IPO Watch: ASX floats are on the rise and these are the top performers

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The ASX had a busier-than-usual third quarter for IPOs — recording an increase in float activity compared to the prior quarter and the same period last year.

In the September quarter there were 28 IPOs raising $US2.4 billion ($3.3 billion), according to consultancy EY.

IPO volume in the third quarter was much higher than the previous quarter and significantly higher than the same quarter of 2017.

But, the year-to-date volume was lower than last year.

In the first nine months of the year, there were 63 IPOs accounting for about $US4 billion. For all of 2017 there were 96 IPOs.

“In a normally quiet quarter, Asia-Pacific experienced some exciting IPO activity, led by Greater China and Australia,” EY Asia-Pacific IPO leader Ringo Choi said.

“Geopolitical uncertainties, ongoing trade tensions and the potential impact of the interest rate cycle are propelling companies, particularly in greater China, to get their IPOs to the public markets faster in an effort to take advantage of current valuations.”

Best performing IPOs over the past year

While IPO activity may be on the rise, unfortunately not all that have made their debut in the past year have done so well.

Only about a third of recent ASX entrants have gained ground since listing.

Here’s a list of 110 ASX IPOs from the past year or so, showing how they’ve performed since their debut:

Swipe or scroll to reveal full table. Click headings to sort

Euro Manganese (ASX:EMN) is the latest explorer to light up the ASX, making its debut on Tuesday at a 25 per cent premium to its 26c issue price.

The company hit an intra-day high of 32.5c on the trade of 470,645 shares worth $139,900.

Euro Manganese is the first to dual list in Australia and Canada at the exact same time.

“What we did here was unprecedented,” chief Marco Romero told Stockhead following its debut on Tuesday.

“No company has ever listed at the same time in Australia and in Canada. This is the first ever dual IPO.”

Euro Manganese’s core business — and current ‘sole focus’ — is the development of its Chvaletice manganese project, in the small town of Chvaletice in the Czech Republic.
Manganese is the fourth-most-traded metal in the world. Only aluminium, iron ore and copper are more widely used.

About 90 per cent of manganese goes into steel-making, but it’s increasingly used in next-generation battery and power storage applications.

Mr Romero predicts there will be a “very significant increase” in demand largely due to the rapid growth in the electric vehicle market.

“Manganese has long been neglected as a battery raw material, which it is very clearly so and has been for a very long time in fact,” he said.

“We have the opportunity to bring to market a strategic alternative or complement to existing production just at a time when there is explosive demand growth emerging, particularly from the automotive industry that is rapidly electrifying all over the world and particularly in Europe.”

Business software maker Cape Range (ASX:CAG) has been by far the best performing IPO, gaining 695 per cent since it listed in late November last year.

After doing nothing following its debut at 20c, the stock suddenly took off at the start of July and landed itself a please explain from the ASX over the sudden share price spike that eventually took it to a new high of $2.25.

It is currently trading at $1.59.

3D printer Titomic (ASX:TTT) is also a seven-bagger since it listed in September last year.

Titomic listed after a $6.5 million IPO with a vision to build the world’s biggest and fastest metal 3D printer.

It launched that printer in Melbourne in May. Titomic was last trading around $1.59 as well.

Telix Pharmaceuticals (ASX:TLX) is up 308 per cent at almost 82c. The company debuted on the ASX last November in what was one of the biggest biotech IPOs in recent times.

Telix is pre-revenue but is bringing to market a late-stage pipeline of cancer drugs and diagnostic products, based on radiopharmaceuticals or molecularly-targeted radiation.

Of the resources players, Tando Resources (ASX:TNO) has advanced 226 per cent (it recently underwent a 4.62-for-1 share split) and is trading at about 14c.

The company, which made its ASX debut in November last year, just completed the acquisition of the SPD vanadium project in South Africa.

Vanadium prices recently hit their highest point since 2005, pushing through the magical $US20/lb ($27.56) mark amid ongoing supply concerns.

Eagle Mountain Mining (ASX:EM2) has also been a top performer with its share price appreciating 77.5 per cent to 35.5c.

The explorer hit the ASX on March 16 after completing a $12.5 million raising to fund its hunt for gold and copper in the US.

Eagle Mountain has accumulated acreage along a 6km outcrop in the so-called Pacific Horizon prospect in Arizona.

Arizona is highly prospective for copper and has traditionally accounted for more than half of all of the copper produced in the US.

Brisbane-based, Papua New Guinea-focused Mayur Resources (ASX:MRL) has climbed 75 per cent since listing a year ago. It is now trading at 70c.

The company recently announced it had short-listed and was issuing tender documents to engineering, procurement and construction contractors for its Moresby lime and cement project – the first project of its kind in PNG.

The Moresby project is expected to produce 250,000 tonnes of quicklime (used in steelmaking) and 1.5 million tonnes of cement.

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Which IPOs are next in line to make an ASX debut

Here’s a list of 55 upcoming IPOs:

Swipe or scroll to reveal full table. Click headings to sort

Israeli slushy-machine maker Nice-Vend was due to ring the bell on Tuesday, but is yet to announce it has been admitted to the Official List.

Nice-Vend makes and sells vending machines — branded “quinzee machines” — that make slushies (or frozen soft drinks).

The next cab off the rank is Cowan Lithium, which is penned in for an October 8 listing.

The company was spun out of Tawana Resources (ASX:TAW) earlier this year and launched an IPO to raise $8 million selling shares at 20c each.

The Perth-based company has two main lithium projects, Cowan and Yallari, in the Eastern Goldfields of Western Australia plus an iron ore project in Liberia.

Following Cowan is gold explorer Golden State Mining, which is expecting to list on October 12.

Meanwhile, there have been several hold-ups of floats, largely due to a backlog at the ASX and ASIC issues.

Moho Resources was due to list before the end of September but says it now expects to list at the end of October.

Vanadium and oil shale play QEM was expecting to be listed by September 20, but is now thinking it will make its debut within the next month.

China Track, which makes replacement undercarriage parts for crawler-type of construction equipment, appears to have gone AWOL.

The company had been planning to list at the start of the year but its IPO was delayed.

However, attempts by Stockhead to contact the company were futile, with the company no longer having an active website and its phone number disconnected.

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