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Closing Bell: ASX gains ground as fintech IPO Beforepay goes belly-up
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Local stocks end up posting a solid session on Monday, following some steady gains on Wall Street on Friday night.
Things looked shaky early, but the ASX 200 steadied in afternoon trade to finish around 0.5% higher.
ASX 200 tech stocks rose by around 0.7% after the Nasdaq index outperformed to end the week.
Gold stocks came under pressure, while money moved back into consumer stocks (grocery chains and retailers) as investors assess the domestic economy’s capacity to withstand Omicron.
On the IPO front, fintech debutante Beforepay (ASX:B4P) attracted most of the headlines — probably for the wrong reasons.
After raising $35m from investors at $3.41, B4P shares slumped more than 40% to close on day below $2.
The company counts former Westpac CEO Brian Hartzer as its chairman, and is offering investors access to a business model that provides customers a ‘pay-on-demand’ service which gives them instant access to their pay in exchange for a fixed 5% fee.
TODAY’S BIGGEST SMALL CAP WINNERS
(Stocks highlighted in yellow rose after making announcements during the trading day).
Scroll or swipe to reveal table. Click headings to sort.
| Code | Company | Price | % | Volume |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ADV | Ardiden Ltd | 0.0165 | 37.5% | 126,331,804 |
| LM8 | Lunnon Metals | 0.715 | 33.6% | 4,460,973 |
| ARR | American Rare Earths | 0.255 | 30.8% | 10,352,047 |
| COB | Cobalt Blue Ltd | 0.645 | 27.7% | 3,956,289 |
| LSR | Lodestar Minerals | 0.012 | 26.3% | 91,313,642 |
| GTG | Genetic Technologies | 0.005 | 25.0% | 18,347,495 |
| RNU | Renascor Res Ltd | 0.29 | 23.4% | 37,906,750 |
| CHR | Charger Metals | 0.715 | 23.3% | 3,340,427 |
| GRE | Greentechmetals | 0.4 | 23.1% | 1,595,560 |
| SI6 | SI6 Metals Limited | 0.011 | 22.2% | 15,724,745 |
| ESS | Essential Metals Ltd | 0.56 | 21.7% | 18,244,978 |
| QGL | Quantum Graphite | 0.235 | 20.5% | 1,237,006 |
| BEM | Blackearth Minerals | 0.18 | 20.0% | 4,874,272 |
| RMX | Red Mount Min Ltd | 0.012 | 20.0% | 14,868,952 |
| GT1 | Greentechnology | 1.085 | 19.9% | 6,646,128 |
| HNR | Hannans Ltd | 0.056 | 19.1% | 28,050,588 |
| CAE | Cannindah Resources | 0.25 | 19.0% | 1,128,276 |
| ALM | Alma Metals Ltd | 0.032 | 18.5% | 1,008,388 |
| TNR | Torian Resources Ltd | 0.032 | 18.5% | 24,137,886 |
| AZL | Arizona Lithium Ltd | 0.13 | 18.2% | 58,135,005 |
| ITM | Itech Minerals Ltd | 0.305 | 17.3% | 2,018,839 |
| JTL | Jayex Technology Ltd | 0.021 | 16.7% | 1,124,183 |
| AOA | Ausmon Resorces | 0.007 | 16.7% | 8,648,865 |
| WCN | White Cliff Min Ltd | 0.028 | 16.7% | 19,572,655 |
| GTN | GTN Limited | 0.675 | 16.4% | 83,127 |
Among a spate of resources winners to start the week, Ardiden (ASX:ADV) closed highest, courtesy of good news from its joint venture lithium project with Green Technology Metals (ASX:GT1) in Ontario, Canada.
Drilling at the project — in which GT1 holds a 51% stake — returned a thick 40m intersection at 1.54% lithium, which gives it plenty of upside, the two companies said, with a further 10 holes yet to be drilled in a 3,500m drilling program.
Also posting strong gains on Monday was Lunnon Metals (ASX:LM8) after flagging strong drilling results including “7m @ 9.22% nickel only 120m below surface” at its Baker Shoot prospect, an emerging discovery within the Kambalda nickel project.
More broadly, the Monday winner’s list had a noticeable lean towards battery metals stocks, as investors continue to move towards structural supply gaps as part of the global EV thematic.
TODAY’S BIGGEST SMALL CAP LOSERS
(Stocks highlighted in yellow fell after making announcements during the trading day).
