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Shares in Australian Potash Ltd (ASX: APC) and Salt Lake Potash Ltd (ASX: SO4) have fallen heavily in the past week after the companies announced respective capital raisings.

Australian Potash has fallen 11.43% this week and is currently trading at 15 cents after the company announced a $10 million capital raise from investors. Meanwhile, Salt Lake Potash is down 8.75% this week trading at 36.5 cents as the company announced plans to raise $28 million.

About the potash industry

Potash is a naturally occurring substance containing large amounts of potassium that is utilised in making fertilisers. The potash these companies mine is predominantly used to manufacture sulphate of potash (SOP.)

Potassium sulphate is the second major form of potash and is seen as superior over the more abundant potassium chloride (known as MOP). Primarily, this is due to the toxic impact chloride has on many food plants and as such SOP demands up to a 40% premium.

According to a report in the Australian Financial Review recently, the potash industry is slowly coming back to life as money is being pumped into the sector thanks to the potential of SOP. Thus, the race is on between a number of small-cap potash producers to be the first to turn out SOP in Australia.

Other ASX-listed potash players include Kalium Lakes Ltd (ASX: KLL), Agrimin Ltd (ASX: AMN) and BHP Group Ltd (ASX: BHP). BHP said recently that potash was one of four projects under development this year.

Salt Lake Potash winning the race

This week, Salt Lake Potash announced it had completed an institutional placement to enable a final debt drawdown. The $28 million raised at 35 cents a share also enabled access to additional funding through a bank guarantee provided by Sequoia. However, the news has not stopped the Salt Lake Potash share price from plummeting as the company also provided a Lake Way update.

According to the company, the project is on schedule for production in June 2021 with the first sales coming shortly after. As such, plant commissioning is more than 50% complete. However, the capital budget for the works has now increased by $5 million to $269 million in order to de-risk the salt production.

Nonetheless, the company still looks like it will be the first Australian company to both produce and sell SOP across the world.

Australian Potash equity raising

The Australian Potash share price has also fallen significantly this week as the company announced a $10 million capital raise for institutional and sophisticated investors.

The funds similarly to above will be used to progress its Lake Wells SOP project. There are several pre-development activities including building the Lake Wells village.

Australian Potash managing director and CEO Matt Shackleton said:

The heavy institutional and sophisticated investor demand for the offer reflects well on the Lake Wells SOP Project’s very robust financial metrics, and supports our transition into development. The LSOP (Lake Wells Sulphate of Potash) still carries the largest 100% measured JORC compliant SOP resource across the space, which speaks to the technically de-risked nature of the development.

In addition to the LSOP, we look forward to unlocking the inherent value in the Laverton Downs nickel sulphide targets with a maiden diamond program scheduled to commence in May.

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The post Why have these ASX potash shares been crashing this week? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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The Element 25 Ltd (ASX: E25) share price is firmly in positive territory today. This comes after the company announced that it has finalised an agreement in preparation for its first manganese concentrate shipment.

During early afternoon trade, the mineral exploration and mining company’s share price is fetching for $2.24, up 2.75%. In comparison, the All Ordinaries Index (ASX: XAO) is also travelling higher at 7,318 points, up 0.6%.

Details of the Element 25 update

Investors are pushing Element 25 shares higher after the company achieved an important milestone for its future operations.

According to its release, Element 25 advised it has executed a Multi User Access Agreement with the Pilbara Port Authority. Therefore, the company will be allowed to use the Port Hedland Utah Point facility to export in bulk its manganese product. A crucial ingredient for electric vehicle batteries, the mineral will come from Element 25’s wholly-owned production facility at the Butcherbird Project.

Furthermore, the Utah Point facility is considered to be well equipped to handle multi-user bulk and loading operations.

Element 25 did not disclose the commercial terms of the agreement but stated that they are in line with normal operating terms. This also includes covering the company’s capacity requirement of up to 390 kilotons per annum for its first stage of operations.

E25 managing director, Mr Justin Brown commented:

This is another important milestone on the way to our first sale of manganese concentrate, and we are excited to be closing in on our first shipment of Butcherbird’s material to our offtake partners.

