The Cimic Group Ltd (ASX: CIM) share price is up this morning after the company announced it had signed a new performance bond facility.

Shares in the ASX 200 construction, mining, and services company opened higher this morning and are currently trading up 1.32% at $18.00.

Let’s take a closer look at the news driving the CIMIC share price.

The importance of the bond facility

In today’s release, Cimic advised that its new $1.4 billion bond facility was a 3-year syndicated performance bond.

A performance bond is issued to one party in a contract as security against another party’s ability to perform. It offers an alternative to upfront guarantees for contract security and performance pledges. As it doesn’t always tie assets or cash as collateral, it can be a useful, flexible financing tool.  

As a large corporation operating in the mining and construction fields, CIMIC is a prime candidate for such bond facilities. The company is an engineering-led construction, mining, services and public-private partnerships corporation, which works across the lifecycle of assets, infrastructure and resources projects.

Commentary from management

CIMIC Group CEO Juan Santamaria said:

The facility reflects CIMIC’s strong financial position and supports our ability to meet the significant number of projects coming through the pipeline.

Access to bonding is an advantage for the group, ensuring we can provide our clients the required surety for our contractual obligations.

Cimic share price snapshot

The CIMIC share price has had a poor start to 2021, down 27.51% year to date. It has also fallen by 25.23% over the last 12 months.

The company has a market capitalisation of around $5.3 billion, with approximately 311 million shares outstanding. 

More reading

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• Why is the Woolworths (ASX:WOW) share price up 5% in a week?

Motley Fool contributor Brooke Cooper 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 Paradigm Biopharmaceuticals Ltd (ASX: PAR) share price is charging higher on Friday.

In early afternoon trade the biopharmaceutical company’s shares are up a sizeable 6% to $2.55.

Why is the Paradigm share price charging higher today?

Investors have been fighting to get hold of Paradigm’s shares on Friday after the release of an announcement this morning.

According to the release, Paradigm has submitted its Investigational New Drug (IND) application to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). This is for the planned pivotal study and extension study with PPS (Zilosul) for the treatment of patients with Knee Osteoarthritis (OA). The company believes the submission of its IND application marks a significant milestone.

Management revealed that in preparation for the IND submission and commencement of the pivotal clinical program, Paradigm conducted meetings with key regulatory bodies. This was to ensure the clinical trial design would be acceptable on a global platform and meet all obligations required for registration upon successful trial results.

One of these was a pre-IND meeting in February last year with the FDA. At this meeting the two parties discussed the clinical trial protocol. Paradigm also received feedback from a Type-C meeting in December 2020, where the written response to questions posed by Paradigm was received from the FDA on the proposed clinical trial design.

In Europe, regulatory engagement with the EMA was also achieved via a virtual Scientific Advice meeting in September 2020.

Management commentary

Paradigm’s Chairman and CEO, Paul Rennie, commented: “It has been incredibly pleasing watching all modules of the IND submission come together and I am very thankful for the highly experienced and skilled Paradigm team for achieving this significant milestone on time for all of our stakeholders.”

“We believe that a harmonised clinical trial program that satisfies the requirements for registration with multiple global regulatory agencies will save Paradigm time and money as we approach registration and commercialisation of Zilosul.”

Mr Rennie also believes that the IND will give the company’s profile a boost and bring it into the radar of investors and potential partners.

“We anticipate the IND opening will provide further exposure to global investors and partners with the company already receiving an increase in global interest in our Phase 3 clinical program during our attendance this week at the 2021 BIO-Europe Spring Partnering conference where the company has participated in several partnering meetings.”

“We look forward to providing further detail on the final study design and timing once the IND has been opened following the 30-day review period with the FDA.”

More reading

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• 2 little known small cap ASX shares to buy
• Why the Centuria Industrial (ASX:CIP) share price is gaining today
• Why the Maca (ASX:MLD) share price is edging higher today

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. 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 Oneview Healthcare PLC (ASX: ONE) share price is rocketing in late morning trade following its ISO 27001 certification award.

At the time of writing, the healthcare technology solutions company’s shares are swapping hands for 35.5 cents, up 14.7%. It’s worth noting that at market open, its shares reached an intraday high of 41 cents.

Founded in 2007, Oneview is an Irish software company that provides interactive healthcare technologies for patients, families and caregivers. The business operates in the United States, Australia, and the Middle East.

