St. Helen's Capital Plc / Epic: SHCP / Market: AIM / Sector: Financial services.
3 March 2008
                      St. Helen's Capital Plc ('St Helen's Capital' or 'the Company')
                                       First Day of Dealings on AIM
                                                     
St  Helen's Capital Plc, an independent institutional stockbroker and corporate finance adviser focused  on
companies  in the small cap sector and companies which the Directors believe have the potential to  achieve
rapid growth, listed on AIM today via an introduction.

Overview

-  First  day  of  dealings on AIM - introduction will raise profile within target corporate  and
   institutional markets
-  Focused on the small cap sector, providing corporate finance advice and acting as institutional
   stockbroker for AIM, PLUS and pre-IPO companies
-  Currently corporate broker to 12 AIM quoted companies, with market capitalisations ranging from
   circa �2 million to �330 million
-  Acts as PLUS corporate adviser to 34 PLUS quoted companies representing more than 15% of the
   number of companies admitted to PLUS
-  Strategy to build on strengths and market presence to further develop client base
-  Ideally placed to capitalise on the considerable growth opportunities in the small cap sector
-  Strengthening financial position - results for the six months ended 30 September 2007 showed pre-
   tax profits of �1.13m (under IFRS, previously reported under UK GAAP - �0.99m) on turnover of �2.3m. As
   at 22 February 2008, the Company had cash reserves of approximately �2m
-  Strong experienced team of respected small cap specialists

St.  Helen's  Capital  CEO  Ruari  McGirr  said: "With increased visibility  and  improved  liquidity,  our
transition  from PLUS to AIM marks an important step in our strategy to further strengthen our presence  in
the small cap arena and attract high-quality individuals to the team.  As testament to our team's drive and
determination,  whilst the current economic climate is undoubtedly difficult, we have maintained  a  steady
inflow of new transactions and business opportunities allowing us to select those that we feel will further
benefit our corporate profile.  Our financial performance has been strong and we believe we have the skills
and ambition for profitable expansion and the ability to deliver healthy returns to our shareholders."

For further information visit www.sthelenscapital.com or contact:
Ruari McGirr                     St. Helen's Capital Plc          Tel: 020 7628 5582
James Harris / David Altberg     Strand Partners Limited          Tel:  020 7409 3494
Isabel Crossley                  St Brides Media & Finance Ltd    Tel: 020 7236 1177

Introduction

St Helen's Capital Plc is an independent institutional stockbroker and corporate finance adviser focused on
companies  in  the  small cap sector and companies which it believes have the potential  to  achieve  rapid
growth.  Authorised by the FSA and a member of the London Stock Exchange, it provides services to corporate
clients  traded on AIM or PLUS or which are at the pre-IPO stage.  It is currently broker to 12 AIM  traded
companies  with  market capitalisations ranging from circa �2 million to �330 million  and  PLUS  Corporate
Adviser  to 34 PLUS quoted companies, all of these clients pay annual retainers to the Company.

In  the  last  12  months,  the  Company  has  been involved in  fundraisings  for  its  clients  totalling
approximately  �140  million. The Company also holds a small portfolio of quoted and unquoted  investments,
principally  comprising  shares, options or warrants in its corporate clients. These  have  generally  been
acquired  in  the  course  of  providing services to these corporate clients.  The  Company  currently  has
42,656,000 ordinary shares in issue.

Strand Partners Limited is the Nominated Adviser and together with St Helen's Capital Plc is Joint Broker
to the Company.

History

The  Company,  which  began  trading on OFEX (now known as PLUS) in December  2000,  had  by  January  2007
established  itself  as the leading PLUS Corporate Adviser.  In February 2007, Ruari McGirr  and  Sebastian
Wykeham  joined St Helen's Capital with the intention of strengthening the Company's existing business  and
accelerating  its expansion into the AIM market.  Since that time, it has successfully repositioned  itself
as  a  provider of corporate finance and corporate broking services to AIM traded, PLUS-quoted and unlisted
companies. St Helen's Capital's overall aim is to establish long-term relationships with its corporate  and
institutional clients based on an in-depth understanding of their requirements and those of the market.