About the Butcherbird Manganese Project

The Butcherbird manganese project is an open-pit mining development located in the Pilbara region of Western Australia. The project is believed to contain the largest onshore manganese resource in the country.

A pre-feasibility study was completed in May 2020, and highlighted significant growth beyond the initial Stage 1 production volumes. Current JORC estimates put the project to produce 263 million tonnes of manganese ore.

Element 25 share price review

Over the past 12 months, Element 25 shares have accelerated to more than 500%, with year-to-date performance above 50%. The company’s share price reached an all-time high of $2.90 in late March before investors took profit off the table.

Based on today’s price, Element 25 presides a market capitalisation of roughly $339 million, with 148 million shares on issue.

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In afternoon trade, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) has followed the lead of US markets and is pushing higher. At the time of writing, the benchmark index is up 0.5% to 7,082.4 points.

Four ASX shares that are climbing more than most today are listed below. Here’s why they are charging higher:

Airtasker Ltd (ASX: ART)

The Airtasker share price has returned from its trading halt and jumped 12% to $1.21. This morning the online marketplace for local services announced the successful completion of a private placement to raise $20.7 million. These funds will be used partly to expand into the US market through the acquisition of US-based local services marketplace Zaarly. Some of the proceeds will support its UK expansion as well.

Betmakers Technology Group Ltd (ASX: BET)

The Betmakers share price has risen 4% to $1.54. This has been driven by speculation that the betting technology company is planning a major acquisition. The Australian is reporting that Betmakers is interested in acquiring Tabcorp Holdings Limited (ASX: TAH). The transaction could unlock $5 billion in value for shareholders in the combined entity according to the report. 

Kogan.com Ltd (ASX: KGN)

The Kogan share price has continued its rebound and is up a further 6% to $10.55. Investors have been snapping up the ecommerce company’s shares following another sizeable decline last week after the release of a disappointing trading update. The Kogan share price is now up over 20% from the 52-week low it set on Friday.

Telix Pharmaceuticals Ltd (ASX: TLX)

The Telix share price has jumped 10% to $4.41. The catalyst for this was the release of an update on its bone marrow conditioning investigational candidate TLX66. According to the release, TLX66 has met study objectives, demonstrating the initial safety profile in patients with Systemic Amyloid Light Chain Amyloidosis.

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The post Why Airtasker, Betmakers, Kogan, & Telix shares are charging higher appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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The Audio Pixels Holdings Ltd (ASX: AKP) share price is on the move today.

Audio Pixels shares have edged 0.04% at the time of writing to $23.70 per share. That’s after closing at $23.69 per share yesterday and opening at $24.40 this morning.

It was a lot better for Audio Pixels earlier this morning as well. Soon after open, this company got all the way up to $25.35 a share. At the time, that was a gain of more than 7%.

These latest moves in the Audio Pixels share price might come as a relief for investors, who had to watch the shares fall more than 35% between 30 March and 17 May.

A quarterly update the company put out at the end of April did not restore investors’ confidence. Audio Pixels flagged semiconductor supply chain squeezes and packaging issues that were taking a toll on its business.

Investors weren’t impressed at the time, and sent Audio Pixels shares down 10% on the news.

So what’s going right today?

Today’s share price moves can be put down to a presentation the company has released today that was shown as part of its annual general meeting.

In this meeting, Audio Pixels reiterated that it is facing global supply chain and packaging issues.

However, it also announced that its new high-voltage ASIC speaker chip is set to begin production in the fourth quarter of 2021.

In addition, the company told investors its production time for manufacturing/fabrication of wafer chips has fallen to record lows.

Back in 2013, it took Audio Pixels 52 weeks to make a wafer chip. By 2020, this had fallen to 10 weeks. It now estimates by the fourth quarter of 2021, it will be at 6 weeks.

About the Audio Pixels share price

Audio Pixels is a company dedicated to manufacturing high-quality speaker technology for small applications, such as smartphone speakers.

The company has had a bumpy ride, share-price wise, since its listing in 2004. Although Audio Pixels shares are up close to 5,000% since then, the company has yet to reclaim the share-price highs we saw back in 2017, when the company reached close to $33 per share.

