Companies: AAT    AVV    CASH    HDYS    IMD    MSQ    OMG    PTY    XAR   

In its latest intriguing research note, growth company broker Corporate Synergy has picked seven ventures it feels will deliver gains in 2005, and three it expects to underperform!

Among the buys are cash machine operator Cardpoint, computer-aided design company Aveva and Nottinghamshire-based brewer Hardys & Hansons. Others to get the nod are OMG, Xaar, Media Square and Independent Media Distribution. All exemplify the broker's investment themes for the coming year, being profitable, established businesses steered by proven management.

Those 'sell' recommendations are Easyscreen, Parity Group, and AEA Technology, a technology and consulting business the broker feels is overvalued due to its £50 million net debt, £110.1 million pension deficit and uncertain prospects at major customer Network Rail.

On the 2005 AIM and smaller cap front, head of equity research Luke Ahern sees the outlook broadly in line with 2004, 'with an expected rise in the SME markets of between ten per cent and 15 per cent by the calendar year-end.' With AIM now boasting 1,000-plus companies, investors will have to cleverly pick stocks in certain specific niches 'to find the winners that have both the ambition and the means to grow strongly'.