Corporate Finance

St  Helen's  Capital acts as corporate finance adviser on a range of transactions across its  client  base,
including   IPOs,  secondary  fundraisings,  pre-IPO  finance,  and  mergers  and  acquisitions  (including
transactions under the City Code on Takeovers and Mergers).

Corporate Broking

The  Company  provides a comprehensive corporate broking service, focusing primarily on IPOs and  secondary
fundraisings, for its UK and internationally based clients. The services offered by the Company include:

-  Institutional  Stockbroking  - particularly strong relationships  with  some  of  the  leading
   institutional investors in the small cap sector which allows the Company access to funds for the growth of
   its corporate clients. St Helen's Capital also acts as the link between these investors and its corporate
   clients. The Company keeps its corporate clients informed of market activity and expectations and is also
   able to ensure, through the correct and timely release of information to the market, that institutions
   fully understand the nature and direction of clients' businesses. The Directors believe that this flow of
   information enables St Helen's Capital to provide accurate strategic advice to its corporate clients and
   also underpins its ability to execute secondary fund raisings.
    
-  Research - aims to promote high quality investment opportunities to investing institutions. The
   Company's research covers its own corporate clients as well as other AIM-traded companies and comprises
   sector, event-driven and thematic reports.

-  Investor Relations - uses its institutional relationships to actively promote its corporate clients
   to  existing and potential investors. It organises meetings with institutional investors centred on
   corporate clients' results and other corporate events; the feedback from these meetings allows clients to
   understand the concerns and expectations of their major shareholders.

PLUS Corporate Adviser

As  a  PLUS Corporate Adviser, St Helen's Capital is involved in bringing companies to the PLUS Market  and
monitoring and advising them thereafter on their compliance with that market's regulations. It has  been  a
PLUS  Corporate Adviser since 2002 and currently has 34 PLUS quoted clients, representing more than 15  per
cent.  of  the  total  number of companies admitted to PLUS. In 2007, the Company was  responsible  for  10
admissions to PLUS, which represented over 17 per cent. of the total number of admissions to PLUS for  that
year.

US Institutional Investors

In  November  2007 St Helen's Capital entered into an agreement with Robert R. Meredith &  Co,  Inc,  a  US
broker  dealer based in New York, which allows the Company, through Robert R. Meredith & Co. Inc, to manage
its relationships with institutional investors in the US. The Company has not yet conducted any business in
the  US.  However,  the  Directors believe that this agreement will provide  the  Company  with  additional
flexibility both as regards the companies for which it raises funds and the sources of those funds.

Strategy

The  Directors intend to build on the existing strengths and market presence of the Company to develop  its
client  base  further in terms of numbers, size and quality and to maximise revenue generation  by  it.  St
Helen's Capital is not currently a nominated adviser under the AIM Rules for Nominated Advisers and has  no
current  plans  to become one, although the Directors will continue to assess this position on  an  ongoing
basis.  The  Directors  believe  that  acting solely as a broker  allows  St  Helen's  Capital  to  provide
independent  advice  to  its  clients whilst also providing the Company with a  strong  and  differentiated
marketing  platform, together with the benefits of working with (and offering work to) a range of nominated
advisers.

Although  the market in which the Company operates is highly competitive, the Directors believe that  there
is a shortage of advisers providing high quality specialised investment banking services exclusively to the
small  cap  corporate sector and their investors. They also believe that the Company's personnel  have  the
right  combination  of  skills and experience to successfully expand the Company's core  broking  business,
focused on the small cap sector, aiming to become the broker of choice in its target market.

Current Trading and Prospects

AIM  and  PLUS  continue  to  demonstrate reasonable levels of activity and the Directors  expect  this  to
continue. Notwithstanding the current unsettled nature of the market, St Helen's Capital has maintained  an
inflow of new transactions and business opportunities which have allowed the Directors to focus the efforts
of  the  Company on selected transactions which they believe will further enhance the Company's credentials
and  public  profile. The Directors also believe that considerable opportunities remain in  the  small  cap
sector  and  that  the Company's structure and expertise mean that St Helen's Capital  is  well  placed  to
capitalise on the transactions and relationships that present themselves to the Company.

As  testament to the Company's growth abilities, results for the six months ended 30 September 2007  showed
pre-tax  profits of �1.13m (2006: loss �90,000) and underlying turnover up 460% to �2.3m (2006: �0.5m).  As
at 22 February 2008, the Company had cash reserves of approximately �2 million.

