The company has long done the laundry for hospitals, but its recent stellar growth is down to its surgical decontamination business, basically sterile cleaning of surgical instruments. The shares are worth holding for the long term, but, at the current price, new investors should wait.SSLReckitt Benckiser’s decision to pay £1.93bn for the consumer-products division of Boots had resonance for investors in SSL International. But ministers are trying to prevent Synergy getting a monopoly position in this area, and while the company’s management is smart, the risks to the share price look high. Avoid.PETER HAMBRO MININGShares in Peter Hambro Mining have hit a high after an analyst trip to the company’s main operation, at Pokrovskiy in eastern Russia. Pokrovskiy produced 84,600 ounces of gold in the first half, up 41 per cent on 2004, and the company is on course to meet its targets. Last year, the company missed its targets but still increased sales 13.5 per cent to £47.9m, and cut losses to £4.4m. But telecoms services can be volatile and although Fibernet is doing many things right, it is hard to warm to its competitive position.

Given the acquisition boom, it is trading at record levels – core profit was up 28 per cent in the six months to 31 July, to £44m. There is still more steam in the M&A engine, and private-equity deals still stack up at current low interest rates. Keep holding.FIBERNETFibernet, the telecoms tiddler, claims it should be thought of in a different light to brutes such as BT and Cable & Wireless. It offers large companies private networks for high-speed data transfer using its fibre-optic cables.

It is too early to be sure cider can really be cool in the UK. Also, the valuation has risen to the upper limit of the drinks sector and a yield below 4 per cent isn’t tempting. Time please.INTERMEDIATE CAPITALIntermediate Capital backs buyout vehicles with mezzanine finance, a mixture of debt and equity. Hold off until it is more established.C&C GROUPThe Irish drinks group C&C has launched its Magners brand across the UK with startling success. In the six months to 31 August, C&C’s cider sales rose by 28 per cent. We scoffed when C&C floated last May, and advised shunning the stock But we would do no favours by U-turning now. With the dividend barely covered by earnings and the outlook grim, it’s time to sell.VASTOXVastox is the second company set up by Stephen Davies, professor of organic chemistry at Oxford University He sold the first, Oxford Asymmetry, for £316m in 2003.

The company helps big pharma in its search for new drugs, and is showing early promise. But much rests on a handful of drugs it plans to develop of its own. The new clubs should provide a useful future earnings stream in due course. But weak consumer spending threatens gym-membership numbers in the short term.We tipped this company last time it lost its way in 2003 and it surged over the following year. Now things look dark again, and Whelan’s 39 per cent stake could be sold to fund his Premiership hobby. JJB SPORTS

Dave Whelan’s chairmanship of Wigan has taken the football team into the Premiership, but the sports retailer he chaired until July is fighting to avoid being relegated from investors’ portfolios.

At half-time in JJB Sports’s financial year, pre-tax profits are down by a third to £18m.
Rivals are slashing prices on sportswear in an attempt to stay afloat Allsports went bust last week. And JJB itself warns margins will be lower in the second half as it slashes its prices.The group has established a useful sideline in health clubs, which it is opening in tandem with new out-of-town stores. It has cut the market value reductions (MVRs) on many of its funds. These reductions are penalties that savers must pay if they want to get at their money ahead of schedule – they reflect the fact that such plans smooth out poor market performance over several years, so those who withdraw early may get an unfair advantage.Let’s hope other insurers follow its lead. The stock market is 60 per cent higher than when it hit its low-point in 2002, so with-profits providers no longer have a justification for charging whacking MVRs, which are close to 30 per cent of your fund value in some cases.d.prosser independent.co.uk. In May, Ofcom was given powers to fine companies caught breaking the rules, but has not done so yet.There’s good news for Norwich Union policyholders who want to dump with-profits savings plans they hold with the insurer.