What’s driving the Oneview share price higher?

The Oneview share price is on the move as investors seem pleased with the company’s latest update.

According to its release, Oneview advised that it has surpassed a key milestone for the transition to Cloud Enterprise. The company was granted ISO 27001 certification, which is the international standard on best practices to manage information security. In laymen’s terms, it proves to clients that their data is safely managed at all times.

Certification Europe, a globally accredited certification body, conducted a thorough independent audit of Oneview’s systems, facilities and processes. It found that the company’s Information Security Management System (ISMS) protected the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of customer data.

Management commentary

Oneview information security head Richard Eibrand commented:

Information security is especially critical in healthcare and we are very proud of our 13-year unblemished track record protecting the data of our world-class customers.

Cyber security is a top priority for healthcare CIOs and having ISO 27001 certification provides industry-recognised assurance of our good custodianship of highly sensitive healthcare data.

Oneview CEO James Fitter added:

Our journey to ISO certification began in May 2019 as we were developing a complex cloud hosted care management solution for the aged care industry. Our strategic decision to move our hospital solution to the Cloud in 2020 saw us accelerate this initiative in recent months.

The Oneview share price has jumped more than 800% in the past 12 months, with most of these gains coming year-to-date. It’s worth noting that the company’s shares reached a 52-week high of 48.5 cents on Monday.

More reading

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• Here’s why the Oneview (ASX:ONE) share price has exploded 106% higher

Motley Fool contributor Aaron Teboneras 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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Creso Pharma Ltd (ASX: CPH) shares are falling today after the company received firm commitments to raise A$18 million. At the time of writing, the Creso share price has slumped 6.52% to 21.5 cents.

The funds raised will be deployed to undertake psychedelic clinical trials upon the completion of the company’s Halucenex acquisition. Halucenex is a life sciences company focused on researching novel psychedelic compounds and developing and licensing products for the emerging global psychedelic medicines market. 

Creso share price falls on capital raise 

The Creso share price is on the slide today after the company advised it has secured firm commitments from institutional, professional and sophisticated investors to raise up to A$18 million. The funds will be raised via the issue of approximately 94.7 million new shares at an issue price of 19 cents per share. 

The company notes that the placement was heavily oversubscribed and strongly supported by a range of local and international groups including leading Australian businessman John Langley Hancock, S3 Consortium Holdings Pty Ltd and independent global fund manager L1 Global Master Opportunities Fund, among others. 

Funds to advance clinical trials and nutraceutical offerings 

Creso Pharma has recently focused its attention on its “transformational” psychedelics acquisition, Halucenex. Its phase II and phase III clinical trials will explore the efficacy of psychedelic molecules on a range of mental health conditions, such as depression and post-traumatic stress disorder, and open up another potentially lucrative vertical. 

The company will also deploy funds to expand its current nutraceutical offerings via its wholly-owned Canadian subsidiary, Mernova Medicinal Inc. On 19 March, Mernova received three purchase orders valued at C$177,122.40 (A$183,019.551). These included the company’s first purchase order for its pre-roll joint range, sold under the Ritual Sticks brand. 

Non-executive chair Adam Blumenthal was pleased with the strong interest in the placement and believes it will position Creso to explore greater opportunities in the near-term. He said:

The Placement was very well bid and leaves Creso Pharma well funded to progress a number of near term revenue generating initiatives. Key short-term focus will include finalising the acquisition of Halucenex and undertaking clinical trials. Importantly, the acquisition provides the Company with access to another lucrative vertical and potential revenue stream. We will also be ramping up our nutraceutical division and preparing for the anticipated legalisation of cannabis in the US through our Canadian operations.

The Creso share price has increased by more than 250% over the past 12 months.

More reading

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• Creso Pharma (ASX:CPH) share price lower despite cannabis sales update
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• Creso Pharma (ASX:CPH) to commence phase II clinical trials
• How Mexico could turbocharge ASX cannabis shares

Motley Fool contributor Kerry Sun 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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There are a few little known small cap ASX shares that could be worth looking into and may be able to generate long-term returns.

Smaller shares have the potential to generate larger returns because they’re starting from a smaller base. Those large cap ASX blue chips have already done a lot of their growing.

These two small cap ASX shares may be worth considering:

Healthia Ltd (ASX: HLA)

This business is a rapidly growing healthcare company that is now operating with three different divisions.

