AIM stocks not yet informing investors

Only a month from the deadline set by the regulator of the Alternative Investment Market, almost 300 companies (over 15% of those listed on AIM) have not yet lodged their financial information on a website accessible to investors. A service providing this access for all UK PLCs is being launched by EveryInvestor: fcreports.com.

“Our new service, Free Company Reports & Accounts (FCReports), is designed as a one-stop shop where investors can obtain financial reports on all UK-listed companies”, says Chris Gilchrist, editor-in-chief of EveryInvestor, “But many AIM-listed companies are being slow to comply with the new rule and we doubt whether all of them will meet the August deadline.”

The AIM rule (Rule 26) on publishing financial information online is far more detailed and prescriptive than the older rules applying to companies listed on the London Stock Exchange. “This is good news for investors, who can expect all AIM-listed companies to provide full financial information on the internet. But the LSE, as the regulator of AIM listings, may have to impose penalties on companies that are slow to comply,” says Gilchrist.

Companies whose shares are listed on the LSE itself already have to lodge financial statements on a publicly accessible website, but it was only in February 2007 that this requirement was added to the AIM rules.

Recent research has shown that even LSE-listed companies’ financial information can be hard for investors to find. FCReports makes life easier for investors and other company financial information users, by providing a simple electronic library of all UK-listed PLCs’ latest financial statements in free-to-download form. Users will be able to download as many reports as they wish and can register to receive alerts when new reports from target companies become available.

FCReports will add financial reports from the missing AIM-listed companies to its database as they become available.