Welcome to part 6 of my A-Z on AIM.
The next 20 tickers, 5 for my watchlist, only 2 pre-revenue companies, some actually interesting mining/energy ones for investors interested in this field. Impressive, average quality seems to be improving. Let’s go.
Here you find the other parts: https://increasingodds.substack.com/s/a-z-uk-aim
106) Catalyst Media Group (Ticker: CMX)
10£m holding group with a 20% stake in horse and greyhound racing betting operator. This operator shut down its TV channel and is investing in non-racing products, leading to -30% revenues and operating losses. Profit share last FY was 300£k. Pass. I usually avoid betting due to regulatory risk anyways. With CMX you just get a one more layer of corporate structures in addition.
107) Catenai (Ticker: CTAI)
4£m provider of digital media and technology. Just announced a 8% investment in an AI productivity software company. Issuing shares to pay director fees and creditor liabilities. It seem CTAI is generally investing in AI companies. There is no ‘real’ CEO, only an interim one since 14 months. Revenue grew heavily due to new investments, but from a small baseline. Unprofitable. Pass.
108) Cavendish (Ticker: CAV)
45£m small and mid cap investment bank. Describes increased market share in public markets and a solid pipeline of transactions. According to recent trading update, CAV supports the most growth companies on AIM of all investment banks, whatever *growth* means here. Just opened new offices in Manchester and Birmingham. Positive outlook (without presenting any numbers) based on positive momentum for european equities.
CAV was created in a merger of Cenkos and Finncap. Half of the board was with Cenkos before. Is operating an the edge of profitability, numbers are a little messed up due to the merger.
I’m not sure if that’s a common thing for banks or not, but the Broker of CAV is CAV itself. No sell side coverage. For me it’s a pass. Even though investment banks are slightly more interesting than ‘normal’ banks, big mergers bear execution risk and all the stocks I own are european anyways, I don’t need the sentiment exposure. But maybe there is some value if one digs deeper. For FY21 the old Finncap showed 6,5£m in profits during peak IPO sentiment after the covid dip. If sentiment really turns, this could be a nice bet.
109) Celadon Pharmaceuticals (Ticker: CEL)
3£m biotech on the edge of bankruptcy. Announced a 2£m credit facility in February, but has not received any funds yet. Basically no revenue and seeks delisting. Pass.
110) Celebrus Technologies (Ticker: CLBS)
70£m data solutions provider. Seems like a customer relationship & marketing focus. >50% recurring revenue. ARR doubled since 2021. 31$m cash. Profits seem to be H2 weighted. No notable insider ownership, most shares owned by wealth management firms.
Changed ARR calculation and revenue recognition, so historical numbers need to be adjusted. Report in US dollar since 2024. Due to slowed demand, revenues will be down 5% for FY25, but adj. PBT up 15% to 8,7$m due to higher margin software sales. The impact for 2026 of the accounting changes is still under review. 2% dividend.
I am not sure of this is interesting or not. Accounting changes add some complexity, numbers are somewhat jumpy due to license and hardware revenues. Software products are kind of a black box for me as it’s hard to really understand them sometimes. But growing ARR, the cash balance and rather low valuation leaves some room for realistic upside scenarios. Watchlist.
Write-up by @Mark Allery:
111) Celsius Resources (Ticker: CLA)
10£m no revenue gold and copper exploration and development company with projects in the Philippines, Australia and Namibia. Just announced it’s biggest project ‘advances towards construction’. Pass for me.
112-114) Celtic (Ticker: CCPA & CCPC & CCP)
These shares belong to the famous scottish football club Celtic. Trades on 7x P/E. The problem with football clubs is that many things which can make or break the year are out of managements control.
Scoring a goal in the 95th minute of the last game in a season can decide if you earn 18£m for the Champions League qualification or only 3,6£m for the Europa League qualification.
Buying shares in football clubs kinda feels like sports betting to me. I would only if I were a fan, just for the emotional connection. But I am not, so it’s a pass.
115) Central Asia Metals (Ticker: CAML)
290£m metals producer with projects in North Macedonia and Kazakhstan. Just announced to acquire NWR for 88£m, an australian copper producer. 7x fwd. P/E and >10% dividend yield (Koyfin). As we know, mining is nothing I’m interested in, so it’s a pass, but probably worth a look for others.
116) Ceps (Ticker: CEPS)
5£m private equity/serial acquirer mix. Buys minority and controlling stakes. <50% of profits are attributable to CEPS. Just bought a business through a subsidiary for 1,2£m or about 3,5x PBT. No thematic focus, net margin of 4%. 7£m long-term debt and leases on 3,7£m EBITDA (before adj. for minoritry interests) definitely seems elevated.
Executive chairman is also director for the asset manager he founded 1998, namely Chelverton. He provided a 2£m loan to CEPS in 2021. CFO Vivien Langford is also finance director for the same asset manager. Worth to dig deeper if there are more related party transactions. Chelverton used to own 26% of shares of CEPS. The position was liquidated in 2024 and each shareholder of the Chelverton Growth Fund received a CEPS share for each fund share.
Trades on 10x P/E, one for the watchlist.
117) Cerillion (Ticker: CER)
545£m provider of software for billing, charging and customer relationship management mainly for telecommunications providers, but also for other sectors, including energy and utilities. One of the higher quality names, 30% ROIC, >40% margins, no debt. 30x fwd. P/E (Koyfin). But one customer accounts for 20% of revenues, 2 others for the next 10%.
