A +$500m zircon play and a clinical stage health stock led gains on the NSX in September

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The National Stock Exchange (ASX:NSX) is Australia’s secondary stock market.

A total of 50 companies trade on the NSX (with seven currently in suspension), and the index provides a trading platform for a cross-section of companies that operate in sectors spanning financial services, resources, healthcare and consumer discretionary.

On the larger ASX, September proved to be an interesting month as iron ore prices continued falling while lingering inflation fears induced a touch more volatility to post-COVID bull markets.

With that in mind, Stockhead combed through the NSX data to see which companies outperformed last month.

Of the 50 NSX companies, we counted 11 stocks that traded in September. Here’s how they performed:

While most of the stocks on the list traded at or near flat, VGI Health Technology (NSX:VTL) was the clear standout with a gain of 66.7%.

Recently renamed from Azure, VTL was previously called Moko Media Ltd and was listed on the ASX.

It’s now a clinical phase biotechnology company, and it listed on the NSX in May with an IPO that raised $2.5m at 20c per share.

In mid-September, VTL announced that its US-based subsidiary has approved the protocols for a clinical study on NE1-Elite — a patented nutraceutical product that “has been shown in previous clinical studies to reduce Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness (DOMS)” and improve recovery after exercise, the company said.

VTL didn’t trade in August and started the month at 15c. Through six trades — varying in volume between 250 shares and 20,000 shares — the stock climbed steadily throughout the month of September.

The gains accompanied a steady run of news flow for VTL, which also released its annual report on September 22.

The NSX is also home to a +$500m market cap mining company — mineral sands explorer PYX Resources (NSX:PYX).

Recent data shows the stock is the most liquid on the index, with shares trading hands on 13 business days in September.

The stock rose steadily throughout the month to close at $1.38 — up 7.8% from August 31 – and it’s continued to edge higher in October.

During September, PYX released its half-year results to June 31 where it booked revenues of US$4.6m and increased year-on-year zircon production by 25%.

PYX is “the world’s 2nd largest producing mineral sands company based on zircon resources”, the company said.

The company has been in production since 2015, with JORC Inferred resources of 14.9 million tonnes of heavy minerals, including 10.5mt of JORC compliant zircon resources.

Zircon prices have climbed sharply in 2021, and last month PYX introduced a new price increase for its premium zircon — to US$2,305 per tonne.

“Since the beginning of 2021, the Company has increased its prices by a total of US$910 per tonne over 4 separate price increases,” PYX said.

PYX said it secured additional business in April this year with a China-based producer of fused zirconia, which requires premium zircon for the manufacturing process. The company said it may also pursue a second listing on the London Stock Exchange (LSE).

At the other end of the list, Australian Adventure Tourism Group (ASX:AAT) led the laggards with a 50% fall in September, from 10c to 5c.

AAT released its annual report on September 13 and 10 days later, flagged plans to offer its Magnums Properties at Airlie Beach in the Whitsundays — which it has owned an operated for 33 years — for sale to “prospective developers with an interest in further developing its extensive tourism potential”.

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