by Paul Sanger
Australian shares are little changed in mixed trading this morning.
At noon, the S&P/ASX 200 is 0.05 per cent or 3.60 points lower at 6755.60.
Australian lithium and nickel companies are trading higher after Tesla’s positive earnings update and also after lithium leader Albemarle led the sector higher yesterday.
Best and worst performers
The best-performing sector is Information Technology, up 2.28 per cent. The worst-performing sector is Energy, down 2.43 per cent.
The best-performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200 is Kelsian Group (ASX:KLS), trading 15.81 per cent higher at $6.30. It is followed by shares in Telix Pharmaceuticals (ASX:TLX) and Link Administration Holdings (ASX:LNK).
The worst-performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200 is Imugene (ASX:IMU), trading 5.66 per cent lower at $0.25. It is followed by shares in Woodside Energy (ASX:WDS) and Sims (ASX:SGM).
Global markets
Asian equities are mixed on Thursday, with the Nikkei down 0.17 per cent, the ASX200 up 0.05 per cent, and the Kospi 0.52 per cent higher.
There is mixed news on US-China relations. Biden will speak with Xi in the next 10 days, but administration official have downplayed the role tariffs will play in discussions. This has tied into broader skepticism tariff cuts will meaningfully lower US inflation.
Separately, China accused the US of undermining the “One China” policy. Meanwhile, China’s US ambassador sought to downplay Beijing’s ties with Russia.
The Bank of Japan is expected to leave policy unchanged, against diminishing expectations of a shift toward normalisation given upward pressure on global yields. Attention will be on the outlook report, with the BOJ likely to consider revising CPI and growth forecasts amid weaker yen and cost-push inflation pressures. The yen is turning lower ahead of the Bank of Japan meeting.
The European Central Bank lift off is expected tonight, with consensus for a 25 basis point move, though reports have noted the possibility of a 50 basis point hike. Markets are pricing in around a 40 per cent chance of a 50-basis point hike.
Company news
Pureprofile (ASX:PPL) announced its FY22 business update for the period ended 30 June 2022. Continuing the trend of strong growth, PPL achieved an (unaudited) full year revenue uplift of 39 per cent to $41.7m, and EBITDA improvement, up 28 per cent to $4.0m. Net cash from operating activities was $3.9m for the year, up from $2.4m on pcp, resulting in a strong closing cash balance of $5.3m. The company delivered record revenue for the year, driven by strong growth from both new and existing clients across all markets. Shares in PPL are currently trading up 11.1 per cent at 5c.
Orthocell (ASX:OCC) recently signed a global exclusive licence and distribution agreement with BioHorizons Implant Systems Inc, one of the largest dental implant companies in the world. In consideration of the licence granted, Orthocell has received in cash $21,461,686 million (US$14,774,225 million), net of fees. Orthocell Managing Director Paul Anderson said: “We are delighted to have received funds from BioHorizons, solidifying our cash position with A$31.23 million on hand as at 20th of July, enabling us to drive the further development of our Remplir nerve product and pipeline of regenerative medicine products.” OCC shares are currently trading up 3.95 per cent at 39.5c
Musgrave Minerals (ASX:MGV) reported further assay results from diamond and aircore drilling programs on the Cue Joint Venture with Evolution Mining in Western Australia’s Murchison district. Musgrave Managing Director Rob Waugh said: “This is another strong set of results and highlights the high-grade tenor of the gold systems at West Island. The drilling confirms the presence of multiple basement gold lodes and ongoing drilling is aimed at defining the grade and continuity of individual lodes within the host dolerite sill. To complement these results aircore drilling continues to identify new untested areas of gold anomalism below the cover sequence along strike from known mineralisation.” Shares in MGV are currently trading up 4.17 per cent at 25c
ANZ Banking Group (ASX:ANZ) has raised $1.7 billion from institutional investors via the issue of around 89 million new shares as part of a $3.5 billion raising to help acquire Suncorp Bank. It said approximately 95 per cent of entitlements available to institutional shareholders were taken up. The entitlements not cleared were sold in the institutional shortfall bookbuild at $21.65 per new share, which was $2.75 above the offer price of $18.90 per share. Shares in ANZ are currently trading 0.97 per cent lower at $21.43.
Santos (ASX:STO) has nearly tripled free cashflow to US$1.7 billion on record first half sales, up 85 per cent to US$3.8 billion for the six months to June 30. The gas producer posted $US843 million of free cashflow in the second quarter, slightly ahead of the first quarter. Over the second quarter it produced 25.5 million barrels of oil equivalent (mmboe), which was slightly lower than the first quarter. Shares in STO are currently trading 1.56 per cent lower at $7.275.
Bega Cheese (ASX:BGA) has responded to multiple questions from the ASX’s listings compliance team around its continuous disclosure obligations being met over June and July prior to a July 13 profit warning. The company said it provided earnings guidance for FY 2023 as soon as its forecast modelling process was complete and after it considered its continuous disclosure policy to provide investors with information on the company’s business in FY 2023 on a basis of reasonable and properly considered assumptions. It also said it took the earliest possible opportunity to assess the impact of higher milk prices on its earnings for FY 2023. Shares in BGA are currently trading up 1.49 per cent at $3.40.
Newcrest Mining (ASX:NCM) meet full year gold output target, but fell short on copper production following a “strong fourth quarter” that included a record cost performance by its Cadia mine in NSW. Gold production for the 12 months to June 30 came in at 1.95 million ounces, down on FY21’s 2.1m ounces, but within the guidance range. Copper production was 3 per cent lower than FY22 guidance at 121,000 tonnes, predominantly driven by lower mill throughput at Red Chris and Telfer. Shares in NCM are currently trading up 1.05 per cent at $19.24.
Telix Pharmaceuticals (ASX:TLX) has recorded $22.5 million in global sales for its Illucix cancer imaging and diagnosis product. Net cash outflows for the June quarter were $25.8 million, and as at June 30 the company had cash on hand of $122.6 million. Shares are up 643 per cent over the past five years. Shares in TLX are currently trading up 15.26 per cent at $6.42.
Liontown (ASX:LTR) went into a trading pause this morning before announcing to the market that LTR and Lycopodium have executed an engineering , procurement and construction management agreement under which Lycopodium will deliver the EPCM services for the processing facilities and associated non-process infrastructure at Kathleen Valley. The EPCM contract is valued at $35 million based on the agreed scope, and is on terms consistent with the assumptions in the LTR’s DFS. It includes fixed and reimbursable portions to ensure greater cost certainty for project engineering. The award follow’s the boards decision to make the final investment decision to proceed to develop Kathleen Valley in June 2022. Shares is LTR are currently trading up 6.46 per cent at $1.187.
Asra Minerals (ASX:ASR) has received an interim mineralogical report confirming the company’s Yttria clean heavy rare earths elements (REEs) discovery at its flagship Mt Stirling project in Western Australia is conducive to low-cost processing. The QEMSCAN-MLA (Mineral System Liberation Analyser) report by JK Tech at the University of Queensland analysed 10 exploration samples containing elevated rare earth elements and yttrium (a rare earths pathfinder) from Asra’s Yttria discovery. Shares in ASR are currently trading up 13.64 per cent at 2.5c.
