Tunisian phosphate…osteoarthritis drug trials…a takeover offer for an iconic home builder and a West Australian gold prospect…this week’s Runners of the Week were a mixed bag – about as diverse a mix as you are likely to see on the ASX…
And it’s what drove this week’s very different batch of Bulls N’ Bears Runners of the Week to greater heights…
102% up (from 4c to 8.1c)
African phosphate explorer PhosCo took line honours and is this week’s Bulls N’ Bears Runner of The Week.
The aspiring junior miner scored a landmark non-binding memorandum-of-understanding (MOU) with the Tunisian Ministry of Industry, Mines and Energy and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) to collaborate on developing the country’s northern phosphate basin hub.
The company also secured the Gassaat phosphate exploration permit in the northernmost African country, which encapsulates the Chaketma phosphate resource estimate of 146 million tonnes grading 20.6 per cent phosphorous pentoxide.
The news excited punters who sent the company’s stock flying from 4c to an 8.1c high, for a solid gain for the week of 102.5 per cent and top spot on the Runners podium.
Trading volumes on Wednesday of 1.68 million shares was PhosCo’s biggest trading day for the past year, pushing the price through the 8c level to its 52-week high.
The Gassaat permit approval comes “hot on the heels” of the nearby Sekarna permit being approved in October. The two deposits share the same stratigraphy and similar geology.
Both permits are considered key to developing Tunisia’s northern phosphate hub and are pending formal granting and subject to final approval by the Ministry of National Defence.
In soil and fertiliser science, the terms phosphate and phosphorus are often used interchangeably and it is one of the three primary nutrients needed by plants, in addition to nitrogen and potassium.
87% up (from 32.5c to 61c)
Taking second spot on our Runners list for the week is Paradigm Biopharmaceuticals. Led by renowned pharmaceutical executive Paul Rennie, the company reached the successful conclusion of the United States’ giant Food and Drug Administration (FDA) 30-day review period for its upcoming pivotal phase-three clinical trial for an injectable “pentosan polysulfate sodium (iPPS) treatment” for knee osteoarthritis (OA).
The anti-inflammatory and tissue regenerative product can play a major role in the treatment of osteoarthritis and the lesser-known mucopolysaccharidosis, which comprises a group of metabolic and genetic disorders caused by the absence of certain enzymes required to break down long chains of sugar carbohydrates occurring within cells that build connective tissue, bone, cartilage and tendons.
All that medical-speak struck the right chord with market traders who loved the sound of it all, piling into the company’s shares with the highest volumes seen across the past year.
Monday’s numbers of 9.9 million traded shares was followed by 10.6 million on Tuesday, with a further 7 million on Wednesday, ratcheting the price from 32.5c to its year-high level of 61c before easing slightly to 57.5c at the close, an impressive leap of more than 87 per cent for the week.
Strong volumes also on Thursday of 8.3 million saw the stock touch 60c to hover close to its previous day’s high mark.
The phase-three trial will continue with its optimal 2mg/kg twice weekly dosing regimen and is designed to enrol an expected 466 participants in a 1:1 randomisation designed program.
The primary endpoint of the trial is a change in baseline pain, while secondary endpoints include structural changes as measured by MRI and X-ray.
Up 83% (from 35.5c to 65c)
Climbing onto the podium in third place this week is the iconic and long-standing national home building company AV Jennings.
The company revealed an unsolicited and non-binding proposal from Proprium Capital Partners and AVID Property Group, to acquire all of its shares via a scheme-of-arrangement for 67c per share by way of cash.
The market promptly sent the price northwards to be near its cash offer, opening at 61.5c on Thursday after the takeover news, before touching its own 52-week high of 65c. Closing last week at 35.5c, the price increase represented a solid 83.1 per cent jump, making it the third-best performer for the week.
Thursday’s volume of more than eight million shares changing hands put all other trading days this year for the company in the shade, with it being the first time in 2024 that volumes exceeded more than one million in a day.
The all-cash proposed price of 67c represents more than a 100 per cent premium to the closing price on November 27 and its one-month and three-month volume-weighted-average-prices.
Proprium is a specialist real estate investment manager with about $4 billion in assets under management, including an interest in AVID which is considered to be one of the group’s flagship investments.
AVID is one of the largest private residential developers in the country and is owned by several international institutional investors.
Up 72% (from 6.1c to 10.5c)
Missing out on a podium finish but enjoying a strong week is Errawarra Resources, which announced on Wednesday it agreed to enter an earn-in and joint-venture (JV) with ASX-listed Falcon Metals, providing Falcon with the opportunity to focus on gold across a 504 square kilometre patch of ground within Errawarra’s Errabiddy project in WA’s Gascoyne region.
The Errabiddy shear zone sits on the north-west margin of the Yilgarn Craton and is considered to have a similar structural setting to AngloGold Ashanti–Regis Resources’ 5.4 million-ounce Tropicana gold mine.
With the gold price soaring to a 29 per cent gain this year, punters liked the news of Falcon’s successful exploration team having a new plaything to focus on, with some jumping onboard early on Monday before the company went into a trading halt in the late afternoon.
The price reached 10.5c on Monday, which ultimately proved to be the high point for the week, returning a more than 72 per cent lift to last Friday’s close, on volumes of 2.5 million shares traded.
Wednesday’s news reveal didn’t invoke much of a response with the price retreating for two days until a second wind by punters pushed it back to 9.5c on Friday, with volume again nearing the two million mark.
Falcon will have the right to earn a 51 per cent stage-one interest in the project by spending $750,000 in on-ground expenditure within two years and a further 19 per cent stage-two interest with a spend of $1.25 million within a further three years, potentially taking it to a 70 per cent interest in the project.
That makes for an intriguing mix of Runners this week.
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