Category: Stock Market

The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is out of form again on Wednesday. In afternoon trade, the benchmark index is down 0.15% to 8,586.8 points.

Four ASX shares that are not letting that hold them back are listed below. Here’s why they are rising:

Cedar Woods Properties Ltd (ASX: CWP)

The Cedar Woods share price is up 10% to $8.81. Investors have been buying the property developer’s shares after it upgraded its guidance for FY 2026 again. After upgrading its profit growth guidance to 15% (from 10%) in October, Cedar Woods has now lifted its guidance to at least 20% growth for FY 2026. It said: “Supply shortfalls, low unemployment and government support for homebuyers continue to provide tailwinds for the sector. Recent commentary around interest rates is not currently deterring buyers, with the national housing supply shortfall expected to continue to support sales volumes and pricing.”

Humm Group Ltd (ASX: HUM)

The Humm share price is up 11% to 73.5 cents. This follows news that debt collector Credit Corp Group Ltd (ASX: CCP) has made an offer to acquire the commercial lender. Credit Corp said: “Credit Corp confirms that it submitted a confidential, conditional, non-binding indicative proposal on 19 November 2025 seeking access to due diligence information, which has not yet been provided.” Investors appear to believe this won’t be the end of the matter.

Star Entertainment Group Ltd (ASX: SGR)

The Star Entertainment share price is up 9.5% to 11.5 cents. This morning, this casino and resorts operator announced major changes to its leadership for a second day in a row. On Tuesday, Star moved Bruce Mathieson Jnr into the executive chair role following the exit of Steve McCann as CEO. However, Mathieson Jnr has now been moved to the CEO role, with Soo Kim joining as the company’s chair following a board meeting yesterday.

Zip Co Ltd (ASX: ZIP)

The Zip share price is up 3% to $3.03. This may have been driven by a bullish broker note out of Macquarie Group Ltd (ASX: MQG) this morning. According to the note, the broker has retained its outperform rating and $4.85 price target on Zip’s shares. It said: “Outperform. We forecast Zip to continue to deliver rapid growth supported by increased product adoption, expansion of merchant network, increased customer engagement and digital product innovation. Catalysts: We expect ZIP to deliver attractive TTV growth and NTM in the guidance range, with potential upside risk to earnings.”

The post Why Cedar Woods, Humm, Star, and Zip shares are storming higher today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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• Why 4DMedical, DroneShield, EOS, and Star shares are rising today

Motley Fool contributor James Mickleboro 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 Scott Phillips.

In afternoon trade, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is on course to record another decline. At the time of writing, the benchmark index is down 0.3% to 8,573.6 points.

Four ASX shares that are falling more than most today are listed below. Here’s why they are dropping:

DroneShield Ltd (ASX: DRO)

The DroneShield share price is down almost 12% to $2.48. This may have been driven by profit taking from some investors after a very strong gain on Tuesday. Investors were buying the counter drone technology company’s shares after it announced a new contract valued at $49.6 million for a European military end-customer. The contract is for handheld counter drone systems, associated accessories, and software updates. This isn’t its first contract from this customer. DroneShield revealed that it has received a total of 15 contracts from this reseller worth over $86.5 million.

Graincorp Ltd (ASX: GNC)

The Graincorp share price is down 13% to $7.30. This morning, this grain exporter announced the sale of its Canadian joint venture, GrainsConnect Canada, to Parrish & Heimbecker for C$150 million on a cash-free, debt-free basis. This will lead to GrainCorp recognising a loss on sale of approximately $5 million to $10 million. Managing director and CEO, Robert Spurway, commented: “Divestment of GrainsConnect allows GrainCorp to focus on alternative value-creating opportunities that are in the best interests of our shareholders.” The company also revealed that the 2025–26 east coast Australian winter harvest is now complete with receivals estimated to be 11 million to 12 million tonnes. This is down from 13.3 million tonnes in FY 2025.

Treasury Wine Estates Ltd (ASX: TWE)

The Treasury Wine share price is down 9% to $5.01. This morning, the struggling wine giant revealed that trading conditions have worsened and its performance is below expectations. The company’s new CEO, Sam Fischer, said: “We are currently experiencing category weakness in the US and China, two of our key growth markets, which will impact our business performance in the near-term. Maintaining the strength of our brands and the health of their respective sales channels is of critical importance to our Management team and our Board as we navigate through the current environment.”

