In early afternoon trade, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is out of form and trading lower. At the time of writing, the benchmark index is down 0.3% to 7,363.5 points.

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

Bigtincan Holdings Ltd (ASX: BTH)

The Bigtincan share price has jumped 11% to $1.13. This morning the sales enablement platform provider announced a small acquisition and revealed that it is on track to surpass its annualised recurring revenue guidance in FY 2021. In respect to the former, Bigtincan is acquiring Vidinoti SA for ~$770,000. Vidinoti is a leader in augmented and virtual reality systems and has developed a comprehensive suite of tools to create, deploy, and manage augmented reality content.

Opthea Ltd (ASX: OPT)

The Opthea share price has surged 17% higher to $1.65. Investors have been buying this biotech company’s shares following an update from rival Clearside Biomedical. That update reveals that Clearside Biomedical’s Phase 1/2a trial of its wet age-related macular degeneration (wet AMD) candidate has been successful. This news appears to have brought Opthea onto the radar of investors because both companies are developing drugs that target wet AMD. However, Opthea is well ahead and undertaking a phase 3 trial at present.

Seven West Media Ltd (ASX: SWM)

The Seven West Media share price has rocketed 17% higher to 47.5 cents. This morning the media company revealed that trading conditions have been very strong during the fourth quarter of FY 2021. According to the release, management expects fourth quarter advertising revenue to increase by 45% over the prior corresponding period. Seven West Media also revealed that full year operating earnings are expected to come in ahead of analyst consensus estimates.

Telix Pharmaceuticals Ltd (ASX: TLX)

The Telix share price is up 3.5% to $5.82. This follows an update on its meeting with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in relation to its new drug application review for its Illuccix product. Positively, the FDA indicated that there are no outstanding substantive review issues with Telix’s submission. As a result, management is preparing for a launch, pending final approval.

The post Why Bigtincan, Opthea, Seven West Media, & Telix shares are charging higher appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Seven West (ASX:SWM) share price zooms 11% on trading update
• Why the Opthea (ASX:OPT) share price is rocketing 12% higher
• Telix (ASX:TLX) share price lower despite key FDA update
• Bigtincan (ASX:BTH) share price jumps 7% on acquisition and guidance update
• 3 unloved ASX shares set to take off: analysts

James Mickleboro owns shares of Telix. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of and has recommended BIGTINCAN FPO. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of and has recommended BIGTINCAN FPO. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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Buy now, pay later (BNPL) player Zip Co Ltd (ASX: Z1P) has been on a wild rollercoaster ride this year.

Zip shares started 2021 in the mid $5s, then peaked as high as $13.92 in February. Since then the valuation has suffered like many of its growth cohorts. At the time of writing, the Zip share price is down 1.24%, trading at $7.16.

So is it an investment opportunity now? Is it effectively buying in at half-price?

Shaw and Partners analyst Jono Higgins reckons so.

“We’ve got a 12-month price target of $16 per share on the stock. So we think a potential catalyst on that would be good quarterlies, merchant announcements and the like,” he told the Direct From The Desk podcast.

“Particularly large and strategic merchant announcements, as well as just continued growth. The benefit of a business growing like this is that over time, as long as the growth dominates, the share price should look after itself.”

BNPL sector growth is ‘extraordinary’

While stiff competition is a risk for all buy now, pay later providers, the industry is still in a high-growth phase, according to Higgins.

“We think Zip will outperform on the back of a number of different dynamics, but the whole sector is performing very strongly and we’re seeing some exceptional growth rates,” he said.

“We’re seeing Zip adding 8,000 customers a day. We’re seeing Afterpay Ltd (ASX: APT) adding 15,000 customers a day. We’re seeing Klarna adding 20,000 customers a day. Sezzle Inc (ASX: SZL) adding 5,000. These growth rates are extraordinary and they seem to be increasing.”

Higgins reckons if a company can keep increasing its growth rate then the valuation will catch up very easily.

“Zip’s on something like 6 times forward sales into FY22. If they grow their sales at 100% the next year, then they’ll be on 3 times forward sales,” he said.

“If the market’s prepared [next year] to still pay 6 times forward sales, then the share price will effectively double over the next 12 months and that’s with no rewriting. That’s what’s attracting us to the sector.”

Excellent leadership

Higgins is a big fan of the people running Zip.

