Raised and risen: LTR Pharma floated to top of Aussie IPO pool in 2023, ahead of LU7

LTR Pharma helped prop up a flaccid Aussie IPO scene in 2023 with a winning ROI
Lithium Universe wasn’t far behind, leading battery metal newcomers

As you may be aware, 2023 was a challenging year overall for IPO (Initial Public Offering) launches in Australia.

In fact, that’s putting it lightly – in total, it was the worst capital-raising year for Aussie floats since 1995.

And it was a reflection of the global IPO market landscape, which saw volumes falling by 8% and proceeds down by 33% compared with 2022, according to a report from E&Y. (Stats that the accounting firm believes could pick up in 2024, by the way.)

But that’s not to say there weren’t some rip-roaring success stories among them – at least 10 IPOs ended up on the right side of the year’s ROI ledger (see full chart further below).

And because we like a positive yarn at Stockhead, here, we recap the top five of those, beginning with a surprising late-year entry which burst onto the biotech scene with a completely unique offering…

LTR Pharma (ASX:LTP)

2023 return: 65%

IPO price: 0.20

Current price: 0.325

Amount raised: $7 million

Market cap: $22.88 million

Performance enhancement for erectile dysfunction drugs has been a long time coming. And it so turns out LTR Pharma is the firm most likely to deliver it – via simple and effective means.

The clinical stage, biotech company is pioneering a novel intranasal (spray) technology called SPONTAN, which is designed to treat erectile dysfunction in 10 minutes or less.

SPONTAN is said to provide on-demand delivery and faster effect. A lower dose provides less systematic exposure and reduced side effect.

As LTP independent non-executive director Dr Julian Chick told Stockhead late last year, it’s a simple and engaging story for investors to get around:

A the core of Spontan “is a very simple proposition”, a simple unique selling point – speed and spontaneity.”

In mid December, clinical data for SPONTAN, originally published in The Journal of Sexual Medicine, was presented at the World Meeting on Sexual Medicine (WMSM) in Dubai.

The study showed that the intranasal formulation achieved more rapid plasma concentration with one-third dose when compared with the oral administration method of delivering erectile dysfunction treatments.

Read more about LTR Pharma and SPONTAN here > Huge IPO interest and not lithium? LTR Pharma could be the next big thing on the ASX

Lithium Universe (ASX:LU7)

2023 return: 60%

IPO price: 0.20

Current price: 0.27

Amount raised: $3 million

Market cap: $10.49 million

Lithium stocks by and large struggled last year as the lithium narrative waned on falling spodumene prices and reports of supply overstocking globally.

But, there were standout performers, in particular Wildcat Resources (ASX:WC8) with an utterly stupendous 1,900% return.

And at least some of the newcomers that did raise and float, performed very well indeed.

Lithium trailblazer Iggy Tan’s Lithium Universe was the year’s second-most-successful IPO, following the completion of its 2023 summer/fall exploration work program at the Apollo lithium project in Canada.

The project boasts geological and geophysical characteristics similar to well-known spodumene pegmatites in the area such as Patriot Battery Metals’ (ASX:PMT) 109.2Mt Corvette property – just 29km away – and Winsome Resources’ (ASX:WR1) Adina property, another 28km away.

And adding to the exploration operations, LU7 CEO Alex Hanly recently told Stockhead that the company “brought in some key lithium players and experience into the group to further the broader ‘Quebec lithium processing hub’ vision and strategy.

“We brought on both Hatch Engineering and Primero Group to further those engineering studies.”

Read further about what’s in store for LU7 2024 > here.

Great Divide Mining (ASX:GDM)

2023 return: 58%

IPO price: 0.20

Current price: 0.30

Amount raised: $5 million

Market cap: $8.18 million

This Brisbane-based gold, antimony and critical metals explorer made an immediate impression on investors following its ASX listing in August, and a strong level of interest was generally maintained in following months.

