LTR Pharma helped prop up a flaccid Aussie IPO scene in 2023 with a winning ROI
\nLithium Universe wasn\u2019t far behind, leading battery metal newcomers<\/p>\n
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As you may be aware, 2023 was a challenging year overall for IPO (Initial Public Offering) launches in Australia<\/a>.<\/p>\n In fact, that\u2019s putting it lightly \u2013 in total, it was the worst capital-raising year for Aussie floats since 1995.<\/p>\n And it was a reflection of the global IPO market landscape, which saw volumes falling by 8% and proceeds down by 33% compared with 2022, according to a report<\/a> from E&Y. (Stats that the accounting firm believes could pick up in 2024, by the way.)<\/p>\n But that\u2019s not to say there weren\u2019t some rip-roaring success stories among them \u2013 at least 10 IPOs ended up on the right side of the year\u2019s ROI ledger (see full chart further below).<\/p>\n And because we like a positive yarn at Stockhead<\/em>, here, we recap the top five of those, beginning with a surprising late-year entry which burst onto the biotech scene with a completely unique offering\u2026<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n 2023 return: <\/strong>65%<\/p>\n IPO price: <\/strong>0.20<\/p>\n Current price:<\/strong> 0.325<\/p>\n Amount raised:<\/strong> $7 million<\/p>\n Market cap: <\/strong>$22.88 million<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Performance enhancement for erectile dysfunction drugs has been a long time coming. And it so turns out LTR Pharma is the firm most likely to deliver it \u2013 via simple and effective means.<\/p>\n The clinical stage, biotech company is pioneering a novel intranasal (spray) technology called SPONTAN, which is designed to treat erectile dysfunction in 10 minutes or less.<\/p>\n SPONTAN is said to provide on-demand delivery and faster effect. A lower dose provides less systematic exposure and reduced side effect.<\/p>\n As LTP independent non-executive director Dr Julian Chick told Stockhead<\/em> late last year, it\u2019s a simple and engaging story for investors to get around:<\/p>\n A the core of Spontan \u201cis a very simple proposition\u201d, a simple unique selling point \u2013 speed and spontaneity.\u201d<\/p>\n In mid December, clinical data for SPONTAN, originally published in The Journal of Sexual Medicine<\/em>, was presented at the World Meeting on Sexual Medicine (WMSM) in Dubai.<\/p>\n The study showed that the intranasal formulation achieved more rapid plasma concentration with one-third dose when compared with the oral administration method of delivering erectile dysfunction treatments.<\/p>\n Read more about LTR Pharma and SPONTAN here > Huge IPO interest and not lithium? LTR Pharma could be the next big thing on the ASX<\/a><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n 2023 return: <\/strong>60%<\/p>\n IPO price: <\/strong>0.20<\/p>\n Current price:<\/strong> 0.27<\/p>\n Amount raised:<\/strong> $3 million<\/p>\n Market cap:<\/strong> $10.49 million<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Lithium stocks by and large struggled last year as the lithium narrative waned on falling spodumene prices and reports of supply overstocking globally.<\/p>\n But, there were<\/em> standout performers, in particular Wildcat Resources (ASX:WC8)<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0with an utterly stupendous 1,900% return.<\/p>\n And at least some of the newcomers that did raise and float, performed very well indeed.<\/p>\n Lithium trailblazer Iggy Tan\u2019s Lithium Universe was the year\u2019s second-most-successful IPO, following the completion of its 2023 summer\/fall exploration work program at the Apollo lithium project in Canada.<\/p>\n The project boasts geological and geophysical characteristics similar to well-known spodumene pegmatites in the area such as Patriot Battery Metals\u2019 (ASX:PMT) 109.2Mt Corvette property \u2013 just 29km away \u2013 and Winsome Resources\u2019 (ASX:WR1) Adina property, another 28km away.<\/p>\n And adding to the exploration operations, LU7 CEO Alex Hanly recently told Stockhead<\/em> that the company \u201cbrought in some key lithium players and experience into the group to further the broader \u2018Quebec lithium processing hub\u2019 vision and strategy.<\/p>\n \u201cWe brought on both Hatch Engineering and Primero Group to further those engineering studies.\u201d<\/p>\n Read further about what\u2019s in store for LU7 2024 > here<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n 2023 return: <\/strong>58%<\/p>\n IPO price: <\/strong>0.20<\/p>\n Current price:<\/strong> 0.30<\/p>\n Amount raised:<\/strong> $5 million<\/p>\n Market cap:<\/strong> $8.18 million<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n This Brisbane-based gold, antimony and critical metals explorer made an immediate impression on investors following its ASX listing in August, and a strong level of interest was generally maintained in following months.<\/p>\n It helped that it reported a maiden inferred mineral resource estimate (MRE) at its Yellow Jack project was on the cards and highly anticipated.<\/p>\n That came in at: 1.84Mt at 0.86g\/t gold (Au) for 51,100oz contained gold.<\/p>\n Yellow Jack, located in Greenvale, Queensland, is a shallow, open-resource site that has close proximity to existing heap leach and Carbon-in-Pulp process plants enabling project development with limited capital expenditure.