“I recall meeting management when they were doing a few hundred thousand dollars in sales and struggling to get finance out of venture capital firms in the US — and getting charged 15% to do it,” he said.

“I’m [now] looking at a management team that’s been dynamic and grown up to a $450, $500 million annualised sales run rate. [And they’ve] made an overseas acquisition, which has been incredibly successful and is now one of two major payment players that are worth in the billion dollars.”

The acquisition he refers to is the buyout of the American rival Quadpay.

“They still have Brad Lindenberg and Adam Ezra involved there who were the founders of [Quadpay],” Higgins said.

“They’ve got really strong management in the UK. They’ve been picking up people from PayPal Holdings Inc (NASDAQ: PYPL), Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ: AMZN), Shopify Inc (NYSE: SHOP). I think they have really built the second tier of management to take this business to the wider stage.”

Watch out for buyouts and mergers

With so many different players in the industry, Higgins expects consolidation in the future.

“In the short term, I think you do want to be careful of the smaller players. Our view is to be careful with the smaller players because the larger players effectively have the capital to really go after them, and they can raise capital at very short notice and they can fight them in the checkout,” he said.

“So we think just keep to number one and two on the ASX. That’s Zip and Afterpay.”

The post Are Zip (ASX:Z1P) shares cheap enough to buy now? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Did the US Federal Reserve just ring the inflation warning bell?
• 3 quality ASX tech shares rated highly by analysts
• ASX investors couldn’t get enough of meme stocks last week
• NAB and Zip were among the most traded ASX shares last week
• ASX 200 up 0.35%: SEEK upgraded, Afterpay lower

Tony Yoo holds shares in AFTERPAY T FPO, Amazon, and PayPal Holdings. John Mackey, CEO of Whole Foods Market, an Amazon subsidiary, is a member of The Motley Fool’s board of directors. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of and has recommended AFTERPAY T FPO, Amazon, PayPal Holdings, Shopify, and ZIPCOLTD FPO. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has recommended Sezzle Inc and has recommended the following options: long January 2022 $1,920 calls on Amazon, long January 2022 $75 calls on PayPal Holdings, long January 2023 $1,140 calls on Shopify, short January 2022 $1,940 calls on Amazon, and short January 2023 $1,160 calls on Shopify. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of and has recommended AFTERPAY T FPO. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Amazon, PayPal Holdings, and Sezzle Inc. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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In 2021 so far, much of the discussion around the share market and investing in ASX shares have centred around inflation. Specifically, whether this economic scourge will rear its ugly head in the next year or two. February saw an intense reaction to this possibility, with many sectors that investors seemed to deem as highly exposed to future inflation, selling off sharply.

No sector was harder hit than ASX tech shares. Following a similar reaction over in the US, the S&P/ASX All Technology Index (ASX: XTX) fell a nasty 18% between 10 February and 9 March earlier this year. We can see this in action by looking at the Afterpay Ltd (ASX: APT) share price. Afterpay can be described as a ‘poster child’ of sorts when it comes to ASX tech shares. And boy, did it have a rough ride a few months ago. Between February and May, Afterpay shares fell almost 50% in value.

Inflation returns?

One of the factors that seem to be in play here was inflation fears. Financial markets typically respond to higher inflation expectations with an increase in the running yield government bonds are priced with.

In early 2021, a 10-Year US Treasury Note was priced with a yield of roughly 1%. By April, this had grown substantially to around 1.75% before sliding back over subsequent weeks to the ~1.45% we saw yesterday. But today, this yield has shot up again, back to 1.59% at the time of writing.

So what happened? The US Federal Reserve, that’s what.

According to a report in the Australian Financial Review (AFR) today, last night the Fed seemed to reign in its previous rhetoric surrounding inflation and its medium-term expectations on it. Previously, (as we’ve covered over the past few months), the Fed had strongly signalled that it expected that rates would not have to rise until 2023 or 2024, contingent on inflation running at 2% and the economy hitting something close to full employment.

But last night, the Fed seemed to change its tune somewhat. The AFR quotes US Fed chair Jerome Powell as stating the following:

Inflation has come in ahead of expectations in the last few months… Is there a risk that inflation could be higher than we think? Yes. There is a lot of uncertainty. We need to see how things evolve in coming months. This is an extraordinarily unusual time.

How have ASX shares reacted today?