On the company’s current share price, Audio Pixels has a market capitalisation of $700.5 million.

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On Monday I looked at three ASX shares that brokers have given buy ratings to this week.

Unfortunately, not all shares are in favour with them right now. Three that have just been given sell ratings are listed below. Here’s why these brokers are bearish on these ASX shares:

Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA)

According to a note out of Morgan Stanley, its analysts have retained their underweight rating and lifted the price target on this banking giant’s shares to $89.50. Morgan Stanley notes that CBA appears to be winning in business banking, with above-system volume growth and good margin management potentially supporting pre-provision profit growth for the first time in four years. In addition to this, the broker points out that the bank’s balance sheet is very strong. However, despite all the many positives, Morgan Stanley can’t look beyond its stretched valuation and holds firm with its underweight rating. The CBA share price is fetching $99.11 this afternoon.

Qantas Airways Limited (ASX: QAN)

Analysts at Credit Suisse have retained their underperform rating and $4.15 price target on this airline operator’s shares. According to the note, the broker has been looking at rival domestic routes. It suspects that the increasing competition will offset some of the benefits from the $1 billion cost savings Qantas is making. In addition to this, Credit Suisse believes the company will need to invest heavily in its aircraft due to its ageing fleet. The Qantas share price is trading at $4.70 today.

Zip Co Ltd (ASX: Z1P)

A note out of UBS reveals that its analysts have retained their sell rating and $6.75 price target on this buy now pay later (BNPL) provider’s shares. According to the note, the broker believes that the company’s expansion into mainland Europe and the Middle East will provide it with a significant market opportunity. However, it notes that its acquired businesses are at a relatively early stage and could require significant capital in order to scale up. The Zip share price is fetching $7.16 on Tuesday afternoon.

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The Tabcorp Holdings Limited (ASX: TAH) share price is finding renewed support on rumours that it will get another marriage proposal.

It’s nice to be wanted by so many! This time, the lottery and wagering group could be wooed by wagering technology provider Betmakers Technology Group Ltd (ASX: BET).

The speculation doing the rounds this time is that Betmarkers’ advisor and bigwig bookie Matthew Tripp is close to making an offer for Tabcorp, reported The Australian.

Tabcorp merger with Betmaker could unlock $5bn in value

The article didn’t name any sources but it claimed that Tripp is working with Goldman Sachs to engineer a merger between the two.

The transaction could unlock $5 billion in value for shareholders in the combined entity, according to The Australian.  

Betmaker share price punt already in the money

Tripp owns around 92 million shares of Betmakers, including his performance rights. He bought the sizable stake in February this year for around $25 million and he’s already well in the money.

Tripp’s investment is worth close to $100 million given that the Betmakers share price jumped over 4% today to $1.55 on the takeover rumour.

It’s understood that Tripp’s initial approach to Tabcorp over Christmas last year was rebuffed.

Tabcorp share price bolstered by two other bids

Tabcorp is already being pursued by two others. Ladbrokes owner Entain made a $3.5 billion proposal to buy Tabcorp’s Wagering and Media unit.

Meanwhile, Apollo Global Management put forward a $4 billion deal to buy Tabcorp save for its lotteries business.

Things won’t be the same for the Tabcorp share price

It looks likely that Tabcorp won’t survive in its current form given that a number of key shareholders are unhappy with its performance.

The story is not unlike the debacle facing the Crown Resorts Ltd (ASX: CWN) share price, although not as controversial. Coincidentally, Crown is mulling a merger with rival the Star Entertainment Group Ltd (ASX: SGR) share price.

Tabcorp is working with UBS on the best option to unlocking value for shareholders. Management is expected to provide a game plan to investors on June 30.

Besides contemplating a merger or the sale of all or part of the group, Tabcorp could also spin-off its Wagering and Media division into a separately listed ASX entity.

Betmakers market cap stands at around $1.3 billion compared to Tabcorp’s $11.3 billion market value.

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The Straker Translations Ltd (ASX: STG) share price is putting a smile on the faces of shareholders today. Shares are surging off the back of the language services company’s outlook update.

