Thomson Extel And Financial Village Publish 2006 UK Small Cap Report

LONDON, 07/17/2006, Thomson Extel, part of Thomson Financial, an operating unit of The Thomson Corporation (TSX: TOC, NYSE: TOC), in association with financial communications consultancy Financial Village, today publishes a report on opinions and trends in the fast-expanding market for UK-listed companies with a market capitalisation of below £1bn.

The detailed findings are drawn from responses to the Thomson Extel UK Small Cap Survey, which ran from March 27th to the end of May 2006. Over 200 questionnaires were returned by specialist Small Cap investors running funds of up to £3bn and with commission payout of up to £3m. In addition, stockbroking firms and listed Small Cap companies were surveyed on key market trends.

The report provides rankings of stockbrokers in a number of categories including, for the first time, 14 sectors. ABN Amro was voted the leading brokerage firm for UK Small Caps, closely pursued by Numis Securities, ranked top for research and whose analysts took pole position in half of the sectors analysed. Numis also won the accolade for most improved firm in front of Altium Capital and Investec Securities.

Key points central to the Thomson Extel/Financial Village Survey include:

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Over 90% of UK listed companies are capitalised at below £1bn, with an average market cap of £100m
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This category has been boosted by the dramatic growth of AIM, where the number of companies listed grew by 37% in 2005
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There were 636 admissions below £1bn market cap last year and new issue fees were estimated at £600m, 80% of which went to brokers
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More than half the applications from companies to list were turned down by brokers
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There are over 70 brokers with an interest in this category, including all the bulge bracket brokers, and the names of 400 analysts were submitted for the survey
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Investors voted originality of ideas as the key criterion for rewarding brokers, in front of direct analyst contact and recommendations
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Market-making was the preferred method of trading and the ability to offer block trades was seen as a key differentiator
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Views on the importance of unbundling were mixed, but there was a clear indication that investors are willing to pay for independent research with 43% increasing their usage and only 10% decreasing

Steve Kelly, Head of Thomson Extel Survey, commented:

“The intention of the 2006 UK Small Cap report has been to widen the scope of the Thomson Extel Survey and reflect the increase of coverage of the large number of stocks capitalised at less than £1bn and, in particular, the fast-growing AIM market, where at the end of 2005 there were only two stocks capitalised at above £1bn. The report provides a comprehensive account of the key issues in the Small Cap market and up-to-date rankings of stockbroking firms by investors at a level of detail not previously undertaken.”

Tim Draper, Managing Director of Financial Village added:

“In designing the 2006 UK Small Cap Survey our intention was to generate valuable information in a category where little has existed before. A large and growing number of stockbrokers are focusing their attention on this segment of the market and the results of this survey provide the first accurate assessment of both their combined and individual efforts.”

Copies of the complete report, with commentary and extensive market trends data can be ordered from Thomson Extel Surveys.

About Thomson Extel
Thomson Extel (www.extelsurvey.com) is part of Thomson Financial which is a US$1.9 billion provider of information and technology solutions to the worldwide financial community. Through the widest range of products and services in the industry, Thomson Financial helps clients in more than 70 countries make better decisions, be more productive and achieve superior results. Thomson Financial is part of The Thomson Corporation (www.thomson.com), a global leader in providing integrated information solutions to more than 20 million business and professional customers in the fields of law, tax, accounting, financial services, higher education, reference information, corporate e-learning and assessment, scientific research and healthcare. With revenues of US$8.5 billion, The Thomson Corporation lists its common shares on the New York and Toronto stock exchanges (NYSE: TOC; TSX: TOC).

About Financial Village
Financial Village is a consultancy specialising in financial communications advice for growth companies. Financial Village works with senior management to devise a coherent medium-term communications strategy, striking the right balance with investors and the media to build sustained interest in the company and maximise the impact of news flow.

A specialist in intelligence on smaller companies, Financial Village has written two reports on investors’ perception of AIM and collaborated with Thomson Extel to redesign the 2006 UK Small Caps Survey.

Contact Information

Steve Kelly

Media Contact

Thomson Extel Survey

Contact via E-mail