Azzet reports on three ASX stocks with notable trading updates today.
Dubber rises on plans to recover lost funds
Shares in Dubber (ASX: DUB) were up around 6% after the company told the market it had commenced Federal Court proceedings against its former auditors, BDO Audit.
The call-recording software company is trying to recoup company funds that went missing last year.
Court proceedings follow a shareholder alert early last year that $30 million – understood to be in a term deposit by a third party - was for some unknown reason not available to the company.
While around $3.4 million of these funds was subsequently recovered, it’s hoped that court action can help recover around $26.6 million that remains outstanding.
Last year’s incident led to the sacking of then CEO Steve McGovern and the launch of a $24 million emergency capital raise to replace the missing cash.
What ensued was a six-week trading halt.
While the funds were supposed to be held in trust, the board believed they may have been misused by either or both McGovern and the trustee Christopher William Legal.
Meantime, while Dubber is suing its former auditors, BDO for negligence in audit performance, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has obtained court orders preventing McGovern and the third-party trustee, Mark Madafferi, principal of Christopher William Legal, from leaving Australia.
Meanwhile, it’s understood that BDO Audits' lawyers have denied assertions that if it wasn’t for their conduct, Dubber would not have suffered the loss that it did - as the known parties would have been unable to misappropriate the funds or otherwise the funds would have been partly or wholly recovered.
Dubber is also planning to initiate separate proceedings against known parties and in some cases against their associated professional bodies and insurers, seeking restoration of misappropriated funds and associated interest and costs.
Today’s announcement follows a 14% fall in the stock's share price in late January, after it confirmed it had repaid the Australian Tax Office (ATO) $6.8 million for historical tax liabilities and agreed an unsecured loan facility of $5 million with major shareholder Thorney Investment Group.
The Company reported $16.5 million of available working capital as at 31 March 2025.
Dubber has a market cap of $47 million; the share price is down 37% in one year and up 5% in the last week.
The stock’s shares appear to be in a long-term bearish trend confirmed by multiple indicators.
Consensus does not cover this stock.
The stock is currently trading at $0.018.
Bauxite developer VBX rises on first day of trading
The market gave VBX Limited (ASX: VBX) - sole owner of the Wuudagu bauxite project in Western Australia - a strong vote of confidence today, with the newly-listed stock up around 15% heading into lunch.
Established in 2013 Perth-based VBX will join $336 million Brisbane-based Metro Mining (ASX: MMI) as the second bauxite pure-play with ASX-listed exposure.
Wuudagu Bauxite Project, which is understood to be in advanced development, has a 96 million-tonne mineral resource.
A definitive feasibility study (DFS) is expected in 12 months and the miner is targeting first production within two years of listing.
The miner also has an early-stage project in the Northern Territory named Takapinga.
“Successfully completing the IPO and commencing trading on the ASX are important milestones that allow us to fund key development work streams at our industry-leading Wuudagu Bauxite Project as we target first production by the end of next year,” said VBX founder and managing director Ryan de Franck.
Given that Bauxite has been one of the best-performing commodities over the past 2 years, with Australian bauxite prices rising over 70% to highs, VBX’s ascent to the bourse looks well timed.
It’s understood that China has increased bauxite imports at a 25% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) over the past 20 years, which means it will need another 39 million tonnes annually by 2035.
While Guinea accounts for 74% of these imports, Australia is currently supplying 22%.
At 31 December 2024, the miner had $1,864,989 (30 June 2024: $3,522) in cash and cash equivalents and will require additional funding to continue to carry out its exploration activities and meet its expenditure requirements.
Based on the current share price, the stock has a market cap of $28 million.
CSL trades sideways following FDA approval
United States’ Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval is always lauded as a big deal given that it’s the gateway to bringing new product to market and at scale.
However, revelations today that CSL (ASX: CSL) had received FDA approval for a new drug did little to ignite market excitement, with the pharmaceutical giant struggling to maintain a glimmer of gains at the open.
The stock was up 0.3% on the news that the FDA has approved Andembry for immediate launch in the United States.
Andembry helps prevent attacks of hereditary angioedema (HAE).
It is the first and only treatment targeting factor XIIa for prophylactic use to provide sustained protection from attacks of HAE in adult and paediatric patients aged 12 years and older. The release notes that HAE occurs in about 1 in 50,000 people of any ethnic group.
This therapy is also the only treatment to offer once-monthly dosing from the start for all patients and is administered via an autoinjector.
The company highlights that it inhibits the top of the HAE cascade by targeting factor XIIa.
Today’s announced FDA approval adds to other recent approvals for the treatment, including in Australia, the UK, the EU, Japan, Switzerland and the United Arab Emirates.
The company plans to launch Andembry in the U.S. immediately, with availability expected through its third-party specialty pharmacy network before the end of June.
Given that CSL is trading at a 25% discount to its 5-year high, today’s announcement appears to have met with a curiously muted investor response.
Meanwhile, Bell Potter continues to rate CSL shares as a buy with a $335.00 price target.
With margin recovery expected to drive above-market earnings growth over the next few years, the broker see the current share price as a buying opportunity.
“CSL trades at a 12-month forward PE of 22x, representing a discount to its 10-year average of 31x, the broker notes.
“Furthermore, the company will continue to deleverage the balance sheet over the next few years.
Given the company's proven quality and growth prospects, we believe significant upside remains.”
In the half year to 31 December 2024, CSL reported net profit after tax of $2.01 billion and expects FY25 expects it to be between $3.2 billion to $3.3 billion at constant currency, representing growth over FY24 of around 10-13%.
CSL has a market cap of $115 billion; the share price is down 17% over one year and down around 1% over the last month.
Sentiment among investors has been weak, resulting in a bearish sloping 200-day moving average.
Consensus is Moderate Buy.
This article does not constitute financial or product advice. You should consider independent advice before making financial decisions.