It helped that it reported a maiden inferred mineral resource estimate (MRE) at its Yellow Jack project was on the cards and highly anticipated.

That came in at: 1.84Mt at 0.86g/t gold (Au) for 51,100oz contained gold.

Yellow Jack, located in Greenvale, Queensland, is a shallow, open-resource site that has close proximity to existing heap leach and Carbon-in-Pulp process plants enabling project development with limited capital expenditure.

Since the MRE report, the company has revealed strong assay results from diamond drilling at Yellow Jack, including gold intercepts of: 12m at 2.70g/t Au from 25m depth in one hole, including 6m at 4.15g/t Au from 30m depth; and 6.2m at 1.1g/t Au from 80m depth in another hole.

Last week, GDM’s CEO Justin Haines said that the new assay results indicate “that the gold mineralisation is of higher concentration in certain areas and extends further along strike and at depth than initially anticipated.

“We are undertaking a full 3D interpretation of the Yellow Jack gold system, which will be completed over the coming weeks, and are now well placed to consider an update of our previously announced JORC Mineral Resource Estimate.”

Stay tuned.

Gold Hydrogen (ASX:GHY)

2023 return: 52%

IPO price: 0.50

Current price: 0.725

Amount raised: $20 million

Market cap: $55.58 million

In late December, this energy stock was leading the year’s ASX IPOs with a 90% return, so it ended up falling away a tad. Still, zooming out, it had an impressive year after listing back in January.

Much of GHY’s positive activity didn’t arrive until early November, though, after the company announced significant concentrations of hydrogen and helium encountered in sections of the Ramsay 1 well, demonstrating an active hydrogen system in the Ramsay Project area.

Then, in early December, Gold Hydrogen reported that its Ramsay 2 well exploration had been completed, and that high helium concentrations were found, reaching up to 6.8% in raw gas from the Kulpara Formation.

Despite being only the second well in the company’s exploration program, multiple data points throughout the drilling campaign indicate the potential for a significant helium reservoir and a prolific helium system at the Ramsay project site.

Subsequent exploration, analysis and future flow testing will provide a clearer picture of this promising opportunity, the company said.

Gold Hydrogen’s MD, Neil McDonald recently described the Ramsay 2 hydrogen and helium findings as “truly world-class and groundbreaking”, adding:

“The drilling of Ramsay 2 and the collection of extensive data during this program has enabled the company to not only confirm and validate the historical results but also identify multiple target zones for both hydrogen and helium.”

James Bay Minerals (ASX:JBY)

2023 return: 38%

IPO price: 0.20

Current price: 0.255

Amount raised: $6.2 million

Market cap: $8.13 million

Another lithium stonker, this Canadian-based miner hit the ASX in September, after acquiring a 100% interest in one of the largest lithium exploration portfolios in the white-hot “white gold” James Bay region, covering an area of 34,572ha or 346km2.

The stock quickly soared to 0.52 per share, but has been consolidating ever since, albeit well enough in the green to make this list and register a solid 2023 entrance.

In early November, the company said it had strategically increased its La Grande Project area, which makes up the majority of its portfolio in the region, by 70% to 30,168ha (302km2).

That’s a landholding increase of 12,116ha (121km2) for La Grande, while adjoining site – the Aqua Property, which is along trend from FIN Resources’ (ASX:FIN) recent outcropping spodumene discovery, has reportedly been increased by 5,578ha (56km2).

The company’s La Grande Project is a highly prospective lithium property located along trend from Winsome Resources’ (ASX: WR1) Cancet Lithium Project, and Patriot Battery Metals’ (ASX:PMT) world-class CV5 deposit.

And in other recent eye-opening news for JBY, it reported early December that a significant number (more than 120 now) of new LCT pegmatite targets have been generated from airborne LiDAR at the Aqua Property.

JBY executive director James Dornan noted at the time: “Given we have the three keygeological ingredients for giant LCT lithium-pegmatite deposits – along with FIN Resources’ spodumene discovery on the border of our property – our confidence in the prospectivity at Aqua and the potential fora significant lithium discovery continues to grow.”

