ASX travel shares bounced back this afternoon after an early sell-off amid reaction to news of the COVID-19 Omicron variant.

The broader market had a challenging day today, with ASX travel shares in particular under pressure amid fears the new variant could derail Australia’s reopening plans. The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) closed 0.54% in the red at 7,239.7 points.

Let’s take a look at how 3 major players in the travel sector performed today.

Stormy weather  

There was plenty of turbulence but some ASX travel shares gained ground including Flight Centre Travel Group Ltd (ASX: FLT), which finished the day trading at $16.99, a drop of 0.88% from the previous close. However, this was a significant bounce-back of 9.82% off today’s opening price of $15.56.

Qantas Airways Limited (ASX: QAN) dropped 2% to close at $4.90. However, shares in the airline opened in the red at just $4.77, so today’s trade represented a lift of 4% from this morning’s opening price.

Meanwhile, the Webjet LTD (ASX: WEB) share price fell more than its competitors, plunging 2.8% to $5.20 from Friday’s close after opening the day at $5.01.

Why did ASX travel shares bounce back?

The World Health Organisation labelled Omicron a “variant of concern” on Friday, sending world markets and travel stocks crashing.

Australia suspended flights from nine southern African countries for 14 days on Saturday, while several state governments extended home quarantine requirements.

This likely caused people to panic and appears to have contributed to the early sell-off.

However, as the day went on, no further travel bans were introduced and Prime Minister Scott Morrison urged the public to remain calm.

In addition, Australia’s travel shares are holding up better than several travel stocks in the United States.

For example, United Airlines Holdings dropped 9.57% in the US on Friday when news of the variant emerged, while Royal Caribbean Cruises fell 13.22% lower than the previous close.

UN global travel predictions

So, what’s ahead for ASX travel shares? The UN World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) released a report today predicting COVID-19 would cost the tourism sector $1 trillion this year compared to pre-pandemic revenue.

International tourism revenue is expected to reach $700-$800 billion in 2021, compared to US$1.7 trillion in 2019.

UNWTO said the pace of recovery from coronavirus remained “slow and uneven” across the world.

 “Despite recent improvements, uneven vaccination rates around the world and new COVID-19 strains could impact the already slow and fragile recovery,” the report stated.

The post How did ASX 200 travel shares weather the Omicron storm today? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Why EML Payments, Pact, Senex, and Webjet shares are dropping
• Flight Centre (ASX:FLT) share price partially recovers as boss calls for calm
• ASX 200 (ASX:XJO) midday update: Omicron hits Flight Centre, Domino’s jumps
• Flight Centre (ASX:FLT) share price crashes 11% amid omicron fears
• These are the 10 most shorted ASX shares

The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Flight Centre Travel Group Limited and Webjet Ltd. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

from The Motley Fool Australia https://ift.tt/3rfxXRl

The ResApp Health Ltd (ASX: RAP) share price ticked up a notch towards the end of Monday’s market session. This followed the digital health company’s announcement that it has secured regulatory approval for its cough counter smartphone application.

At the closing bell, ResApp shares ended the day 5.36% higher to 5.9 cents apiece.

ResApp receives TGA clearance for cough counter smartphone application

Investors appeared to be excited by the company’s latest news, sending the ResApp share price into positive territory.

In the release, ResApp advised that its cough counter smartphone application has been approved by the Australian Therapeutics Good Administration (TGA). In addition, the medical software has also achieved a CE Mark certification.

The significant milestone enables ResApp to sell its cough counter smartphone application in Europe as a class 1 medical device. The software is also listed on the Australian Register of Therapeutic Goods (ARTG).

Notably, ResApp now holds the title of being the world’s first regulatory-approved standalone cough counter smartphone application.

Developed over the last 12 months, the cough counting application is designed to identify coughs and background noises in everyday settings. The software records the number of coughs from the user and uploads the data in a form of time and date stamps. This is then accessible to medical and healthcare professionals to monitor in real-time.

The company noted that cough frequency is a key factor in respiratory disease progression and management. Traditional methods such as self-reporting or listening to audio recordings are said to be costly that are inaccurate and labour-intensive.

The software is already being used by AstraZeneca in a clinical study to monitor patients who suffer from lung cancer. The program is set to run for a period of two years.

Management commentary

ResApp CEO and managing director, Dr Tony Keating said:

We are pleased to have secured regulatory clearance in Australia and Europe for our cough counting technology. The ability to measure cough frequency using only a smartphone is a highly scalable solution that has a number of broad clinical applications. After our success in partnering with AstraZeneca, we are particularly excited about the opportunity in supporting clinical trials, where cough can provide important insight into the progression of disease and efficacy of treatment.

ResApp share price summary

In July, ResApp shares were trading at multi-year lows before shooting up in the following months. While the company’s shares are down 30% year to date, the past week alone has netted a gain of almost 10%.

ResApp commands a market capitalisation of about $50.69 million and has 859.2 million shares on its books.

The post ResApp (ASX:RAP) share price jumps 5% on regulatory approval appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• ResApp (ASX:RAP) share price rockets 11% on new Johnson & Johnson deal

Motley Fool contributor Aaron Teboneras has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

from The Motley Fool Australia https://ift.tt/3E5fRVJ

If you still own Phoslock Environmental Technologies Ltd (ASX: PET) shares, there’s a good chance you have forgotten about them.