At the time of writing, the Straker Translations’ shares are up 10.83% to $2.00.

A ‘transformational’ year

Investors are scrambling to get a hold of Straker Translations shares this morning following the company’s update. In the release, the company points to a strong outlook for the 2022 financial year. This is thanks to its leadership in the consolidating global language services sector.

Straker also touched on its performance highlights for FY21, these included:

• Revenue increase of 13% to $31.3 million for year ending March 2021
• On a proforma basis, unaudited revenue tops $41 million for FY21
• Lingotek acquisition delivers $1.9 million in revenue within two months of integration.
• Net losses after tax increase to $6 million from $2.5 million.

These results were previously published in April. However, now they are audited and official.

The big-ticket item for Straker is its appointment as strategic translations provider to IBM (NYSE: IBM).

Additionally, the acquisition of US-based Lingotek has also been described as ‘transformational’ for the company. The deal has added $11 million in annual incremental revenue for Straker.

Positive outlook lifts Straker Translations share price

Notably, Straker advised it forecasts revenue for 2022 financial year to exceed $50 million with an improved gross margin.

The company reasons there is a growing recognition among enterprise customers of Straker’s global reach and the benefits of its RAY translation platform. Furthermore, the inclusion of Lingotek pushes the company’s proforma revenue to $41.2 million – representing a 48% increase on the prior year.

Commenting on the update, Chief Executive and Co-Founder Grant Straker said:

Our strategic priorities are clear. We are focused on driving consolidation in the translation sector, building repeating revenues – particularly among the large global enterprises that benefit from Straker’s global reach and our Ai-Powered RAY translation platform – and continuing to consolidate our technological leadership.

While the company suffered challenges from COVID-19, it believes it is also creating opportunities. Considering the deferral or cancellation of work has weighed more so on smaller translation companies, this has put more pressure on the consolidation of the industry.

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The Zip Co Ltd (ASX: Z1P) share price is having a bit of a mixed day on Tuesday.

In early afternoon trade, the buy now pay later (BNPL) provider’s shares are back in the blavk and up 1% $7.17.

Why is the Zip share price bouncing around?

The Zip share price appears to have come under a little bit of pressure today following a mixed reaction to its expansion announcement on Monday.

In case you missed it, Zip has announced that it is expanding into the European and Middle East markets via the acquisitions of established player in both markets.

In Europe, Zip will acquire the shares it doesn’t already own in Twisto Payments for 89 million euros (~A$140 million). Whereas in the Middle East, the company is acquiring the shares it doesn’t already own in UAE-based Spotii for US$16 million (~A$21 million). This will give Zip access to a $1.1 trillion annual ecommerce market in Europe and a Middle East market that is growing fast.

The acquisition of Spotii is expected to complete in the third quarter of calendar year 2021, whereas the Twisto acquisition is expected to complete in the fourth quarter.

What was the reaction?

Analysts at UBS have been running the ruler over Zip’s plans and sees both positives and negatives.

According to the note, the broker wasn’t surprised with the acquisitions and acknowledges that the two markets provide the company with significant growth opportunities.

However, it believes the businesses will require significant amounts of capital in order to scale.

Its analysts commented: “While the potential total addressable market for both businesses is large, both businesses are relatively early stage, we also highlight the capital intensity of both businesses if they are to scale.”

This could mean that another capital raising will be required in the not so distant future in order to grow these businesses.

Unfortunately, as we have seen previously with the Zip share price, capital raising speculation often weighs on investor sentiment and could potentially limit the upside from here for the time being.

More reading

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At lunch on Tuesday, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is on course to record a solid gain. The benchmark index is currently up 0.6% to 7,089.6 points.

Here’s what is happening on the market today:

TechnologyOne half year results

The TechnologyOne Ltd (ASX: TNE) share price is having a mixed day following the release of its half year results. At one stage in morning trade, the enterprise software company’s shares were up as much as 9%. They have since pulled back and are now trading flat. Strong demand for its Global SaaS ERP Solution underpinned a 5% increase in total revenue to $144.3 million and a 48% increase in net profit to $28.2 million. However, full year profit growth is expected to be 10% to 15%.

