Winners and Losers: Microcaps rally despite gloom in global markets
Some of the smaller listed SA companies enjoyed retail investor interest this week amid a broader downturn on the ASX driven by continued uncertainty around the situation in the Middle East.
A company turning banana plantation waste into fibre and biodegradable food packaging landed on top of the Winners list this week, rallying after announcing a series of capital raising initiatives to underpin its operations.
Papyrus Australia shares rose by 22.22 per cent over the trading week, after telling shareholders it had tapped professional investors for $175,000.
It also secured short-term loans worth $150,000, and flagged it wanted to raise up to $536,154 in additional funds. Restructuring of other loans is also on the cards to bolster the business’s cash reserves.
Papyrus said it would use the money to progress its regular operations and to support the delivery of a contract with Mining Solutions Pty Ltd for the manufacture of a biodegradable mining product.
Healthtech company Oakridge – valued at just $2 million – also landed in the Winners list. The company made no major announcements and rallied on the back of just $1089 in trades.
It was a similar story in the Losers list, with little news announced. Vintage Energy, the biggest Loser of the week, bounced around during the week but closed down 25 per cent on Friday afternoon.
Earlier in the week, the business announced it had entered into an agreement with Vault Energy to sell gas that could be produced from its proposed Northern Territory well called Cullen.
“Today’s announcement is a promising advance in our long-held plans to test, and hopefully commercialise, Cullen,” Vintage managing director Neil Gibbins said.
“Our plans for this had been in suspension from 2019 due to access uncertainty.
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“Now, with the expectation that issue will be resolved in the near future, we have agreement with Vault for collaboration and definition of the commercial arrangements for gas supply from the well in the event of favourable test results.”
Broadly, the Australian share market broke a four-week winning streak as persistent uncertainty regarding the Iran war and the continued closure of the Strait of Hormuz rattled investors.
The full list of Winners and Losers for the week ended April 24:
Data via Baker Young Limited analysts.
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