There has been a mixed performance of the sectors of AIM during 2025. There are also differences between the first two months of the year and the period since the Iran conflict flared up at the end of February.
Energy is the best performing sector so far this year. The higher oil and gas prices are part of the reason, but so is an increasing interest in renewable energy technologies. The sector is 47% ahead this year.
Miners had a strong first few weeks of the year, particularly gold miners as the gold price reached new highs.
Other poor performers include travel and leisure, where the sector is dominated by airline and tour operator Jet2. there are worries about aeroplane fuel availability and flight cancellations.
ITM Power gets UK government funds
Electrolyser technology developer ITM Power will receive £86.5m in UK government funding for projects.
There is a £40m subscription at 55.56p/share via the government's GB Energy entity. That is a lower issue price than previous fundraisings. This will give it a 10.4% stake. There will also be a £46.5m grant from the UK government, which will be received quarterly over three years.
This will help to fund the £120m of capital investment in the Chronos electrolyser stack manufacturing line. This is more efficient than the Trident stack. The facility's capacity will be 1GW/year. Cash should be £211m at the end of April 2026 and £157.9m at the end of April 2027.
Hargreaves cash boost
Hargreaves Services will benefit from the latest fundraising by Tungsten West.
The fundraising will accelerate payments for services at the Hemerdon tungsten and tin mine in southwest England. Hargreaves Services sold the mine to Tungsten West in 2019. There are three outstanding payments of £1m each and when mining commences Hargreaves Services would be paid for mining services. Tungsten West is buying out this mining services contract for £7m.
The £3m payment will be brought forward and recognised in the current financial year, while the £7m termination fee will be a one-off profit.