Directors

Mark Warde-Norbury (age 45) - Executive Chairman
Mark  spent  14  years with the investment bank Robert Fleming and Co Limited ("Robert  Fleming")  and  its
subsidiary,  Save  & Prosper Group Limited, where as a senior manager he helped to launch  and  manage  the
Robert Fleming Private Banking operations in the UK. On leaving in 1998 he established Capital Strategy Plc
(now  St  Helen's  Capital).  Mark's other directorships include Flight  &  Partners  Limited  and  he  has
previously  been  a director of STG Holdings Plc, an investment holding company, and HTTP Technology  Inc.,
which  was  subsequently renamed MedicSight, Inc.  With effect from 30 September 2008,  Mark  Warde-Norbury
will become Non Executive Chairman of the Company.

Ruari McGirr (age 40) - Chief Executive Officer
Ruari has over 13 years' experience of providing corporate finance advice and corporate broking services to
small  cap  companies.  He has advised on all aspects of public company business, including  fund  raising,
mergers  and  acquisitions,  disposals and investor relations, with City firms including  Granville  Davies
Limited, Dresdner Kleinwort Limited, Brown Shipley Limited and Daniel Stewart Limited. Ruari qualified as a
chartered accountant and subsequently joined the corporate finance group at KPMG.

Sebastian Wykeham (age 38) - Executive Director
Sebastian  started  his  City career in July 1996 with Singer & Friedlander Investment  Management  Limited
("Singer  &  Friedlander") as a fund manager in their UK small cap team. The portfolio of funds managed  by
the  team  included the headline Singer & Friedlander small cap fund, 3 VCT funds, various  EIS  funds  and
other  small  cap  mandates.  He  left Singer & Friedlander in September 2003  and  joined  Daniel  Stewart
Limited's  small cap broking team where he was instrumental in developing important institutional  contacts
and in raising funds for corporate clients.

Barry Hocken (age 65) - Executive Director
Barry  began his career in the City in 1960 when he joined the stock jobbing firm of Smith Brothers Limited
as a "Blue Button" on the floor of the London Stock Exchange. He then went on to become a market maker with
Smith  New Court before joining JP Jenkins Limited in 1993 where he firstly established Newstrack  Limited,
an  online small cap data and announcement service, before becoming one of the founders of OFEX (now  PLUS)
in 1995. Barry joined St Helen's Capital in 2004 to develop its PLUS client base.

Howard Flight (age 60) - Non Executive Director
Howard  has  worked for 35 years in the financial services industry, for amongst others, N M  Rothschild  &
Sons  Limited and HSBC's merchant bank in Hong Kong and India.  In 1979 he established what became in  1986
Guinness  Flight Global Asset Management Limited. Between 1997 and 2005 he was the MP for Arundel  &  South
Downs, during which time he held the Opposition Front Bench briefs of Shadow Economic Secretary, Postmaster
General and Chief Secretary to the Treasury. From 1999 to 2004 he had Shadow Treasury responsibilities  for
the  Financial  Services Industry, Financial Regulations and Pensions. Currently, Howard is a  director  of
Investec  Asset  Management  Limited,  Chairman of CIM Investment  Management  Limited,  Speymill  Property
Managers  Limited and the Loudwater Trust Limited. Howard is also a commissioner of the Guernsey  Financial
Services Commission and a director of a number of other financial services companies.

Jon Pither (age 73) - Non Executive Director
Jon  has  considerable experience of public and private companies. For 20 years, from  1969,  he  developed
Amari  Plc, an international group of engineering companies, acquired by Glynwed International Plc in 1988.
Subsequently, he has developed a range of corporate interests, including the Chairmanship of Active Capital
Trust  Plc, and a number of other public and private companies, including AIM listed Northern Bear Plc.  He
is also Deputy Chairman of The Alumasc Group Plc and Jourdan Plc.

                                                                
St Helens Capital plc



                                                                

ST Helen's Cap. (LSE:SHCP)
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부터 10월(10) 2024 으로 11월(11) 2024 ST Helen
ST Helen's Cap. (LSE:SHCP)
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부터 11월(11) 2023 으로 11월(11) 2024 ST Helen