It has a market share of around 1.5% in Australia, with a market share of more than 2.5% in ‘feet and ankles’, more than 1.5% in ‘bodies and minds’ and more than 1.5% in ‘eyes and ears’. Healthia believes each segment has a total addressable market of a few billion dollars.

The company is successfully employing an acquisition strategy to growing its networks of businesses.

During the first half of FY21 alone, the small cap ASX share acquired 55 allied businesses, including The Optical Company (41 optical stores and eyewear frame distributors), seven feet and ankle businesses and six bodies and minds businesses.

The business is rapidly growing both its revenue and profitability. In the HY21 result, revenue increased by 38.9% to $61.5 million, the underlying earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) margin improved by 486 basis points, underlying EBITDA surged 90.7% to $11 million, the underlying net profit after tax (NPATA) margin improved 194 basis points to 7.72% and underlying earnings per share (EPS) grew 78.2% to 6.86 cents.

Healthia also declared a dividend of 2 cents per share, showing the confidence of the board.

The business is going to try to acquire a minimum of $20 million of new businesses each year through a combination of bank debt, free cash flow and clinic class shares.

Volpara Health Technologies Ltd (ASX: VHT)

Volpara is a small cap ASX share that specialises in breast screening technology and administration. It utilises AI to improve the early detection of breast cancer by analysing images and associated patient data to provide

The company is making progress on several fronts. It now has a market share of around 30% of US screenings, meaning that around 12.5 million US screenings are using at least one of its products. There is the potential for Volpara to cross-sell and up-sell more of its offerings to its US clients over time.

Volpara is seeing low levels of churn with its annual recurring revenue (ARR) and an increasing average revenue per user (ARPU) – now around US1.40.

The gross margins are particularly strong – one of the highest on the ASX – at more than 86% and rising.

CRA Health is an important acquisition for the small cap ASX share because it increases the ARPU, it’s integrated with large electronic health record systems and it can analyse the images and data even better. Indeed, Volpara just won its biggest contract thanks to CRA Health.

There is the potential for growth into other countries and regions, such as Europe, which would significantly increase the total addressable market. Volpara has signed up key luminaries across both Europe and Asia.

More reading

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• Here’s why the Volpara (ASX:VHT) share price is storming higher

Tristan Harrison has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of and recommends VOLPARA FPO NZ. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended HEALTHIA FPO and VOLPARA FPO NZ. 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 Centuria Industrial REIT (ASX: CIP) share price is edging higher in morning trade, up 2.22% to $3.23.

The real estate investment trust (REIT) is Australia’s largest domestic pure-play industrial REIT. Below we take a look at the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) listed company’s latest announcement on its portfolio valuation.

What did the REIT report?

The Centuria Industrial REIT share price is gaining after the company reported the value of its portfolio of industrial assets increased by 8.1% or $192 million on a like-for-like basis from prior book values.

Centuria completed external valuations on 56 of its 61 industrial properties, which the company reports represents around 93% of its total portfolio by value, as at 31 March.

The new valuation brings Centuria Industrial’s total portfolio value to $2.6 billion.

The company pointed to its leasing success and capitalisation rate compression in Australia’s industrial market as key factors driving the increased valuation.

The REIT’s Telstra Corporation Ltd (ASX: TLS) data centre in Clayton, Victoria led the charge higher, with its value increasing by $28.3 million.

Commenting on the revaluation, Centuria Industrial fund manager Jesse Curtis said:

Australia’s industrial property market is currently experiencing a substantial re-rate, attracting significant investment demand from both domestic and international capital. Major transactions in the market continue to show capitalisation rate compression, complemented by strong tenant demand from e-commerce and a scarcity of investment grade assets.

Curtis added, “The CIP portfolio remains in an extremely strong position holding occupancy of 97.7%, WALE [weighted average lease expiry] of 9.8 years and portfolio capitalisation rate of 4.96%.”

So far in the 2021 financial year, Centuria Industrial has transacted $757 million worth of industrial assets. The REIT reported that these new assets contributed to $64 million of its total portfolio revaluation gain.

Centuria Industrial pays a 5.6% annual dividend yield, unfranked.

Centuria Industrial REIT share price snapshot

Over the past 12 months, Centuria Industrial REIT shares have gained nearly 17%. That trails the 33% gains posted by the ASX 200.

Year to date, the Centuria Industrial REIT share price is up 4.5%, outpacing the 2.2% gains from the ASX 200.