Woodside Energy Group Ltd (ASX: WDS)

The Woodside share price is down 2% to $23.49. This energy giant’s shares are falling today after oil prices dropped to their lowest levels since 2021. This appears to have been driven by optimism that Russia and Ukraine will soon sign a peace deal, which could mean Russian supply returns to the market.

The post Why DroneShield, Graincorp, Treasury Wine, and Woodside shares are sinking today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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Motley Fool contributor James Mickleboro has positions in Treasury Wine Estates and Woodside Energy Group. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has positions in and has recommended DroneShield and Treasury Wine Estates. The Motley Fool Australia has positions in and has recommended Treasury Wine Estates. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

Credit Corp Group Ltd (ASX: CCP) has lobbed a takeover bid for Humm Group Ltd (ASX: HUM), valuing the company at near the high water mark for its shares over the past year.

Both companies made statements to the ASX on Wednesday admitting that early-stage talks were underway.

Humm Group said in its statement that on November 19, the company “received a confidential, conditional, non-binding indicative proposal from Credit Corp to acquire 100% of the shares in the company”.

Confidential talks underway on ASX takeover bid

Humm Group said it had been in discussions with Credit Corp since the proposal was launched.

The company said Credit Corp was offering 77 cents in cash per Humm Group share, but if that offer was unsuccessful, Credit Corp would then launch an off-market takeover at 72 cents per share, “conditional upon Credit Corp achieving acceptances for 50.1% of Humm Group’s shares”.

Humm Group added:

The Humm Group board, with the assistance of its financial and legal advisers, is carefully evaluating Credit Corp’s proposal. Directors are committed to acting in the best interests of all Humm Group shareholders and are open to supporting a proposal that they believe represents appropriate value for shareholders. The board is prepared to work constructively with Credit Corp to see if a proposal can be developed that it is prepared to recommend for consideration by the shareholders.

The Humm Group board said it had told Credit Corp it was willing to engage on the proposal and had offered to provide the opportunity for it to conduct due diligence, with discussions ongoing about a suitable non-disclosure agreement to cover those talks.

No formal bid at this stage

The board added that the proposal was at this stage “non-binding and incomplete”, and that “Credit Corp has expressly stated that the proposal does not constitute a proposal to make a takeover bid for the purposes of the Corporations Act”.

Humm Group shares shot 9.1% higher after the proposal was made public, trading at 72 cents. The company’s shares have traded as high as 78 cents over the past year and as low as 43 cents.

Credit Corp shares on Wednesday were 1.3% lower at $13.76.

Humm Group said in the same statement that it had received a section 203D notice seeking to remove three of the company’s directors from the board, although a resolution to call a meeting to move such a motion had not been filed.

Humm Group was valued at $330 million at the close of trade on Tuesday, while Credit Corp was valued at $948.9 million.

The post Fintech Humm Group is fielding a takeover offer at a 16% premium appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Why DroneShield, Graincorp, Treasury Wine, and Woodside shares are sinking today
• Why can’t I buy Boss Energy shares today?
• $5,000 invested in ANZ shares at the start of 2025 is now worth…
• Dexus declares interim dividend for December 2025 half-year
• Why Zip shares could rocket 60% over the next 12 months

Motley Fool contributor Cameron England 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 Scott Phillips.

Looking to buy this week’s big dip on Boss Energy Ltd (ASX: BOE) shares?

Then you’re going to have to be a bit patient.

Shares in the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) uranium miner closed yesterday trading for $1.565 apiece. That sees the share price down 11.6% this week.

While painful for shareholders, those losses will come as good news to the cadre of short sellers betting against the stock. Boss Energy shares kicked off the week as the most shorted stock on the ASX, with a short interest of 23.7%.

But regardless of whether you’re hoping to buy or sell Boss Energy stock today, you’ll find the shares are temporarily frozen.

Here’s why.

Boss Energy shares enter a trading halt

Boss Energy requested that trading in its shares be temporarily halted pending an announcement regarding the conclusion and outcomes of the miner’s Honeymoon uranium project review.

