IC Article9 Mar 2007 03:13
From someone on another board :
IC has an article called 'Fighing back', and looks at AIM cos that have issued profit warnings, and where their SPs have been hammered. They have a list of cos. that are 'fighting back', and HCEG is one o the cos that they suggest looking at, and this is what they say:
"Healthcare Enterprise Group
Share price: 6p
PE ratio: na
Share-price fall since one-year peak: 63 per cent
What went wrong: Healthcare Enterprise Group had looked like an exciting prospect. It had a stable, well-established business supplying first-aid products and another, more exciting, business developing new products, such as Ebiox, a disinfectant for hospitals. Last year, however, problems began to develop in both parts of the group. The first-aid operation struggled to integrate acquisitions and it also lost a major contract with the police. Meanwhile, in the new products business, US approval for Ebiox was delayed, and there were disappointing results from Fertiligent, a sperm pump to help couples with fertility problems.
What's changed: Since last November's first-half results, there have been a number of encouraging changes. The group's management has been strengthened and, on the financing front, it raised £2m in a placing and agreed a further £2m financing facility. There have also been improvements in the operating businesses. In first aid, costs, capital spending, and working capital requirements have all been cut, and the b