Scroll or swipe to reveal table. Click headings to sort.
| Code | Company | Price | % | Volume |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| B4P | Beforepay Group | 1.92 | -43.7% | 1,374,543 |
| PBL | Parabellumresources | 0.2 | -20.0% | 78,830 |
| JAV | Javelin Minerals Ltd | 0.002 | -20.0% | 971,689 |
| MLS | Metals Australia | 0.002 | -20.0% | 25,366,641 |
| YPB | YPB Group Ltd | 0.002 | -20.0% | 3,456,182 |
| CPV | Clearvue Technologie | 0.4 | -16.7% | 3,609,113 |
| VPR | Volt Power Group | 0.0025 | -16.7% | 1,066,335 |
| NAE | New Age Exploration | 0.0165 | -13.2% | 61,596,434 |
| RR1 | Reach Resources Ltd | 0.007 | -12.5% | 5,418,131 |
| XST | Xstate Resources | 0.0035 | -12.5% | 19,928,720 |
| FFT | Future First Tech | 0.035 | -12.5% | 89,182 |
| MCM | Mc Mining Ltd | 0.08 | -12.1% | 4,538 |
| TI1 | Tombador Iron | 0.046 | -11.5% | 2,325,736 |
| FNT | Frontier Resources | 0.024 | -11.1% | 9,456,434 |
| CDX | Cardiex Limited | 0.056 | -11.1% | 4,181,202 |
| AO1 | Assetowl Limited | 0.004 | -11.1% | 645,333 |
| AXP | AXP Energy Ltd | 0.008 | -11.1% | 609,133 |
| EVE | EVE Health Group Ltd | 0.004 | -11.1% | 6,409,991 |
| PNN | PepinNini Minerals | 0.51 | -10.5% | 2,056,589 |
| NET | Netlinkz Limited | 0.017 | -10.5% | 3,494,491 |
| MI6 | Minerals260Limited | 0.63 | -10.0% | 1,329,660 |
| VTX | Vertexmin | 0.18 | -10.0% | 2,704,172 |
| TMK | Tamaska Oil Gas Ltd | 0.009 | -10.0% | 2,204,600 |
Described by its founder Tarek Ayoub as the next generation of buy now, pay later (BNPL), Beforepay joined the boards this morning following a major negative re-rate for the listed BNPL sector.
Sector leader (and soon-to-be Block Inc subsidiary) Afterpay is down more than 60% from its all-time highs, with falls of around 80% for other companies in the space.
Beforepay provides a similar service, except instead of paying merchants up front in return for a fee, it provides customers the option to access their employee pay earlier, with variable repayment terms between 7-14 days.
B4P raised a healthy $35m at its IPO but the market was unconvinced on day one, and tech investors will be watching its near-term fortunes in a post-COVID environment where higher interest rates have been flagged and a number of high-growth tech stocks have come under pressure.
ANNOUNCEMENTS YOU MAY HAVE MISSED
Shares in 140-year-old masonry maker Adbri (ASX:ABC) have jumped 7.5% to $3 after Morgan Stanley upgraded the stock to overweight and a major supply contract was extended.
Adbri subsidiary Cockburn Cement secured an extension of its quicklime supply contract with US industrials giant Alcoa.
The extension adds an extra year of supply with the end of the existing arrangement moved from January 31, 2022 to 31 January 2023.
Teleco Reverse Corp (ASX:REF) has announced it is being removed from the ASX in accordance with listing rule 3.4
If you’re wondering what is rule 3.4 it relates to disclosure around a takeover bid. Niche telco service provider Reverse Bid operates in the reverse charge calling market.
The brief announcement said the board would “continue to seek any viable opportunities for the company” and should an opportunity arise “will notify the shareholders accordingly”.
INOVIQ (ASX:IIQ), formerly known as BARD1 Life Sciences, has announced another patent to its growing list. Titled Kits for detecting breast or ovarian cancer in body fluid sample and use thereof the patent was issued by the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
The patent provides protection for INOVIQ’s BARD1 autoantibody tests for detection of breast or ovarian cancer in the USA. The company now has three granted patents enforcing protection in the key US and European markets for its BARD1, with the latest expiring in 2032.
TRADING HALTS
Astro Resources (ASX:ARO) — capital raising
Southern Hemisphere Mining (ASX:SUH) — exploration results and capital raising
DXN Ltd (ASX:DXN) — management changes