Management launched the operational review of Honeymoon, located in South Australia, in July.

Boss Energy said it expects to release an announcement revealing the conclusion and outcomes of the review tomorrow. Management will also host a conference call on the day.

Boss Energy stock should then recommence normal trading on Friday.

What’s been happening with the Honeymoon uranium project?

Following a strong run in the first half of the year, Boss Energy shares have come under heavy pressure amid growing investor concerns about the potentially shrinking uranium production outlook and rising costs at Honeymoon.

And with shares having now plunged 66.5% from the 30 June close, Boss Energy will be dropped from the ASX 200 in the S&P Dow Jones Indices quarterly rebalance, effective 22 December.

A lot of that pain arrived on 28 July.

The ASX uranium stock closed the day down a precipitous 44% following the release of its full-year FY 2026 guidance for Honeymoon.

Boss said it was targeting production of 1.6 million pounds of uranium production per year, well below its previous goal of 2.45 million pounds.

And management’s estimate of an all-in sustaining cost (AISC) of between $64 to $70 per pound clearly exceeded market expectations.

Cost pressures were reported to be “primarily due to an expected decline in average tenor and an optimised lixiviant chemistry”.

The last market update focused on the Honeymoon review was released on 11 September.

Managing director Duncan Craib said:

We have moved quickly to appoint leading experts in their fields with the aim of establishing an accurate and independent assessment of our resources and optimum production rates. The review is on track for completion in the December quarter of 2025.

With recent history as our guide, Boss Energy shares could be in for some outsized moves – higher or lower – on Friday, depending on the outcome of the review.

Stay tuned!

The post Why can’t I buy Boss Energy shares today? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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Motley Fool contributor Bernd Struben 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 Scott Phillips.

ANZ Group Holdings Ltd (ASX: ANZ) shares are 0.14% higher at the time of writing on Wednesday morning, at $36.16 a piece. Over the past six months, the shares have increased by 22.74% and are 22.98% higher year over year.

So if I bought $5,000 of ANZ shares in January, what would it be worth now?

ANZ isn’t the highest-performing bank this year (that title goes to the Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA)). But ANZ’s share price growth has been relatively steady and consistent. 

At the time of writing, ANZ shares are 26.6% higher than they were on the 2nd of January 2025. This means that $5,000 invested on the first day the ASX opened for the year would now be worth a total of $6,330.

What happened to ANZ shares this year?

ANZ shares have rallied over the past 4 months after the bank’s leadership unveiled a refreshed strategy aimed at improving performance, risk management, and long-term growth. The strategy overhaul received a positive reaction from the market, and investors jumped at the chance of snapping up the shares.

Later, in November, the banking giant announced an update on significant items. These are expected to impact the bank’s second-half profits. ANZ said its H2 FY25 statutory and cash profit will be impacted by several significant items with a net after tax charge of $1.1 billion. Its shares spiked around 6% during this time.

Shortly later, ANZ shares crashed nearly 12% amid overall banking sector weakness at a time when ANZ’s shares were trading ex-dividend.

What’s ahead for ANZ in 2026?

Analyst sentiment about the outlook for the banking giant is divided. TradingView data shows that 9 out of 16 analysts have a hold rating on the stock. Another 3 have a sell or strong sell rating, and the remaining 4 have a buy or strong buy rating.

The average target price is $34.67, which implies a potential 4.25% downside at the time of writing. Although analysts think the stock could be anywhere between $40.40 and $24.96 in the next 12 months. That’s a swing of 11.6% upside to a 31.7% downside at the time of writing.

Macquarie is concerned that ANZ is lagging behind the other big 4 banks, and while its shares are higher for the year to date, its analysts said the bank is showing early signs of revenue underperformance. Macquarie has a neutral rating on ANZ shares with a target price of $35, which implies a 3.2% downside at the time of writing.

The team at Morgans have a trim rating on ANZ shares with a 12-month price target of $33.09. This implies a potential 8.5% decline over the next year. The broker said its 2H FY25 earnings were below expectations.

The post $5,000 invested in ANZ shares at the start of 2025 is now worth… appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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Motley Fool contributor Samantha Menzies has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has positions in and has recommended Macquarie Group. The Motley Fool Australia has positions in and has recommended Macquarie Group. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

The Dexus (ASX: DXS) share price is in focus today after the real estate group announced an interim distribution of 19.3 cents per security for the six months ending 31 December 2025.

