The Openpay Group Ltd (ASX: OPY) share price has been an incredible performer over the last two and a half months.

Since crashing as low as 32 cents on 23 March, the Afterpay Ltd (ASX: APT) and Zip Co Ltd (ASX: Z1P) rival’s shares have jumped a whopping 840% to $3.02.

Why is the Openpay share price rocketing higher?

Investors have been buying Openpay and other buy now pay later providers in recent weeks for a number of factors.

One is the belief that the pandemic has accelerated the rapid adoption of the payment method due to retail spending shifting online during the lockdowns.

Both Afterpay and Zip Co have reported stellar sales and customer growth throughout the pandemic. And this has come without any notable deterioration in bad debts. This appears to have convinced the market that their business models are more robust than first believed.

Openpay has also reported strong growth of its own. During the third quarter the company reported a 203% increase in active plans, a 113% lift in active customers, and a 63% jump in active merchants on its platform. This strong form continued in May.

Its active merchants now include the likes of Bunnings Warehouse, Bupa, JD Sports UK, Repco, Smiggle, and Spotlight.

But Openpay’s shares won’t be building on its strong gains today. This morning the payments company requested a trading halt.

Why are its shares in a trading halt?

It appears as though management has decided to take advantage of its incredible share price gain to raise capital.

No details have been released officially by the company, but the AFR is reporting that Openpay is seeking to raise $30 million to accelerate its expansion in the UK market and strengthen its balance sheet.

According to the report, the company is aiming to raise the funds at $2.40 per share, which represents a 20.5% discount to its last close price.

These certainly are exciting times for Openpay and the buy now pay later space in general.

More reading

• Where to invest $2,000 in cheap shares
• Why Zip Co and these ASX shares just zoomed to new highs
• ASX 200 jumps 1.8%, Australian headed for recession
• Sezzle Inc shares and 2 other small cap ASX techs surge higher today
• Afterpay share price hits a new record high: Is it too late to invest?

James Mickleboro has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of AFTERPAY T FPO and ZIPCOLTD FPO. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

The post Why the shares of Afterpay rival Openpay are up 840% since March appeared first on Motley Fool Australia.

from Motley Fool Australia https://ift.tt/2zQJ3UV

The Dimerix Ltd (ASX: DXB) share price has raced out of the gates this morning following news that one of its treatments has been included in a global COVID-19 clinical study.

Dimerix is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company that develops new therapies in areas with unmet medical needs. In doing so, the company leverages its scalable proprietary platform technology, Receptor-HIT, to rapidly screen and identify new drug opportunities.

Why the Dimerix share price is flying higher

This morning, Dimerix announced that its novel treatment DMX-200 has been selected for inclusion in the REMAP-CAP global study protocol for acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) caused by COVID-19.

The REMAP-CAP clinical study is endorsed by the World Health Organisation and has been named by the chief medical officers of the UK as a key clinical trial for COVID-19.

REMAP-CAP is an international platform trial run by a number of leading experts, institutions, and research groups. The trial already has several existing treatment domains including anti-viral, immune-modulation and immunoglobulin treatment arms. DMX-200 will now be part of a new treatment group to compare the effect of a number of treatment options on the clinical outcomes of COVID-19 patients requiring hospital care.

Upon regulatory approval, Dimerix believes DMX-200 could be the only investigational new drug in the study since all of the other candidates are a repurposing of existing approved drugs.

The overall REMAP-CAP study plans to include more than 7,000 patients at study sites across Asia-Pacific, Europe and North America. Dimerix stated it will work closely with REMAP-CAP to obtain the necessary regulatory and ethics approvals before providing DMX-200 to sites from its existing pharmaceutical-grade manufactured supply.

In addition to potentially benefitting ARDS patients with COVID-19, Dimerix is currently developing DMX-200 for both diabetic kidney disease and focal segmental glomerulosclerosis (a kidney-related disease).

Commenting on today’s update, Dimerix CEO and managing director Dr Nina Webster said:

“We are extremely pleased to be in a position to support this global initiative investigating the potential of multiple therapies to treat COVID-19 patients dying of ARDS”.

“Dimerix is uniquely positioned to support the global effort in identifying COVID-19 treatments, as well as having two Phase 2 renal clinical studies completing mid- 2020,” she added.

The Dimerix share price rocketed as much as 120% this morning to an intra-day high of 59.5 cents in early trade. It has since pulled back to 44 cents at the time of writing, representing a 63% jump. This takes Dimerix’s current market capitalisation to around $80 million.

More reading

• Got $5,000 for a dividend yield over 10%?
• Have $10,000? This is where I’d invest it into ASX shares
• Why Corporate Travel Management, SKYCITY, Vocus, & Westpac are pushing higher
• Why Austal, Ecofibre, Northern Star, & Nufarm are dropping lower
• Where to invest $2,000 in cheap shares

Motley Fool contributor Cathryn Goh has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

The post Dimerix share price doubles after being included in global COVID-19 study appeared first on Motley Fool Australia.

from Motley Fool Australia https://ift.tt/3cCMmwh

The Vocus Group Ltd (ASX: VOC) share price is storming higher on Thursday after the release of an announcement.

In morning trade the specialist fibre and network solutions provider’s shares are up 5.5% to $3.30.

What did Vocus announce?

Investors have been buying Vocus shares after it announced that it has both refinanced and extended the duration of its existing debt facilities and provided an update on its FY 2020 guidance.

Vocus’ new syndicated debt facility (comprising A$1,255 million and NZ$135 million) increases the duration of its debt to provide ongoing financial stability and flexibility.

And while the interest cover and gearing ratios are unchanged, management notes that the Net Leverage Ratio (Net Debt/EBITDA) covenant has been amended to a maximum of 3.25x. It will then reduce to 3x from 30 June 2021.

This mean Vocus is currently operating well within its covenant. At the end of December its Net Leverage Ratio stood at 2.8x and is expected to reduce at the end of FY 2020.

Vocus’ CEO and Managing Director, Kevin Russell, believes this refinancing and the reaffirming of its guidance is a testament to the strength of the company.

Mr Russell said: “Refinancing our debt and reaffirming guidance in the current market environment shows the underlying strength of Vocus’ business. The new loan facility is a strong platform that gives Vocus financial stability and flexibility as we enter the next phase of the company’s growth and business transformation.”

Guidance.

In FY 2020 Vocus expects its earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortisation (EBITDA) to be in the range of $359 million to $369 million. This compares to FY 2019’s EBITDA of $360.1 million.

While today’s guidance is within its previous range, it has been narrowed to the low end. In February the company provided full year EBITDA guidance of $359 million to $379 million.

Management revealed that its core Vocus network services business has been doing the heavy lifting. It is expecting this key segment to deliver EBITDA growth of 10% this year.

More reading

• Why the Vocus share price can race ahead later this month
• Telstra share price down 21% since February. Is it now in the buy zone?

Motley Fool contributor James Mickleboro has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

The post Why this ASX 200 telco share is storming higher today appeared first on Motley Fool Australia.

from Motley Fool Australia https://ift.tt/3cuvdEL