<\/p>\n Since the MRE report, the company has revealed strong assay results from diamond drilling at Yellow Jack, including gold intercepts of: 12m at 2.70g\/t Au from 25m depth in one hole, including 6m at 4.15g\/t Au from 30m depth; and 6.2m at 1.1g\/t Au from 80m depth in another hole.<\/p>\n Last week, GDM\u2019s CEO Justin Haines said that the new assay results indicate \u201cthat the gold mineralisation is of higher concentration in certain areas and extends further along strike and at depth than initially anticipated.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are undertaking a full 3D interpretation of the Yellow Jack gold system, which will be completed over the coming weeks, and are now well placed to consider an update of our previously announced JORC Mineral Resource Estimate.\u201d<\/p>\n Stay tuned.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n 2023 return: <\/strong>52%<\/p>\n IPO price: <\/strong>0.50<\/p>\n Current price:<\/strong> 0.725<\/p>\n Amount raised:<\/strong> $20 million<\/p>\n Market cap:<\/strong> $55.58 million<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n In late December, this energy stock was leading the year\u2019s ASX IPOs with a 90% return, so it ended up falling away a tad. Still, zooming out, it had an impressive year after listing back in January.<\/p>\n Much of GHY\u2019s positive activity didn\u2019t arrive until early November, though, after the company announced significant concentrations of hydrogen and helium encountered in sections of the Ramsay 1 well, demonstrating an active hydrogen system in the Ramsay Project area.<\/p>\n Then, in early December, Gold Hydrogen reported that its Ramsay 2 well exploration had been completed, and that high helium concentrations were found, reaching up to 6.8% in raw gas from the Kulpara Formation.<\/p>\n Despite being only the second well in the company\u2019s exploration program, multiple data points throughout the drilling campaign indicate the potential for a significant helium reservoir and a prolific helium system at the Ramsay project site.<\/p>\n Subsequent exploration, analysis and future flow testing will provide a clearer picture of this promising opportunity, the company said.<\/p>\n Gold Hydrogen\u2019s MD, Neil McDonald recently described the Ramsay 2 hydrogen and helium findings as \u201ctruly world-class and groundbreaking\u201d, adding:<\/p>\n \u201cThe drilling of Ramsay 2 and the collection of extensive data during this program has enabled the company to not only confirm and validate the historical results but also identify multiple target zones for both hydrogen and helium.\u201d<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n 2023 return: <\/strong>38%<\/p>\n IPO price: <\/strong>0.20<\/p>\n Current price:<\/strong> 0.255<\/p>\n Amount raised:<\/strong> $6.2 million<\/p>\n Market cap:<\/strong> $8.13 million<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Another lithium stonker, this Canadian-based miner hit the ASX in September, after acquiring a 100% interest in one of the largest lithium exploration portfolios in the white-hot \u201cwhite gold\u201d James Bay region, covering an area of 34,572ha or 346km2.<\/p>\n The stock quickly soared to 0.52 per share, but has been consolidating ever since, albeit well enough in the green to make this list and register a solid 2023 entrance.<\/p>\n In early November, the company said it had strategically increased its La Grande Project area, which makes up the majority of its portfolio in the region, by 70% to 30,168ha (302km2).<\/p>\n That\u2019s a landholding increase of 12,116ha (121km2) for La Grande, while adjoining site \u2013 the Aqua Property, which is along trend from FIN Resources\u2019 (ASX:FIN)<\/a> recent outcropping spodumene discovery, has reportedly been increased by 5,578ha (56km2).<\/p>\n The company\u2019s La Grande Project is a highly prospective lithium property located along trend from\u00a0Winsome Resources\u2019 (ASX: WR1)<\/a>\u00a0Cancet Lithium Project, and\u00a0Patriot Battery Metals\u2019 (ASX:PMT)<\/a>\u00a0world-class CV5 deposit.<\/p>\n And in other recent eye-opening news for JBY, it reported early December that a significant number (more than 120 now) of new LCT pegmatite targets have been generated from airborne LiDAR at the Aqua Property.<\/p>\n JBY executive director James Dornan noted at the time: \u201cGiven we have the three keygeological ingredients for giant LCT lithium-pegmatite deposits \u2013 along with FIN Resources\u2019 spodumene discovery on the border of our property \u2013 our confidence in the prospectivity at Aqua and the potential fora significant lithium discovery continues to grow.\u201d<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Swipe or scroll to reveal the full table. Click headings to sort.<\/p>\n WordPress Table Plugin<\/a><\/p>\n *Note: there was a 5:1 stock split for ACE<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n At Stockhead we tell it like it is. While LTR Pharma, Lithium Universe and James Bay Minerals are Stockhead advertisers at the time of writing, they did not sponsor this article.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n The post Raised and risen: LTR Pharma floated to top of Aussie IPO pool in 2023, ahead of LU7<\/a> appeared first on Stockhead<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"LTR Pharma (ASX:LTP)<\/strong><\/a><\/h2>\n
Lithium Universe (ASX:LU7)<\/strong><\/a><\/h2>\n
Great Divide Mining (ASX:GDM)<\/strong><\/a><\/h2>\n
Gold Hydrogen (ASX:GHY)<\/strong><\/a><\/h2>\n
James Bay Minerals (ASX:JBY)<\/strong><\/a><\/h2>\n
The final scorecard for 2023 ASX IPOs<\/h2>\n