’s closing price.

Shares of STM doubled after the announcement and, though they pulled back a bit as the week progressed, closed on Friday more than 76 percent higher.

It was a bullish week overall for the AIM All-Share Index. Although it did not fare as well as the top-tier FTSE 100 index, the junior market added 1.3 percent to close the week at 751.64.

This was a notable improvement compared to the sizeable losses accumulated in recent weeks.

Equities were boosted by a sharp drop in consumer price inflation on the other side of the Atlantic.

Closer to home, the UK’s gross domestic product contracted 0.4 percent on-year in May, according to data reading on Thursday. Sobering news to be sure, but still significantly better than the 0.7 percent economic contraction forecast by analysts.

Helium One Global It held the top position in heavy industries, with shares soaring more than 70 percent during the weekly period, and for good reason.

The explorer took control of his own drilling destiny in Tanzania, as he opted to acquire his own rig rather than see his timeline stuck without a contractor.

Helium One expects to start drilling a well on the Tai project before the end of the third quarter, thanks to the agreement.

deltic energy came in second after disclosing a significant improvement in resource estimates for the Shell-operated Pensacola discovery in the North Sea, of which Deltic owns 30 percent.

As a result, Deltic’s shares rose 69 percent.

Other strong energetic artists included Amte power adding 30 percent, empyrean energy adding 24 percent, and Coro Energy adding 22 percent.

Much of the market downside was relegated to the fashion and media sectors.

Unconsolidated group’S’s shares fell another 60 percent after announcing a possible administration. Not surprising given that the shoe retailer failed to attract a buyer after going on sale earlier this year.

Unbound said declaring possible insolvency would depend on ongoing discussions to implement a formal restructuring plan or raise capital funds.

ZOO Digital Group saw its shares fall more than 36 percent to 74 pence after the provider of cloud and media services to the entertainment industry revealed that an accounting error meant it made less profit last year.

However, it’s not just accounting errors that bring Zoo down. In Friday’s business update, the group lowered its revenue guidance for two key reasons: cost-saving measures being implemented by its streaming customers, and the fallout from the ongoing Writers Guild of America strike.

Elsewhere on AIM, fiinu The shares plunged 69 percent to 2.15 pence after the Plugin Overdraft company said it has not yet reapplied for a banking license because it cannot raise enough funds.

health service provider Completely, It lost 20 percent of its value this week after warning that underlying revenue and profit for the next fiscal year would be lower than the previous 12 months.

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