Looking back at AIM's performance in 2009, (See:
Is AIM on the way back up?) I speculated in January this year
that an element of stability might be returning to AIM and that
there was a quickening of interest in new companies coming to the
market. The first quarter of 2010 supports that to a degree but the
market's performance continues to be patchy and the
Exchange's statistics throw up one or two particularly
interesting facts.
As before, many more companies are leaving the market than are
joining, although the flow seems to be slowing down, with 50
companies leaving the market in the first quarter compared with 75
in the same period last year and 293 in the whole of 2009. The
majority of those departing continue to be delistings at the
company's request, suggesting that there is still a substantial
body of companies who question whether the benefits to them of
being traded on AIM justify the costs of maintaining their AIM
status. At the end of March AIM
