COMMENT
Three Share Ideas For 2006

By Ed Bowsher (TMFArkle)
December 15, 2005

Champion Shares doesn't just provide great share recommendations. You can also read research on lots of other exciting companies. This week, Champion Shares editor, Maynard Paton, has published a special entitled "Ten Share Ideas For 2006."

Here's a quick summary of three of those ten shares:

Clinton Cards (LSE: CC.)

Shares in Clinton Cards have fallen by more than 45% this year after the acquisition of a rival retailer proved more troublesome than expected.

Investors have also been scared by the gloomy outlook for the retail sector. The consumer is retrenching and retailers such as MFI (LSE: MFI) and Ottakar's (LSE: OTT) are having a tough time.

But Clinton has significant potential upside. It's the largest card retailer in the country and has generated decent profits in the past. The dividend has increased by an average of 20% per annum since 1995. What's more, chairman Don Lewin owns a 15% stake in the business, so he has a real incentive to turn things round.

If you think the retail climate will improve in 2006, then Clinton could be an interesting recovery play. You can read more about the company if you sign up today for a FREE 30-day trial to Champion Shares.

GCap Media (LSE: GCAP)

GCap Media has lots going for it. It's the UK's largest commercial radio group and owns Classic FM, the only national commercial FM station.

It also has a strong position in digital radio. New digital stations should enable GCap and other commercial players such as EMAP (LSE: EMA) to steal audience share from the BBC, and hence win more cash from advertisers.

But GCap also has problems. Audiences for its London station, Capital FM, are falling, and the recent half year results were grim. Underlying operating profits crashed 35% and the dividend was cut.

So it's no surprise that the share price has performed poorly in recent months. There may be further falls to come, and the share may reach a level where an investment would be attractive.

So when will be the right time to buy? Sign up for a 30-day trial to Champion Shares and you can discover Maynard's entry price for a GCap purchase.

Abcam (LSE: ABC)

The exciting thing about Abcam is that it gives you some exposure to the biotech sector at relatively low risk.

A typical small biotech company may only be developing two or three drugs. So if one product fails in clinical trials, the share price can crash.

Abcam, however, is different. It's a biotech services business. Instead of developing drugs, it sells research-grade antibodies to universities and pharmaceutical companies.

And the numbers look good. Sales have jumped from £3.5m in 2003 to £12.1m in 2005, while earnings per share came in at 6.66p for the year to June. Admittedly, a fair bit of good news is already in the price (208p). But if you strip out the cash pile (27p per share) and remember that sales and margins are rising, Abcam looks promising.

Remember, if you sign up for a 30-day trial to Champion Shares, you can read more about Abcam plus research on seven other companies. You'll also have access to all of the Champion Shares recommendations including the latest, which was published earlier this week. Find out more here.