This formerly-listed ASX share hasn’t been available for share trading on the ASX for more than a year now. Phoslock’s last day of public trading was way back on 16 September 2020. That was succeeded by a seemingly-routine trading suspension. That suspension ended up turning into an effective freeze on trading that is still going on today.

So what happened with Phoslock?

Well, following the initial suspension of trading, 21 September 2020 saw the company release a market update. This informed investors of the following:

Phoslock… wishes to advise that an ongoing independent investigation initiated by the chairman and managing director has revealed certain accounting irregularities relating to PET’s China Operations. 

The investigation, being undertaken by KPMG’s forensic accounting division, follows suspected accounting irregularities discovered during the audit process for the half year ended 30 June 2020.

Then, on 8 October 2020, Phoslock put out another announcement, this one expanding on these “irregularities”:

Fraudulent activity has been identified, including false accounting and falsification of invoices and service contracts where PET or its subsidiaries are the recipient, and potential improper tax reporting and misappropriation of funds. Several China-based employees have been either stood down or terminated in relation to these matters. It has also been confirmed that several previously undisclosed related party transactions have taken place. 

It was at this point that Phoslock determined that “the company’s shares will remain suspended from trading until such time as the investigations are complete; the financial and accounting impact has been assessed; and audited accounts for the half year have been released”.

Phoslock share price: Stuck in purgatory

Well, investors are still waiting as we approach December 2021. An update on this matter came as part of Phoslock’s September quarterly report. This was released to investors back on 29 October. This stated that Phoslock’s board and management “continue to assign a high priority to the relisting of PET’s shares on the ASX”.

Earlier this month, we had Phoslock’s latest update. This stated that “the pathway to relisting involves satisfying ASX in relation to two key requirements”.

The first of these involves submitting “statutory accounts without audit qualifications on opening balance”. Phoslock reckons it will be in a position to fulfil this requirement by February 2022.

The second “involves the ASX being satisfied that the company has taken all reasonable measures to ensure shareholders are fully informed in relation to all relevant matters concerning the company”.

On this second requirement, Phoslock says that “we are now in a position to brief shareholders more fully having now completed a number of important phases of the investigations, placing us in a position to provide shareholders with a more detailed update as to where those matters now sit”.

So it seems that shareholders can circle February 2022 as a possible return date of this company to the ASX boards. Until then, the waiting game looks set to continue for investors.

The post Whatever happened to Phoslock (ASX:PET) shares? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• ResApp (ASX:RAP) share price jumps 5% on regulatory approval
• Could this make an Oil Search (ASX:OSH) merger even better value for Santos?
• Mineral Resources (ASX:MIN) share price jumps on rail agreement
• Why is the Origin (ASX:ORG) share price outperforming AGL in November?
• AFIC (ASX:AFI) aims to grow its dividends faster than inflation. Is it delivering?

Motley Fool contributor Sebastian Bowen has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

from The Motley Fool Australia https://ift.tt/3o3NUIB

Oil Search Ltd (ASX: OSH) shares could increase in intrinsic value ahead of the company’s merger with Santos Ltd (ASX: STO). Government approval for its 38.5% owned P’nyang gas field is reportedly imminent.  

At Monday’s close, the Oil Search share price is $3.91, 2.01% lower than at the end of Friday’s session.

For context, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) slid 0.54% today while the All Ordinaries Index (ASX: XAO) fell 0.49%.

Let’s take a closer look at today’s reports of Oil Search.

Is Oil Search fairly valued in its planned merger?

Oil Search’s merger with Santos might be weighted even more heavily in Santos’ favour as a major project is reportedly about to get the green light.

Oil Search owns the P’nyang gas field in conjunction with Exxon Mobil Corp (NYSE: XOM). The pair have been fighting to get approval for the venture for several years.

Exxon announced negotiations between it and the Papua New Guinea Government were to restart in August. The subject of the talks is to allow the development of the gas field.

According to today’s reporting by The Australian, those discussions are expected to come to an end next week, with Exxon to walk away with the government’s permission to get to work.

If the venture is granted governmental approval, it might exacerbate the already unequal distribution of shares in the entity resulting from Oil Search and Santos’ fusion.

As The Motley Fool previously reported, an independent expert has already found the merger doesn’t reflect Oil Search’s true value. They said:

Oil Search shareholders are contributing around 43%-44% of the aggregate estimated underlying value of the merged group compared to the 38.5% of the merged group that they will receive.

However, the expert still deemed the scheme is in the best interests of Oil Search shareholders. Whether shareholders will agree is yet to be seen.

For the merger to go ahead, 75% of Oil Search shareholders must vote in favour of the scheme. The vote is due to be held on 7 December.

The post Could this make an Oil Search (ASX:OSH) merger even better value for Santos? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• ASX energy shares on watch after Omicron sparks oil price crash
• Santos (ASX:STO) share price dips despite progress on $21 billion merger
• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Thursday
• Biden taps oil reserve. What could this mean for ASX oil shares?
• Here’s why the Oil Search (ASX:OSH) share price is slipping today

Motley Fool contributor Brooke Cooper has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

from The Motley Fool Australia https://ift.tt/3pc1uJ0