This rather extraordinary statement came alongside some revised inflation expectations from the Fed. 3 months ago, the central bank was predicting US inflation of 2.4% for 2021. As of last night, the Fed now expects that number to hit 3.4%. That’s a pretty big revision over a 3 month period. The Fed has also revised its interest rate expectations, flagging the possibility of up to 2 rate hikes by 2023.

As you might expect, there has been a pretty substantial reaction to this update from financial markets. We’ve already covered the spike in US government bond yields. But we’ve also seen the US S&P 500 Index (INDEXSP: .INX) drop sharply last night in the news. It recovered slightly at the end of the day’s trading but still finished 0.54% lower.

The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is also dipping today and is down 0.47% to 7,351 points at the time of writing. The Aussie dollar has also been sold off. It was going for more than 77 US cents yesterday. Today, it has dropped to 76.24 US cents.

Markets tend to fear inflation mainly because of the higher interest rates that come with it. It might well have the potential to spoil the party the ASX 200 has been enjoying over June so far.

The post Did the US Federal Reserve just ring the inflation warning bell? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• ASX 200 down 0.3%: Coles and Challenger updates, gold miners sink
• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Thursday
• ASX 200 rises again, Avita jumps, Shaver Shop sinks
• 3 quality ASX tech shares rated highly by analysts
• Here are 3 of the ASX 200’s most traded shares today

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. owns shares of and has recommended AFTERPAY T FPO. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of and has recommended AFTERPAY T FPO. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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At lunch on Thursday, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) has run out of steam and is trading lower. The benchmark index is currently down 0.3% to 7,363.7 points.

Here’s what is happening on the market today:

Coles Strategy Day

The Coles Group Ltd (ASX: COL) share price is under pressure today following the release of its strategy day update. Although the supermarket giant revealed solid progress against a number of key metrics, it has been losing market share due to COVID-19 shopping trends. In addition to this, Coles revealed that it expects its capital expenditure to increase to $1.4 billion in FY 2022. This is partly due to its investment in its distribution centres.

Challenger tumbles

The Challenger Ltd (ASX: CGF) share price is sinking today after releasing its investor day presentation. At the event, CEO and Managing Director, Richard Howes, reaffirmed that the annuities company is expecting normalised net profit before tax at the bottom end of its guidance range of between $390 million and $440 million this year. In FY 2022, its normalised net profit before tax is expected to grow to between $430 million and $480 million.

Gold miners sink

Gold miners such as Evolution Mining Ltd (ASX: EVN) and Resolute Mining Limited (ASX: RSG) are sinking lower after the gold price tumbled overnight. According to CNBC, the spot gold price fell 1.4% to US$1,830.60 an ounce after the US Federal Reserve brought forward its rate hike plans to 2023. The S&P/ASX All Ordinaries Gold index is down 3.5% at lunch.

Best and worst ASX 200 performers

The best performer on the ASX 200 on Thursday has been the Netwealth Group Ltd (ASX: NWL) share price with a 6% gain on no news. The worst performer has been the Whitehaven Coal Ltd (ASX: WHC) share price with an 11% decline following a disappointing downgrade to its guidance.

The post ASX 200 down 0.3%: Coles and Challenger updates, gold miners sink appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Whitehaven (ASX:WHC) share price slides 10% on guidance downgrade
• Coles (ASX:COL) share price on watch following strategy update
• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Thursday
• ASX 200 rises again, Avita jumps, Shaver Shop sinks
• Here are 3 of the ASX 200’s most traded shares today

James Mickleboro does not own any shares mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of and has recommended Netwealth. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of and has recommended COLESGROUP DEF SET, Challenger Limited, and Netwealth. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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The Sonic Healthcare Limited (ASX: SHL) share price has failed to fire up this morning after the company announced a new acquisition.

At the time of writing, the medical diagnostics company’s shares are see-sawing around yesterday closing price, down 0.02% to $36.68.

Let’s take a closer look at today’s news.

Sonic Healthcare to strengthen its imaging division

In its release, Sonic Healthcare advised it has signed a binding agreement to acquire 100% of Canberra Imaging Group (CIG).

The company described this move as a “significant and positive step” in developing its imaging division in Australia.

CIG is a leading practice in Canberra, with additional branches located in regional New South Wales. The practice employs 15 radiologists and along with ~200 other staff.

CIG generates annual revenues of ~A$60 million, which is expected to increase the revenue of Sonic Healthcare’s imaging division by about 10%.