More reading

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Motley Fool contributor Bernd Struben has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of and has recommended Telstra 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 Maca Ltd (ASX: MLD) share price is edging higher this morning after the company announced a contract win. At the time of writing, the mining and civil construction company’s shares are trading at $1.06, up 1.92%.

Let’s take a closer look and see what Maca updated the ASX with.

What’s pushing the Maca share price higher?

Investors are pushing the Maca share price higher after digesting the company’s latest update.

In its announcement, Maca advised that it has secured a ‘Hire and Maintenance’ contract for CITIC Pacific Mining Management (CPM). This will see Maca provide a number of services at CPM’s Cape Preston Sino Iron magnetite project. Situated 100km south-west of Karratha in the Pilbara region, the project is the largest magnetite mining and processing operation in Australia.

Depending on the number of works completed, the contract is expected to generate $200 million in revenue for Maca. Services are scheduled to commence in April 2021 and will run over a 36-month term.

Maca highlighted that its work-in-hand position stands at $3.4 billion as of February this year.

What did the CEO say?

Maca CEO Mike Sutton welcomed the deal, saying:

Maca is very pleased to continue working with CITIC Pacific Mining at the Sino Iron magnetite project, and we value the long-standing relationships we have with our clients at this pioneering megaproject.

The current CPM contract was novated from Downer to Maca, following the acquisition of the Mining West business, and it’s pleasing to have now secured this three-year extension.

About the Maca share price

The Maca share price has surged by around 80% in the past 12 months. Year to date, however, Maca shares are down around 12%.

Based on the current share price, Maca has a market capitalisation of around $355.3 million, with 341.7 million shares outstanding.

More reading

• Why the Red 5 (ASX:RED) share price is lifting 6% today

Motley Fool contributor Aaron Teboneras 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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Many ASX-listed buy now, pay later shares eye the US market as a key growth opportunity given its $5 trillion total addressable retail market. Afterpay Ltd (ASX: APT), Zip Co Ltd (ASX: Z1P) and Sezzle Inc (ASX: SZL) are the ASX players taking charge for customer acquisition and market share. 

Affirm Holdings Inc (NASDAQ: AFRM) might have slipped under the radar for many investors given the fact that its listed on the Nasdaq Composite (INDEXNASDAQ: .IXIC). How does the Afterpay share price size up against its biggest US rival?

Affirm share price snapshot 

Affirm is the largest US-listed BNPL provider. The company listed on the Nasdaq on 13 January 2021 at an initial public offering (IPO) price of US$39 and an indicative market capitalisation of approximately US$10 billion.

Its shares ran as high as US$146.90 by mid-Feb or a 275% return for investors that managed to participate in the IPO. The recent tech-led selloff has seen the Affirm share price more than halve since its $146.90 high to close at $69.56 on Thursday. 

Affirm vs. Afterpay share price comparison 

Below are some of the key metrics that could be used to gauge the size of a BNPL player. 

	Affirm	Afterpay
Gross Merchandise Value (USD m)	6,010	12,014
Active customers (m)	4.5	13.1
Active merchants (000s)	7.9	74.8
Market cap USD (m)	20,482	25,119
Funding capacity (USD m)	4,700	1,044

Source: Macquarie Research, March 2021 

Despite the significant market capitalisation of Affirm, the company only has regional exposure to North America. 

In comparison, Afterpay has operations in Australia, New Zealand, the UK (Clearpay), the US, Canada and Europe (Pagantis). Afterpay has also created a base in Singapore and is exploring opportunities to target the South East Asia market. 

Why does the Afterpay share price look cheap? 

The Afterpay share price is significantly ahead of Affirm across all key KPIs except funding capacity. This might make the Afterpay share price look cheap at face value.

US shares have the tendency to be more richly valued with a much deeper pool of investors and liquidity. This could be why capital intensive ASX-listed shares such as Piedmont Lithium Ltd (ASX: PLL) and Mesoblast Ltd (ASX: MSB) are also listed on the Nasdaq. 

This may also explain why the Zip share price surged in February on the back of speculation that the company could be looking at a secondary listing in the US. This would allow US fund managers easier access to Zip shares and greater accessibility to the capital markets when necessary.