What did Dexus report?

• Interim distribution declared: 19.3 cents per security
• Distribution is unfranked
• Relates to six months ending 31 December 2025
• Record date: 31 December 2025
• Payment date: 27 February 2026

What else do investors need to know?

The distribution will be paid in Australian dollars and is 100% unfranked, with no conduit foreign income component. Investors can find the fund payment notice and tax information for this distribution on the Dexus website on or before the payment date.

Dexus has confirmed that there are no currency arrangements or dividend reinvestment plans attached to this distribution. Payment will be made to all security holders on record as of 31 December 2025.

What’s next for Dexus?

Dexus will announce the actual final amount of the ordinary distribution on 18 February 2026. The group will also provide additional breakdowns and tax information closer to the payment date, helping investors prepare for their year-end planning.

Dexus remains focused on providing regular distributions and delivering value to its security holders in the current property market environment.

Dexus share price snapshot

Over the past 12 months, Dexus shares have risen 4%, running slightly ahead of the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) which has risen 3% over the same period.

View Original Announcement

The post Dexus declares interim dividend for December 2025 half-year appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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Motley Fool contributor Laura Stewart 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 Scott Phillips. This article was prepared with the assistance of Large Language Model (LLM) tools for the initial summary of the company announcement. Any content assisted by AI is subject to our robust human-in-the-loop quality control framework, involving thorough review, substantial editing, and fact-checking by our experienced writers and editors holding appropriate credentials. The Motley Fool Australia stands behind the work of our editorial team and takes ultimate responsibility for the content published by The Motley Fool Australia.

Zip Co Ltd (ASX: ZIP) shares are having a good session on Wednesday.

At the time of writing, the buy now pay later (BNPL) provider’s shares are up over 2% to $3.01.

The good news for shareholders is that this could be the start of even greater gains according to analysts at Macquarie Group Ltd (ASX: MQG).

What is the broker saying?

Macquarie has been busy running the rule over Zip’s unit economics and was reasonably pleased with what it saw.

While it acknowledges that Zip’s rapid total transaction value (TTV) growth is driving higher loss rates, it feels there is some seasonality impacts. Importantly, Macquarie believes the company is still positioned to achieve its net transaction margin guidance. It explains:

Loan losses to TTV are being impacted by: 1) product mix, with introduction of Pay-in-8; and 2) new client growth. Growth in new clients has a direct impact on loan losses (and somewhat represents the ‘acquisition cost’ of new customers). New customers have a higher loss rate than mature customers. The instalment-based product at the core of the ZIP offering enables the group to quickly remove customers that don’t meet payments and, if the customer cures, re-instate credit availability.

US Segment Payback: FY25 US Segment Cash Gross Profit per customer covered the US Segment Net Loss per customer in ~116 days. The speed of ‘payback’ illustrates the positive trade-off between extending credit to grow customers despite the ‘acquisition cost’ increase in loss rate. […] We forecast the Net Transaction Margin to remain within guidance of 3.8%-4.2% in FY26, despite the rate of TTV growth elevating loss rates.

Zip shares tipped to rise strongly

According to the note, the broker has retained its outperform rating and $4.85 price target on Zip’s shares.

Based on its current share price, this implies potential upside of just over 60% for investors between now and this time next year.

This means that if Macquarie was on the money with its recommendation, a $10,000 investment would turn into approximately $16,000 in 12 months.

Commenting on its buy recommendation, the broker said:

Outperform. We forecast Zip to continue to deliver rapid growth supported by increased product adoption, expansion of merchant network, increased customer engagement and digital product innovation.

Catalysts: We expect ZIP to deliver attractive TTV growth and NTM in the guidance range, with potential upside risk to earnings.

Macquarie has also highlighted a few risks for investors to be aware of before snapping up shares. It adds:

Competition and new entrants in the US market, loss of key merchants, customer bad debt, additional capital, loss of KMP, technology, security, fraud, regulatory changes and reputational risks.

