Stockwatch

In December last year, Omega said it would issue 93 million shares to raise £130m to support underwriting. Dealing began on the new shares last Thursday. The move has been favourably received by analysts.

“We think the expected market hardening provides Omega with an exciting opportunity to launch a new phase of growth,” raved analysts from Numis.

But Omega’s chances of taking advantage of market conditions do look good. As Numis points out, it has a low investment strategy, well contained hurricane losses and its 2008 balance sheet is free of the legacy issues suffered by some industry participants.

AIM activity was more or less flat over the week, with only a few companies, including Omega, reporting small drops in their share price. Just one company, Resources in Insurance Group (RiiG), recorded a large drop of 31.25% over the week. The group was not available for comment.