More reading

• Afterpay (ASX:APT) share price hits 3-month low: Time to buy?
• Why is the Woolworths (ASX:WOW) share price up 5% in a week?
• Down 20% with no news, what’s with the Cirralto (ASX:CRO) share price?
• Is the Affirm share price dragging ASX BNPL shares lower?
• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Thursday

Kerry Sun has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of ZIPCOLTD FPO. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. recommends Sezzle Inc. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of AFTERPAY T FPO. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended 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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The News Corporation (ASX: NWS) share price is charging higher in morning trade, up 3.24%.

This comes after the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) listed global media company announced a major acquisition.

About the acquisition

The News Corp share price is moving higher in morning trade after the company reported it will acquire Investor’s Business Daily (IBD) from O’Neil Capital Management for US$275 million (AU$361 million).

News Corp subsidiary Dow Jones will run the newly acquired business, which operates the Investors.com website.

According to the release, IBD generates more than 90% of its revenue from its digital offerings. And revenue has been growing at double-digit levels for the past several years. IBD currently has almost 100,000 digital subscribers, with News Corp reporting a “minimal overlap” with Dow Jones’s subscriber list.

Commenting on the acquisition, News Corp CEO Robert Thomson said:

IBD will greatly enhance our e-expertise in finance, with compelling digital coverage, unique tools and high-yielding services. We will be able to cross-sell and up-sell with Dow Jones financial products and provide specialist insights for a knowing business audience… This transformative deal obviously comes as investor interest is surging in stock and bond markets and there is a premium for intelligence, insight and integrity.

Almar Latour, CEO, Dow Jones added, “The prospect of combining our collective skills and strengths, especially our shared legacies of trusted, rigorous journalism and research, opens up a wide range of potential.”

Completion of the deal is subject to the standard legal conditions and approvals. News Corp anticipates closing the deal in the fiscal quarter ending 30 June.

News Corp share price snapshot

News Corp shareholders have enjoyed a profitable 12 months, with shares of the media company up 125%. By comparison, the ASX 200 is up by around 34% over that same time.

Year to date, the News Corp share price is up 40%.

News Corp pays an annual dividend yield of 0.7%, unfranked.

More reading

• ASX 200 down 0.3%: Afterpay & Zip lower, AGL signs Portland Smelter deal
• Nine (ASX:NEC) and News Corp (ASX:NWS) share prices rise after Facebook deal
• Could this have moved the News Corp (ASX:NWS) share price today?
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Motley Fool contributor Bernd Struben 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 Santos Ltd (ASX: STO) share price is on the rise in early trade after a production update from the Aussie oil and gas giant this morning. At the time of writing, the Santos share price has edged 0.99% higher to $7.15.

Let’s take a look at what the company announced.

What’s driving the Santos share price?

Santos provided an update on production at its Ningaloo Vision floating production storage and offloading vessel (Ningaloo Vision). This comes after scheduled vessel maintenance in Singapore.

Ningaloo Vision, which ties together several oil fields off the Western Australian coast, has now ramped-up production again. The offshore vessel is expected to achieve production of 10,000 barrels per day in the coming weeks.

Santos managing director and CEO Kevin Gallagher said the vessel’s return to production sets the company up for the next stage of production from the Van Gogh oil field. Santos has a 52.5% interest in the Van Gogh-Coniston-Navara project with the remaining 47.5% held by Inpex.

How has Santos performed recently?

The Santos share price has surged higher in the last 12 months after a large share price collapse in March 2020.

Oil prices plummeted last year as the coronavirus pandemic took hold. Demand for energy collapsed as widespread border closures and localised lockdowns reduced usage in key industries like travel and manufacturing.

That saw the Santos share price plummet lower, which somewhat skews the story of the company’s recent performance.

Foolish takeaway

The Santos share price is responding positively after today’s update from Ningaloo Vision, with the vessel expected to add 10,000 barrels per day.

According to Bloomberg, however, overnight the WTI and Brent crude oil prices fell 4.4% and 4% lower, respectively. WTI closed at US$58.49 per barrel while the Brent crude oil price fell to US$61.82 per barrel. This could be subduing the impact on the company’s share price of its positive update today.

More reading

• Why is the ASX 200 (ASX:XJO) so reliant on the US stock market?
• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Friday
• ASX 200 rises, Brickworks builds, Netwealth sinks
• Why is the Woolworths (ASX:WOW) share price up 5% in a week?
• 2 ASX 200 shares that keep growing their dividends

Motley Fool contributor Ken Hall 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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