The post Why Zip shares could rocket 60% over the next 12 months appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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Wesfarmers Ltd (ASX: WES) shares are one of the most appealing ASX blue-chip ideas Aussies can buy, in my opinion. The owner of Bunnings and Kmart has clearly done well, but the more important question is what happens next.

It could be useful to consider the company’s plans, what might happen with its profit margins and the bottom line.

Wesfarmers has successfully utilised its scale and other competitive advantages to grow. Kmart and Bunnings market themselves on the value of their products – these are the two key earnings generators of the business.

Let’s look at how things could develop for Wesfarmers in the coming years.

Further business growth

Over the years, Wesfarmers has largely proven shrewd in allocating its money to businesses that can strengthen its financials and exiting companies it doesn’t think are compelling to own any more.

Its Anko products are widely sold in Kmart stores across Australia. I’m excited by the move to sell these products overseas. Anko is now selling certain products to North America and it’s opening stores in the Philippines. Anko currently has five stores in the Asian market and I’m optimistic the business will open a number of more stores in the next three years.

A mining project is another focus for the business, its WesCEF (chemicals, energy and fertilisers) division owns a 50% share of the Covalent lithium project. The company recently completed the construction of the Kwinana lithium hydroxide refinery, with first production in July 2025.

WesCEF’s share of spodumene concentrate production for FY25 was 145kt, with production continuing to ramp up over the following 18months. I believe the company will have reached its full potential within three years.

Profit

Analysts are expecting Wesfarmers to become increasingly profitable as time goes on, which would be music to investors’ ears.

In FY26, the current financial year, UBS is expecting the business to deliver revenue growth to $47.7 billion, an operating profit (EBIT) margin of 9.2%, net profit of $2.8 billion and a return on invested capital (ROIC) of 24.1%.

In FY28, Wesfarmers is predicted by UBS to achieve $53.6 billion of revenue, an EBIT margin of 10%, net profit of $3.46 billion and a ROIC of 29.2%.

If the company is able to continue growing its earnings, then ultimately this is likely to lead to a higher valuation.

Wesfarmers share price valuation

A share price doesn’t usually change in exact sync with profit growth. Changes in future profit expectations, interest rates and broader changes in market confidence can also have big impacts on how a business is valued.

Currently, the Wesfarmers share price is valued at 33x next year’s (FY26) earnings. I wouldn’t expect Wesfarmers to hold onto a price/earnings (P/E) ratio that high forever.

If, in three years, it traded at (for example) 30x FY28’s estimated earnings, it’d have a share price of $91.50. That’d be a rise of 14% (plus the dividends) over three years from today. That’s a fairly rudimentary way of calculating possible returns, though.

Wesfarmers is a wonderful business and I’d be happy to own it for the long-term with its plans, though I’m not expecting massive growth due to its already-large size.

The post Where will Wesfarmers shares be in 3 years? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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Motley Fool contributor Tristan Harrison has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has positions in and has recommended Wesfarmers. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Wesfarmers. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

For Aussies in retirement, investment in a good-quality ASX stock is key for growing your wealth. But finding a retirement stock that will hand out cash on a regular basis is even better.

It’s easy to find a great dividend-paying ASX stock, but most of those only pay their investors every 6 or 12 months. Retirees want one that pays money every single month.

I’ve previously written about the fantastic benefits of BetaShares Dividend Harvester Active ETF (ASX: HVST) and the Metrics Master Income Trust (ASX: MXT). Both are dividend stocks that pay cash every single month. 

But there’s another great monthly-paying retirement stock which I think all Aussies should have in their portfolio.

Plato Income Maximiser Ltd (ASX: PL8) 

Plato is a listed investment company (LIC) on the ASX that is focused on delivering high, reliable monthly income with franking credits from an actively managed, diversified portfolio of Australian shares. It is the first Australian listed investment company targeting to pay monthly dividends.

Its investment strategy targets income-focused investors, specifically SMSF and pension-phase investors who want a reliable and consistent income stream. Its objective is to outperform (after fees) the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) in total return terms, including franking credits, over the investment cycle, which is typically 3 to 5 years.

The ASX dividend stock holds a portfolio of mature ASX-listed equities, cash, and listed futures. Its portfolio is mostly comprised of Australian companies with strong dividend payouts, including major banks, mining giants, and energy companies.