Recent results show -7% revenue and more than -10% profits due to timing of license renewals that occured in H1 2024 and are now shifted towards H2 2025. Order book grew 7%. 40% of revenues are recurring and growing. CEO and founder owns 30%, other co-founder still involved too.
CER is on my watchlist since ever. Considering the valuation it’s far from exciting, but maybe worth to do the work and just wait until an opportunity to pick up shares cheaper presents itself … last famous words before missing out.
118) Challenger Energy Group (Ticker: CEG)
21£m O&G company with projects in Uruguay and Bahamas, partnered with Chevron. Sold its operations in Trinidad for up to 8£m. Couple millions of revenue with heavy losses. Pass for me, likely worth a look for those liking O&G.
119) Chapel Down Group (Ticker: CDGP)
Largest wine producer in the UK. Owns 10% of UK’s vineyards, 76£m market cap.
Adj. EBITDA impacted by decreased gross margin due to different sales mix and a fair value movement in ‘biological produce’. I’m not sure if this is an accounting measure for biological assets? Because there is a yearly swing in its valuation. No debt, only 9£m in leases.
New CEO since Feb, ex Diageo manager. His plans to grow this business may be part of someones bull case, but I’m absolutely not interested in alcohol businesses, especially not if it’s already a niche leader and the low-hanging fruit has already been picked. In addition, the valuation is unexciting. Pass.
120) Chariot (Ticker: CHAR)
19£m gas and renewable energy provider. Offshore project in Morocco and mining operating in Africa. Its african electrity trading platform just received a 20m USD investment from the largest bank in Africa and the norwegian state fund. Just raised 4,5£m. Basically no revenue, heavy losses, pass.
121) Checkit (Ticker: CKT)
16£m software provider to automate operations. Nearly all revenue is recurring. Losses are shrinking while revenue is growing. Expects to be cash flow and EBITDA breakeven in 2026.
Announced a new strategy plan to increase staff productivity through restructuring and non-staff efficiency through cost reduction. Expects 3£m in cost savings.
Non-executive Chair owns 20% and is part of the board since 2004. It seems like one of the rare companies that are unprofitable but really head toward breakeven. I didn’t listen to the interview yet, but @ValueHunt is a great host:
I guess the setup of on experienced chairman with skin in the game and the road toward profitability is somewhat interesting, watchlist.
122) Chesterfield Special Cylinders Holding (Ticker: CSC)
Just renamed from Pressure Technologies to CSC. As the names suggest, its a manufacturer of high pressure systems. Just sold its Precision Machined Components (PMC) division for 6,2£m to remove exposure to cyclical O&G markets. Wants to pay down loans with proceeds. Market cap today is 12£m. Ironically, FY24 showed unprofitability due to cyclical end markets of the remaining business.
Order intake is down 50% and overall performance was weaker than expected due to delayed orders from defense and hydrogen markets. Until FY28 CSC wants to replace PMCs revenue with its remaining business, means they need to grow by roughly 100% and aim for a 12% adj. EBITDA margin. That’s about 3,6£m in FY28. Expects to return to growth next year.
Looking at the historical numbers profits were always bumpy. Most revenues are now exposed to defense markets, which gives them better predictability due to longer project timelines I assume. But management wants to grow hydrogen sales to 30% of revenue. No insider ownership. I think its too early to tell whether this can work out, pass.
123) Christie Group (Ticker: CTG)
35£m provider of professional & financial services such a M&A, consultancy, insurance, stock audits. Divested a loss-making brand for 5£m. Just launched a healthcare team in France & Germany. Confident to deliver on medium-term plans, even though I can’t find any public plans.
Overall numbers are below pre-covid levels due to resized operations. Pays a small dividend. 25x fwd. P/E (Koyfin). CEO and CFO are with CTG since about 20 years. Ex chair owns 28% of shares. His family (‘Gwyn’) owns 36% in total. One Gwyn family member is on the board. I’m not sure if this is interesting to me or not considering the valuation and exposure to M&A sentiment. On the other hand, resizing operations and selling loss-making divisions is a good sign. I give it a pass as I don’t want to spam my watchlist.
124) Churchill China (Ticker: CHH)
70£m manufacturer of ceramic products such as plates, mugs or bowls. Selling to the hospitality industry through distributors. First thought here: wouldn’t a D2C segment make sense? Last year was challenging:
Wants to grow outside the UK in large fragmented markets but highlights uncertainty in the market. Trades on 11x P/E, no debt. 6% dividend. CEO and sales director are with CHH since 30 and 25 years. Sales director and his family own >20% of shares.
Company was constantly growing until covid. Flat revenues since FY22 and margin far below pre-covid. Experienced management, low valuation and investments in factory automation and bigger salesforce are kind of an easy to understand setup. Biggest risk are probably low-cost/high volume competitors? Need to dig deeper whether their customers are small restaurants or larger players such a hotel franchises. Watchlist.
125) Cirata (Ticker: CRTA)
36£m provider of data migration solutions. Definitely great to see another company successfully reducing costs:
Nevertheless, 2024 saw losses of 15£m on 7,6£m revenue. Annualized overheads are 16£m - 17£m. No mention of recurring revenues. Founder still involved, CTO with CRTA since 10 years. Pass.
Wrap-up
125/669 companies covered so far.
Watchlist: 23/125.
Pass: 102/125.
No-Revenue counter: 27/125.
Feel free to provide opinions and sources on any of the stocks. Cheers.
Worth mentioning Cirata's past as WANdisco and the over statement of sales.
Thanks!