Today’s statement did not specify the cost of the acquisition, but noted the settlement was expected to be complete in the first quarter of FY22. The acquisition will be funded from cash and/or available debt lines.

Sonic Healthcare said CIG would be immediately earnings per share accretive, with the return on capital invested expected to exceed the cost of capital in the first year.

What did management say?

Sonic Healthcare CEO Dr Colin Goldschmidt said:

Canberra Imaging Group is a high quality imaging practice, with outstanding radiologists, management and staff, and with a culture that is strongly aligned with Sonic’s Medical Leadership model.

CIG has a proven track record in the greater Canberra market, with a history of strong organic growth based on personalised and excellent customer service. I am delighted to welcome warmly all CIG staff to the Sonic Healthcare group.

Sonic Healthcare share price eyes record all-time highs

The Sonic Healthcare share price has had a solid performance so far this year. The company’s shares are up 11.32% to $36.60, not far off their August 2020 record all-time high of $38.00.

The bullish performance of Sonic Healthcare shares is underpinned by a solid financial performance. The company’s February half-year results revealed a 33% increase in revenue to $4.4 billion and 168% surge in net profit to $678 million.

The company said that its COVID-19 testing activities had made a significant contribution to its revenue and earnings growth.

The post What’s with the Sonic Healthcare (ASX:SHL) share price today? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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Kerry Sun 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 recommended Sonic Healthcare Limited. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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Whitehaven Coal Ltd (ASX: WHC) shares are tumbling this morning after the company downgraded its production guidance. At the time of writing, the Whitehaven share price is trading at $1.84 ­– 9.8% lower than yesterday’s close.

Today’s downgrade marks the fourth time Whitehaven has lowered its 2021 financial year production guidance.

Let’s look at the coal mining company’s latest announcement.

Downgraded production guidance

Whitehaven shares are well in the red today after the company downgraded its production guidance for the 2021 financial year to 20.4 million tonnes of coal.

Within its full-year results, released in August 2020, Whitehaven gave production guidance of between 21 and 22.8 million tonnes for the 2021 financial year.

Its guidance was first downgraded in January, then again in March, and once more in April.

According to Whitehaven, the latest downgrade has been led by less production at the company’s Narrabri underground mine.

Whitehaven states the Narrabri mine is undergoing engineering works and has experienced a geological event. The company is conducting geo-sensing drilling at the mine to provide confidence in the geological conditions.

Originally, Whitehaven claimed the Narrabri mine would produce between 6 and 6.7 million tonnes of coal this financial year. The company now expects the mine to produce 4.1 million tonnes in FY21.

In its full-year results, the company claimed it expected managed coal sales of between 18.5 and 20 million tonnes.

Today, Whitehaven announced its managed coal sales will likely be around 17.9 million tonnes.

However, Whitehaven’s Maules Creek and Gunnedah Open Cut mines are still as productive as previously expected.

The Maules Creek mine is now expected to produce 12.5 million tonnes of coal this financial year – 0.5 million tonnes more than its original guidance.

The Gunnedah Open Cut mine’s production is within the range of the previous guidance. Whitehaven expects it to produce 3.8 million tonnes of coal for FY21.

The company’s unit cost guidance has also continued as predicted – $74 per tonne.

Whitehaven share price snapshot

Whitehaven shares have had a good run on the ASX lately, spurred by the gaining price of coal.

Currently, the Whitehaven share price has gained around 12% year to date. It has also gained almost 13% since this time last year.

The company has a market capitalisation of around $1.9 billion, with approximately 1 billion shares outstanding.

The post Whitehaven (ASX:WHC) share price slides 10% on guidance downgrade appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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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.

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Seven West Media Ltd (ASX: SWM) shares are surging higher in morning trade. At the time of writing, the Seven West share price is up 10.63% to an intraday high of 44.25 cents.

The movement comes after the company announced a trading update for the backend of the current financial year.

Let’s take a look at how the media company has been performing.

What did Seven West Media announce?

Judging by today’s Seven West share price, investors are excited over the company’s latest statement to the ASX.

According to its release, Seven West Media reported favourable trading conditions during the fourth quarter of 2021.

Advertising revenue has rebounded strongly when compared to last year, projected to increase by 45% in the quarter. This includes Broadcast Video on Demand (BVOD), which is engaging with millions of viewers in Australia.

Since April, the company has been increasing its television audience share which has translated to a lift in revenue.