Iron ore miners rise despite pullback

Iron ore producers BHP Group Ltd (ASX: BHP), Fortescue Metals Group Limited (ASX: FMG), and Rio Tinto Limited (ASX: RIO) are all pushing higher today despite another pullback in the price of the steel making ingredient. According to Metal Bulletin, the spot iron ore price fell a further 4.1% to US$192.42 a tonne. Each of the mining giants are outperforming the market today with gains of at least 1%.

Aristocrat Leisure rated as a buy

The Aristocrat Leisure Limited (ASX: ALL) share price is pushing higher after several brokers responded positively to its half year results yesterday. One of those was Citi, which retained its buy rating and lifted its price target to $46.60. Also remaining positive was UBS, which has held firm with its buy rating and lifted its price target to $44.40.

Best and worst ASX 200 performers

The best performer on the ASX 200 on Tuesday has been the Galaxy Resources Limited (ASX: GXY) share price with a 4% gain. This is despite there being no news out of the lithium miner. The worst performer has been the Fisher & Paykel Healthcare Corp Ltd (ASX: FPH) share price with a 3% decline. Investors may be nervous ahead of its full year results release later this week.

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The Doctor Care Anywhere Ltd (ASX: DOC) share price is racing higher today following a new agreement with Nuffield Health.

Founded in 1957, Nuffield Health is the largest not-for-profit healthcare organisation in the United Kingdom. The group operates 31 hospitals, 113 health fitness and wellbeing gyms, and over 200 workplace wellbeing services.

At the time of writing, Doctor Care Anywhere shares are fetching for 91 cents, up 11.73%.

What’s driving the Doctor Care Anywhere share price higher?

Doctor Care Anywhere shares are lifting off today as investors appear upbeat about the company’s prospects.

According to its release, Doctor Care Anywhere advised it has signed a Head of Terms with Nuffield Health.

A Heads of Terms is a non-binding document that outlines the details of a proposed agreement. This can include a tentative sale, partnership, or other arrangement. Traditionally, a Head of Terms consists of target completion date, pre-conditions to the agreement, and the parties’ key obligations.

Under the Head of Terms, Doctor Care Anywhere will develop a digitally integrated virtual and in-person primary care service for Nuffield Health. The platform will allow patients to have access to Doctor Care Anywhere’s 24/7 virtual general practitioner service. In addition, users can also tap into Nuffield Health’s nationwide network of face-to-face general practitioners.

The all-in-one digital platform aims to be the first nationally integrated primary care proposition in the United Kingdom. It is estimated that over 70% of all primary care consultations can be conducted over virtual appointment. However, with integration of the in-person service, this enables patients to choose how, when and where they access primary care. Furthermore, the platform provides an expanded offering of other clinical services which can be booked, reviewed and followed up on.

The platform is expected to be launched sometime in Q4 2021. Pre-marketing to Nuffield Health’s network of 1,600 corporate clients is anticipated to begin as soon as possible.

Doctor Care Anywhere noted that it will announce more details to the ASX when the contract is signed.

Management commentary

Nuffield Health medical director, Dr Davina Deniszczyc welcomed the collaboration, saying:

We are delighted to be strengthening our partnership with Doctor Care Anywhere to offer customers access to a national network of virtual and face-to-face GPs. The pandemic has demonstrated the need for accessible health services and through this partnership we are now able to offer everyone the choice of how they access their GP, whenever they need to.

Doctor Care Anywhere founder and CEO, Dr Bayju Thakar added:

We’re very excited to be providing the first joined-up healthcare journey of this kind in the UK and to be deepening our partnership with Nuffield Health. This new collaboration, the first joined up service of its type in the UK, will bring the benefits of digital healthcare to the face-to-face primary care setting and allow individuals more control over how, where and when they choose to access primary care services.

This represents a true shift in how healthcare can and should be delivered on a national scale and at a time when there is huge pressure on primary care systems across the UK offers real improvements in terms of convenience, cost and quality of the care experience.

Despite today positive release, the Doctor Care Anywhere share price has fallen around 25% year-to-date.

More reading

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