Which shares excelled?

TPG Telecom (ASX: TPG) was a major talking point after the company announced that it is looking into the prospect of selling its non-mobile fibre assets to Vocus Group. As part of a strategic review of its Vision Network subsidiary, the company received a number of non-binding expressions of interest. 

This included one such approach from Vocus, which TPG categorised as an indicative, highly conditional, non-binding offer, valued at approximately $6.3 billion. Vocus has been conducting due diligence, and while discussions around the deal remain incomplete, nor is there certainty that a deal will be reached, investors bought TPG shares in response to the news.

Several gold stocks put in a positive showing over recent days, including but not limited to Gold Road Resources (ASX: GOR), Bellevue Gold (ASX: BGL), and Emerald Resources (ASX: EMR). While the price of the precious metal has eased since this time last week, the Australian dollar has also shed ground, providing a tailwind for a number of gold miners. Meanwhile, Bellevue Gold reported high-grade gold results at its lead project, with its first gold production scheduled to start next quarter.

Metal detector equipment business Codan (ASX: CDA) was also among the top performers after announcing the acquisition of Eagle NewCo. In a deal valued at $22 million, Codan will take control of the UK command and control solutions business, which specialises in providing mission critical control room communication, as well as workforce management solutions. The acquisition will provide Codan with exposure to clients spanning the UK police force, the London tube, and even Dubai international airport.

Calix (ASX: CXL) shares gained ground after the company’s joint venture agreement with lithium giant Pilbara Minerals got the go-ahead. As such, Calix’s electric kiln technology will play a central role in the mid-steam demonstration plant at Pilbara’s Pilgangoora operations. Investors are clearly excited about the prospect, especially with Pilbara describing the technology as a potential “game-changer” that could drastically cut emissions.

Some of the other names putting on a show this week were Azure Minerals (ASX: AZS), Redox (ASX: RDX), and Fineos (ASX: FCL).

Which shares dragged on the market?

One gold stock that didn’t feel the love-in this week was Silver Lake Resources (ASX: SLR). The company released its June quarterly report, and while it achieved record gold production for FY23, it was the forward-looking guidance that rattled shareholders. 

In particular, management anticipates volumes of between 210,000 and 230,000 ounces of gold in FY24, which is well down compared with the 260,000-plus ounces produced in the most recent financial year. At the same time, costs are expected to remain broadly in line with the preceding period, and could even increase.

Elsewhere, Credit Corp (ASX: CCP) shares took a beating as the company opened ASX reporting season. While US debt buying revenue increased 7%, the company’s debt buying activity across the Australian and New Zealand market fell 2%. In turn, the local division’s net profit after tax slumped 29%. That result largely tells us that there are few signs thus far that Australians are struggling to pay their credit cards, despite interest rates soaring.

On the other hand, lending revenue across the local market soared 58%, with division profit surging 70%. Some of the concerns for the market were a continued ‘run-off’ in the local debt buying division, as well as higher costs in relation to Credit Corp’s US operations. More worryingly for shareholders, the company expects that another year of reduced purchasing activity will “yield a further decline in earnings from the ANZ debt buying segment”.

In the semiconductor space, Weebit Nano (ASX: WBT) was sold off despite releasing positive news. The company, a leading developer of advanced memory technologies for the global semiconductor industry, informed the market that it has fully qualified its Resistive Random-Access Memory (ReRAM) module up to 125 degrees Celsius. 

This is the temperature specified for automotive grade 1 Non-Volatile Memories (NVMs), making it suitable for use in microcontrollers and other automotive components, plus high-temperature industrial and IoT applications. Nonetheless, the stock dropped immediately after that development, with profit takers and short sellers making their move.

Uranium player Energy Resources of Australia (ASX: ERA) released its June quarterly update this week, but the update fell flat with shareholders. At the centre of the report was news that the company has continued the rehabilitation of the mining assets at its Ranger project in Northern Territory, which has been closed since 2021. The company spent approximately $55 million conducting further rehab of the project area in the most recent quarter.

There were major developments at ASX-listed Centuria Capital (ASX: CNI). Two of the company’s property funds unexpectedly slashed the amount of redemptions they are paying to investors, with the business citing the fact that recent requests had exceeded withdrawal limits for the unlisted investment vehicles. Understandably, the news rattled investors’ confidence at a time where the unlisted property funds sector is facing challenges amid weaker property prices.

Also in the doldrums this week were names like GQG Partners (ASX: GQG), Cettire (ASX: CTT), and Star Entertainment Group (ASX: SGR), where share prices slumped.

We’ll be back next week with another Weekly ASX Trading Wrap Up – until then, have a great week!