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This is very much a Russian stock exposed to all those risks

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This is very much a Russian stock, exposed to all those risks.To play safer go for a fund to get a spread of stocks and the help of an experienced stock-picker. The leader is Merrill Lynch World Mining Trust, run by Graham Birch. He concentrates on larger miners and favours South Africans and Australians, so holdings are top-drawer. While it may not be able to repeat the rocket-propelled performance on the back of last year's rising gold price, it is solid and on a discount of around 13 per cent to a 135p Net Asset Value..

It is easy to feel a little sorry for many a company executive in these days of nervous and volatile stock markets. Once or twice a year they journey to the City to present results and no doubt expect to enjoy the plaudits, if appropriate, of a job well done. Hopes that robust figures will encourage something more tangible – such as a cheerful stock market response – are long gone. Indeed, as little MacLellan discovered, even the addition of a maiden dividend and an analyst's forecast that current year's profits will more than double is not enough to guarantee a favourable reaction.I was not at any of last week's presentations. So I was unable to see just how the support services group's chairman, Bob Morton, and its chief executive, John Foley, reacted to the stock market's response, a 4p-a-share fall to 56p, lowest for more than two years.Maybe, as the late holiday-camp king, Sir Billy Butlin, complained years ago when what he regarded as an outstanding profits performance was given short shrift, they realised it was impossible to please the stock market when it is in a bad mood.It has, of course, been in an exceedingly bad mood since the turn of the millennium. True, it has lately enjoyed headline-deserving rallies but shares have still lost nearly half their value since we toasted the arrival of 2000.

Perversely MacLellan, despite its fine figures, did not recapture even its pre-results level on any of the stock market's more exuberant days.It is, I think, worth looking in some detail at the company's performance. Turnover rose 52 per cent to nearly £130m and pre-tax profit advanced 31 per cent to £2.6m. Earnings per share were also up, 29 per cent to 2.7p, and gearing was down to 9.3 per cent with interest charges covered no less than 16 times The maiden dividend is 0.5p a share. The stockbroker Williams de Broe suggests profits this year will be £5.7m and says the shares, on a reasonable rating, are a buy. But nobody was listening.I am particularly interested in MacLellan's display because I recruited the shares to the no pain, no gain portfolio nearly 18 months ago. I descended on them at 65.5p: they subsequently nudged 100p before sinking to 60p ahead of the results Then came the slide to 56p. The behaviour of the stock market can, at times, be frustrating, as every investor has experienced.

There was very little trading in MacLellan's shares last week and the modest decline, it could be argued, was of little significance. But I would have felt such a splendid display, even allowing for acquisition benefits, would have encouraged at least a modest gain.The group, once an engineer, offers services, including cleaning and security. It has major contracts with leading UK groups and is thought to be near clinching more lucrative deals. Mr Foley masterminded the switch from engineering to support services; Mr Morton, a serial entrepreneur, is a significant shareholder.In its transformation MacLellan has completed rewarding takeovers. The last major deal was last year when it acquired the Broadreach group, splashing out £19.3m for the privilege. The acquisition increased its involvement in the retail world. More deals, I suspect, are being lined up.Galliford Try, another no pain, no gain constituent, has had a rather less successful time The shares are just above my 20p buying price.

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