CITY WHISPERS: ATG scores with Bobby Charlton and Terminator

As one of the better performers among the companies that floated during the 2021 boom, Auction Technology Group seems to be doing great.

A strong art market last week boosted results from the FTSE 250 group, which runs seven platforms connecting bidders to nearly 4,000 online auction houses.

The first image that comes to mind when you think of auctions is a musty warehouse full of antiques.

But the industry is much more colorful than that. ATG once thrashed a decommissioned nuclear power plant.

In the last six-month reporting period, it was boosted by similarly flamboyant sales.

The Wicked Witch of the West hourglass from The Wizard of Oz set back a bidder a tidy £322,000 and a metal endoskeleton arm from the 1991 movie Terminator 2: Judgment Day fetched £55,000.

Also, a short sleeve jersey worn by Bobby Charlton in a friendly against Real Madrid in 1959 sold for £30,000.

AGM season not over yet

For those approaching the end of their stamina with the AGM season, the peak after over 90 last week seems to be over. But it’s not over yet.

Shell braces for a revolt by ecogroups and green-minded shareholders, and Wagamama owner TRG faces criticism over its pay plans.

Others under scrutiny include: 888 Holdings, BAE Systems, North Sea group Ithaca Energy and Glencore.

No controversial companies then, right?

Nanoco turmoil

Manchester technology group Nanoco came out with all guns last week when a minority shareholder called for a board overhaul.

Nanoco made headlines this year as it prepared to take South Korean behemoth Samsung to court in Texas over allegations it used Nanoco’s groundbreaking technology in its TVs.

The pair settled in court for £120 million, avoiding a costly legal battle.

Since then, Nanoco has been trying to fend off attacks from investor Tariq Hamoodi, including a particularly salacious piece of accusatory correspondence he sent to other shareholders, prompting a public apology from at least one group that published snippets of it.

As with Samsung, Nanoco will also try to end this conflict.

The UK aerospace industry has almost doubled in eight years

Let’s hope international investors eager to invest in space projects have already forgotten about the failure to send satellites into orbit from Spaceport Cornwall in January.

Two months after MP Greg Clark said it was a ‘disaster’ that an attempt to showcase what the UK was capable of became ‘toxic’, figures from the UK Space Agency and PwC show that investment in the UK’s space industry in nearly doubled in eight years.

The country has pocketed 17 per cent of the £37 billion of private money poured into the sector since 2015, with the UK excelling in satellites and Earth observation.

With the UK trailing only the US for investment, let’s hope it can stay in that position this year as well.