Management noted “the Seven Sales team delivered the number 1 linear TV revenue share. Seven West Media is highly confident in Seven’s schedule for the next six months, with proven and successful formats and Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 and the Ashes Test series.”

Digital earnings are performing strongly, with the company forecasting its digital segment to contribute more than $60 million to earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA). This represents a 130% year-on-year increase. FY22 is projected to double FY21’s digital earnings figures.

Pleasingly, Seven West Media has kept costs in line at the lower end of the range announced in its February half-year results.

Overall, the group expects EBITDA to be between $250 million and $255 million in FY21. This compares to analyst consensus of $235 million to $245 million for the period.

Seven West Media stated that significant work has been undertaken to strengthen up its balance sheet. Net debt is estimated to stand at around $240 million to $250 million at the end of June 2021.

The company anticipates the positive momentum to continue running into the September quarter.

Seven West Media share price summary

Despite being hit hard by COVID-19 in 2020, Seven West Media shares have been on the rebound. Over the last 12 months, the company’s share price has lifted by more than 270%, reaching 2019 levels.

Seven West Media presides a market capitalisation of roughly $669 million, with approximately 1.5 billion shares on issue.

The post Seven West (ASX:SWM) share price zooms 7% on trading update appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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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.

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The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) briefly traded above 7,400 for the first time on record on Wednesday.

Alongside the bullish performance of the broader market, these ASX 200 shares have also managed to push into record territory.

Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA)

First off the block is ASX 200 heavyweight, Commonwealth Bank of Australia.

The CBA share price has added another 0.89% to $105.75 this morning, another all-time record high for the largest ASX-listed stock. This brings the company’s shares to a year-to-date performance of an astonishing 26%.

It was just two weeks ago that its shares crossed the $100 mark for the first time on record.

Some factors that appear to support the bullish CBA share price include positive key lending data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), soaring housing prices and continued momentum in the bank’s earnings, evidenced by its third-quarter results.

Wesfarmers Ltd (ASX: WES)

Similarly, Wesfarmers peaked at an all-time record high this week, closing at $57.13 on Wednesday. It’s up about 11% this year.

Wesfarmers has been relatively quiet in terms of price-sensitive news this year, with notable announcements including a strategy briefing presentation in June and half-year results in February.

The company’s half-year results delivered strong sales and earnings growth across its retail businesses, alongside an improvement in performance for its industrial and safety segments. The group experienced a 16.6% increase in revenue to $17,774 million while net profit also lifted 14.9% to $1,390 million.

Domino’s Pizza Enterprises Ltd (ASX: DMP)

Domino’s Pizza shares hit a record all-time high on Tuesday of $118.08 with year-to-date performance up about 33.5%. After a relatively flat day on Wednesday, Domino’s share price is trading 0.82% lower at the time of writing at $116.73.

The company recently spent $79 million to acquire stores and franchise rights held by Domino’s Taiwan.

The acquisition will expand the company’s geographic footprint and add a sophisticated network of 138 franchised stores and 19 corporate stores.

Domino’s February half-year results highlight the company’s growth aspirations, with a medium term goal of 3–6% same store sales growth and 7–9% new organic store additions on a year-on-year basis.

From a more long-term perspective, the company aims to double its existing store network from the reported 2,795 in 1H21 to 5,550 stores by FY25-33.

REA Group Ltd (ASX: REA)

The REA share price closed at a record all-time high of $169.95 on Wednesday, lifting about 10% so far this year. Shares have slipped 1.5% today, trading at $167.5 at the time of writing.

The company has committed to accelerating its financial services offering, with a proposed takeover of Mortgage Choice in March and recent investment in mortgage software solutions business, Simpology.

The leading digital real estate advertising business reported strong signs of recovery for residential listings in its third quarter results. Alongside an improvement in listings, the company reported a record number of visitors, with a record 13.2 million website visitors and 63.4 million app launches in March.

The post 4 ASX 200 shares making all-time record highs appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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• ASX investors couldn’t get enough of meme stocks last week
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• ASX 200 rises, Nuix jumps, REA buys stake of Simpology

Kerry Sun 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 owns shares of and has recommended Wesfarmers Limited. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Dominos Pizza Enterprises Limited and REA Group Limited. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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The Creso Pharma Ltd (ASX: CPH) share price is sinking on Thursday after announcing merger plans.