As of 31 October this year, its portfolio included holdings in major stocks such as BHP Group Ltd (ASX: BHP), CSL (ASX: CSL), Coles Group Ltd (ASX: COL), and Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA). 

At the time of writing, Plato’s top yielding stock, with a portfolio weight greater than 0.5% and an annual yield of 10.4%, is Beach Energy Ltd (ASX: BPT).

What does the retirement stock pay its investors each month?

Plato has consistently paid fully franked dividends of 0.55 cents per share every month since April 2022. The stock’s dividend payment history dates back to October, when it paid out a slightly lower 0.45 cents per share.

That equates to an annual running total of 6.6 cents per share in full franked passive income.

At the current price of $1.44 per share (at the time of writing), that gives a trailing dividend yield of 4.58%.

Plato plans to keep its dividend yield steady too

In October, Plato told its investors that although franked dividend yields on Australian shares continue to modestly decline, it was able to increase the dividends it collected during the September quarter in order to hold the dividend steady at 0.55 cents for the remainder of the year.

In an ASX note, the company explained that markets have continued their rally to all-time highs, spurred by interest rate cuts earlier in the year. But the outlook for the cash rate is uncertain.

“Dividends declared during the August reporting season fell 2.2%, driven by cuts from mining and energy companies in contrast to dividend increases from the financial and industrial sectors. This has led to a further fall in the historical yield of the Australian market. Despite the uncertainty in the global economy, we expect to continue to receive solid dividends from a diversified portfolio of Australian companies in FY26,” the listed investment company said in its ASX note. 

“One of the benefits of a closed-end listed investment company focused on income, such as PL8, is the ability to manage capital amidst uncertainty so as to provide regular dividend distributions over time. In the ongoing environment of economic uncertainty, liquidity and diversification are very important. By design, PL8’s underlying portfolio is well diversified and very liquid. PL8’s investment portfolio is well positioned to capture dividends from Australian companies.”

The post 1 perfect retirement stock with a 4.58% payout each month appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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Motley Fool contributor Samantha Menzies has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has positions in and has recommended CSL. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended BHP Group and CSL. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

Star Entertainment Group Ltd (ASX: SGR) shares are taking off on Wednesday.

In morning trade, the casino and resorts operator’s shares are up 12% to 11.75 cents.

Why are Star shares rocketing?

Investors have been bidding the company’s shares higher following the release of its second announcement in as many days.

On Tuesday, the company revealed that its group CEO and managing director, Steve McCann, was leaving with immediate effect.

Commenting on the news, Star Entertainment’s chair, Bruce Mathieson Jnr, said:

On behalf of the Board I want to thank Steve for his strong leadership and hard work during one of the most complex and challenging periods for The Star. Steve joined at a time of crisis for The Star and has helped to deliver a critical financial reset for the business and successfully progressed our Remediation Plan, which have laid the foundations for The Star’s long-term future success. We wish him well in his next endeavours.

Speaking about his exit, Mr McCann said:

The strategic investment by Bally’s Corporation and Investment Holdings Pty Ltd provides an opportunity for The Star to move in a new direction and pursue a pathway to recovery and future growth. Now is the right time for new leadership to be put in place with the experience and passion to build on that momentum and take The Star forward.

In response, it was revealed that Bruce Mathieson Jnr will take on additional duties as executive chair while a search for a permanent CEO is conducted.

However, that change lasted less than a day.

Chair steps down

Today’s announcement reveals that Bruce Mathieson Jnr stepped down as chairman and was appointed as its CEO at a board meeting yesterday. This is subject to agreement of final documentation.

Mathieson Jnr will remain on the board as an executive director.

Replacing him as the company’s chair will be Soo Kim, after he was appointed to the role at the board meeting.

The company also revealed that Peter Hodgson and Toni Thornton have resigned as non-executive directors, effective 16 December. This means that the board will now comprise just Soo Kim, Bruce Mathieson Jnr, and George Papanier.

Star’s new chair, Soo Kim, commented:

We are fortunate to have Bruce lead our company as CEO. George and I understand what an honour and responsibility it is to join and contribute to the Board. We are confident our best days are ahead.

The post Why are Star shares rocketing 12% today? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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Motley Fool contributor James Mickleboro 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 Scott Phillips.