Although the IPO pipeline has slowed recently, the overall rate of new AIM entrants remains strong: 370 ventures have joined up (including transfers from other markets, but excluding re-admissions). These companies managed to attract more than £9.8 billion in new funds.

The company demonstrating the best-performing shares in the study is Kent Ertugrul’s 121 Media. This company has developed an internet advertising business at a time when online advertising has truly come into its own.

Its combination of industry executives, high-profile partnerships and serious institutional backers (Morgan Stanley recently invested £2.6 million at 1500p) has caught the imagination of the market.

Others of note are sports representation and wealth management business Formation, which has enjoyed a 412 per cent increase in its share price following strong profits growth, and film and TV rights group ContentFilm, an enterprise seemingly flourishing under the guidance of chief executive John Schmidt.

In terms of profitability, it’s worth noting RC Group. It is one of AIM’s growing legion of Asian stocks and one of its most impressive in terms of business performance – the biometric security firm recently posted profits of almost £20 million on sales of £62 million.

Considering the fall-out in the online gaming sector, the consitutents it show not surprise people that Sportingbet and Leisure & Gaming both nurse savage losses, and online money transfer business Neteller a venture intimately linked to the sector, has proved another casualty, shedding nearly 80 per cent of its value.

The biggest loser was Chariot, the UK company behind new charities lottery ‘Monday’. Launched last April, the lottery suffered disappointing sales. It is now a cash shell in search of opportunities in the leisure sector.

Businesses that disappointed with losses or profit warnings feature heavily in this table, among them software minnow Global Gaming and Screen FX, the digital advertising and communications specialist. Accuma is more than 75 per cent lower at 70p and down from a 52-week high of 315.5p. It was one of the highest-profile casualties of the recent turbulence in the consumer debt sector.