The final scorecard for 2023 ASX IPOs

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

Code	Name	IPO Price	Current Price	Return	Market cap	Listing date
LTP	LTR Pharma	0.2	0.33	65%	$22,529,756	11/12/2023
LU7	Lithium Universe Ltd	0.02	0.032	60%	$12,432,701	14/8/2023
GDM	Great Divide Mining	0.2	0.315	58%	$8,583,750	18/10/2023
GHY	Gold Hydrogen	0.5	0.76	52%	$58,647,213	13/1/2023
JBY	James Bay Minerals	0.2	0.275	38%	$9,084,600	12/9/2023
CC9	Chariot Corp	0.45	0.53	18%	$35,565,810	30/10/2023
GR8	Great Dirt Resources	0.2	0.235	18%	$6,612,608	10/11/2023
BRE	Brazilian Rare Earth	1.47	1.68	14%	$104,255,889	21/12/2023
TOK	Tolu Minerals	0.5	0.55	10%	$32,318,464	10/11/2023
ENL	Enlitic CDI	0.83	0.86	4%	$61,400,000	19/12/2023
NDO	Nido Education	1	0.995	-1%	$220,796,985	16/10/2023
HTM	High-Tech Metals	0.2	0.19	-5%	$4,702,783	23/1/2023
PLN	Pioneer Lithium	0.2	0.19	-5%	$5,400,750	28/9/2023
RDX	Redox	2.55	2.31	-9%	$1,186,684,027	3/7/2023
COV	Cleo Diagnostics	0.2	0.18	-10%	$13,338,000	22/8/2023
FCG	Freedom Care Group	0.2	0.18	-10%	$4,179,684	30/11/2023
NVO	Novo Resources Corp	0.2	0.18	-10%	$8,088,863	11/9/2023
ILT	Iltani Resources	0.2	0.175	-13%	$5,951,838	30/6/2023
CGR	CGN Resources	0.25	0.205	-18%	$18,155,638	18/10/2023
CHW	Chilwaminerals	0.2	0.16	-20%	$7,340,000	5/7/2023
DYM	Dynamic Metals	0.2	0.155	-23%	$5,425,000	16/1/2023
ASK	Abacus Storage King	1.41	1.0875	-23%	$1,406,090,169	1/8/2023
CVB	Curvebeam Ai	0.48	0.37	-23%	$78,057,100	23/8/2023
NGX	NGX	0.2	0.14	-30%	$12,685,658	16/6/2023
EG1	Evergreen Lithium	0.25	0.17	-32%	$9,559,100	11/4/2023
PL3	Patagonia Lithium	0.2	0.135	-33%	$6,632,348	31/3/2023
SQX	SQX Resources	0.2	0.13	-35%	$3,250,000	20/2/2023
ACM	Aus Critical Mineral	0.2	0.12	-40%	$3,849,150	3/7/2023
BM8	Battery Age Minerals	0.4	0.22	-45%	$18,273,062	6/2/2023
AUG	Augustus Minerals	0.2	0.105	-48%	$8,832,600	25/5/2023
VHM	VHM	1.35	0.705	-48%	$109,280,449	9/1/2023
LM1	Leeuwin Metals	0.25	0.13	-48%	$6,442,188	29/3/2023
DY6	Dy6 Metals	0.2	0.098	-51%	$3,870,591	29/6/2023
TNC	True North Copper	0.25	0.1	-60%	$33,067,478	19/6/2023
ADC	Acdc Metals	0.2	0.07	-65%	$3,298,575	17/1/2023
ACE	Acusensus	4	0.9	-78%	$109,967,978	12/1/2023

*Note: there was a 5:1 stock split for ACE

At Stockhead we tell it like it is. While LTR Pharma, Lithium Universe and James Bay Minerals are Stockhead advertisers at the time of writing, they did not sponsor this article.