In morning trade, the cannabis and psychedelics company’s shares are down 5.5% to 17 cents.

Why is the Creso Pharma share price sinking?

Investors have been selling the company’s shares after it announced an agreement with Ontario-based Red Light Holland to combine businesses and create The HighBrid Lab.

Management notes that this will create a leading global psychedelics and cannabinoid company with an implied pro forma equity value of A$371 million (C$347 million). This is based on the closing price of the shares of Creso Pharma and Red Light Holland on 15 June 2021.

According to the release, the agreement will see Red Light Holland acquire all the issued listed shares and options of Creso Pharma. Under the terms of the agreement, shareholders will receive 0.395 of a Red Light Holland share for each fully paid ordinary share of Creso Pharma.

Why merge?

The HighBrid Lab’s proposed non-executive Chairman, Bruce Linton, commented: “Having worked with both the Creso Pharma and Red Light Holland teams closely in the past, I am really excited by the potential this combination brings. As a merged company, The HighBrid Lab has access to four of the highest growth industry segments around, and the team, board and advisory group to make real progress within these verticals. I’m really looking forward to rolling up my sleeves and helping The HighBrid Lab get to work!”

This sentiment was echoed by Red Light Holland’s CEO and Director, Todd Shapiro.

He said: “Red Light Holland has significant capital and expertise, and is motivated for growth. The company understands the sensitive complexities of the ingredients we deal with, while ensuring we continue to make a bold yet careful push to provide and increase access for immediate revenue generation and brand expansion. Our core principle is to compliantly lead with edgy consumer packaged goods focused on positive outcomes, while balancing a responsible, regulated and educational use approach through technology and innovation.”

“Merging with Creso Pharma, who also has significant cash on hand, and formulating The HighBrid Lab, with Bruce Linton as Chair of the Board, means we can expand our premium product offerings globally in the high growth CBD, THC and psychedelic sectors. Together we are bullish on developing world class products with naturally occurring ingredients in clever and innovative ways for both humans and pets, which completely aligns with Creso Pharma’s R&D and sales approach,” he added.

Mr Shapiro will lead the merged company as CEO and a director.

What now?

Shareholders will be given the chance to vote on the proposal in the near future. The release explains that the transaction will require the approval of 75% of the votes cast by Creso Pharma shareholders, as well as court approval.

Though, judging by the Creso Pharma share price performance today, that may be far from guaranteed. It appears as though some investors are unsure by the company’s plans.

The post Creso Pharma (ASX:CPH) share price sinks on Red Light Holland merger plans appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

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James Mickleboro does not own Creso Pharma 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 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.

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Ramelius Resources Ltd (ASX: RMS) shares are on the slide this morning despite the company commencing gold mining at its Tampia mine.

At the time of writing, the Ramelius share price is trading 5.85% lower at $1.69.

First ore mined at Tampia

Ramelius shares are sinking in morning trade despite the company advising it has commenced ore mining at its Tampia gold mine following open-pit mining in late April 2021.

Mining will initially take place from the project’s North Pit and shortly move to the higher grade Mace and South Pit areas.

Ramelius says that the project has commenced on schedule and it is on track to despatch the first road train of high-grade ore to its Edna May processing facility in early June 2021.

To add some perspective for what Tampia brings to the table, management previously advised that the project “represents approximately 60,000 ounces in our FY2022 production profile”.

This compares to the company’s FY21 production guidance of 260,000 to 280,000 oz at an all-in sustaining cost of A$1,230 to A$1,330.

What did management say?

Ramelius managing director Mark Zeptner said:

Gold from Tampia will represent a significant proportion of our FY2022 production target and will be our first new mine in the Western Australian wheat belt where we believe we will deliver significant returns for all stakeholders.

What’s driving the Ramelius share price lower?

Despite the seemingly positive news, the Ramelius share price is currently down by almost 6%. The company’s shares could be reacting to the slump in gold prices overnight.

Last night, gold prices dropped sharply by about 2.5% from US$1,858 per ounce to lows of US$1,803 per ounce.

The Ramelius share price isn’t the only ASX gold mining stock under pressure today, with peers including Newcrest Mining Ltd (ASX: NCM), Evolution Mining Ltd (ASX: EVN) and Northern Star Resources Ltd (ASX: NST) sliding between 2.04% and 5.29%.

The post Ramelius (ASX:RMS) share price slides 6% despite project milestone appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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Kerry Sun 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.

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