AIM news

AIM bounced back strongly in 2009, with the index opening the year at 395 points and finishing December up 66 per cent at 654.17.

The biggest riser of the year was Aussie miner Norseman Gold, up from just above its all-time low to an all-time high of 71.25p before finishing the year ahead by an astounding 2,300 per cent at 55.5p. Its recovery was aided by the buoyant gold price and a breakthrough to maiden profits as an AIM company.

Shares in Provexis, a functional food and dietary supplement specialist that was bolstered by European regulatory approval of its anti-blood-clotting additive derived from tomatoes, also rose by a fantastical amount, jumping almost 1,700 per cent to 9.15p over the year.

This January saw the index tread water somewhat, finishing up 2 per cent as investors took profits and various global and domestic economic concerns weighed.

Typical of this, Immunodiagnostic Systems, whose shares soared 400 per cent higher last year, dropped off 5 per cent on pure profit taking; West China Cement, up over 500 per cent in 2009, retreated 12 per cent; and Ceramic Fuel Cells, which climbed 300 per cent in the previous 12 months, fell back 20 per cent in January despite good newsflow.