ASX Large Caps: AGL rejects takeover bid, BNPL slumps as the ASX 200 closes higher

ASX large caps rounup 21 Feb 2022. Pic: Getty

Local shares swung into positive territory following news that French President Macron had brokered a last ditch deal for Putin and Biden to meet on the Ukraine issue.

At around 12.15pm AEDT, French media reported that Putin and Biden will hold a summit to “discuss security and strategic stability in Europe”.

The ASX 200, which was trading lower by 0.5% at the time, rallied when the news broke out and finished the day 0.27% higher

Cyclical sectors were the main beneficiaries, with Utilities and Staples rising by 4% and 2.5% respectively. But the Tech sector, which already lost 3% last week, fell by another 2.75% today.

Gold and oil meanwhile, retreated after earlier gains.

Geopolitics aside, investors are nervously watching the US inflation for December, which will be released on Wednesday US time.

In corporate news, the main highlight today was AGL Energy’s rejection of a takeover offer led by a Brookfield Asset Management consortium that included billionaire Mike Cannon-Brookes.

BIG CAP WINNERS

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Code	Name	Price	% Change	Volume	Market Cap
A2M	The A2 Milk Company	5.89	11.1%	15,729,926	$3,941,379,598
AGL	AGL Energy Limited.	7.91	10.5%	15,957,059	$4,713,994,743
EDV	Endeavour	7.16	10.0%	8,624,820	$11,659,279,911
CNU	Chorus Limited	6.86	9.9%	445,082	$2,813,473,223
ABB	Aussie Broadband	4.85	7.8%	1,600,754	$1,007,243,780
EVT	Event Hospitality	15.3	5.0%	133,224	$2,348,618,741
QBE	QBE Insurance Group	12.12	4.9%	5,269,845	$17,053,722,447
CGF	Challenger Limited	7.05	4.8%	2,317,058	$4,564,059,159
DDR	Dicker Data Limited	15	4.2%	98,490	$2,489,539,162
CQE	Charter Hall Soc In	4	3.9%	851,938	$1,404,429,195
ABR	American Pacific	2.725	3.6%	1,349,783	$1,098,512,239
NWL	Netwealth Group	14.55	3.5%	587,330	$3,428,007,982
JRV	Jervois Global Ltd	0.6925	3.4%	6,443,256	$1,017,968,428
TPG	TPG Telecom Limited	5.96	2.9%	1,738,078	$10,765,588,264
APA	APA Group	10.18	2.8%	935,691	$11,680,949,095
SPK	Spark New Zealand	4.3	2.6%	1,186,361	$7,832,884,297
WPL	Woodside Petroleum	28.16	2.6%	3,382,003	$26,606,697,305
RMS	Ramelius Resources	1.5325	2.5%	4,377,047	$1,296,740,738
CEN	Contact Energy Ltd	7.77	2.5%	947	$1,866,102,667

Investors gave AGL Energy (ASX:AGL)’s board the thumbs up after it it rejected takeover advances from a consortium led by Brookfield Asset Management that included Mike Cannon-Brookes’ Grok Ventures.

The offer, which was made on the weekend, was for $7.50, almost 5% above AGL’s Friday closing price of $7.16. The AGL surged by 10.5% today to $7.91, after reaching its highest level in seven months of $8.04 earlier in the day.

A2 Milk (ASX:A2M) rallied after reporting a 2.5% increase in half year revenue on pcp to NZ$661m. But its bottom line earnings saw a decline of 53% to NZ$56m.

Management however says it is “confident in the long-term China infant milk formula market”, which is part of why the A2M stock price is up today.

Endeavour Group (ASX:EDV) rallied after it reported a 15.6% increase in group NPAT to $311m for the first half. Management said it was a really positive result during a period which was heavily impacted by COVID-19.

BIG CAP LOSERS

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Code	Name	Price	% Change	Volume	Market Cap
TYR	Tyro Payments	1.625	-25.5%	32,080,427	$1,126,561,116
CTT	Cettire	2.32	-11.8%	582,163	$1,002,656,519
PBH	Pointsbet Holdings	4.01	-10.9%	2,823,533	$1,189,256,211
SUL	Super Ret Rep Ltd	11.66	-9.3%	2,702,254	$2,901,870,525
Z1P	Zip Co Ltd.	2.36	-8.2%	9,838,942	$1,513,305,652
BRN	Brainchip Ltd	1.3	-7.5%	23,091,198	$2,408,678,812
SQ2	Block	134.06	-6.6%	168,738	$13,696,274,194
IGO	IGO Limited	11.45	-6.5%	4,526,362	$9,276,530,709
SWM	Seven West Media Ltd	0.6275	-6.3%	5,288,029	$1,065,379,220
WAF	West African Res Ltd	1.12	-6.3%	5,986,861	$1,220,026,867
ALU	Altium Limited	32.4	-6.0%	873,862	$4,533,053,603
LOV	Lovisa Holdings Ltd	16.1	-5.6%	435,201	$1,833,261,561
FCL	Fineos Corp Hold PLC	3.68	-5.4%	34,104	$1,241,420,107
CXO	Core Lithium	0.795	-5.4%	21,892,412	$1,423,236,569
NVX	Novonix Limited	5.32	-5.2%	3,421,836	$2,725,509,307
EML	EML Payments Ltd	2.58	-5.1%	4,196,231	$1,015,766,984
IMU	Imugene Limited	0.285	-5.0%	17,550,699	$1,754,030,756
HLS	Healius	4.2	-5.0%	2,735,626	$2,754,356,424
HTA	Hutchison	0.1	-4.8%	265,000	$1,425,113,401

Tyro Payments (ASX:TYR) plunged 26% after its EBITDA was down 67% YoY for the half, despite the company reporting record transaction volumes.

Pointsbet (ASX:PBH) share price sank 10.5% despite the sports betting company announcing the successful launch of ts online and mobile sports betting offerings in the state of New York.

BNPL stocks also made another appearance on the large cap losers table, as new Afterpay owner Block Inc (ASX:SQ2) fell almost 10% to $133.90, while Zip Co (ASX:Z1P) also dipped sharply following its half-year trading update.

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