Clean Seas Seafood (ASX:CSS) sales soar: Aus shares close 0.1% higher

 

The ASX200 rose at the open, peaked just after midday but lost ground over the afternoon still managing to scrape in 0.1 per cent higher. High-grade base metal explorer Cobre (ASX:CBE) successfully listed today. As for the sectors, today Information Technology led the day and Real Estate Investment Trusts fell lower.

The S&P/ASX200 index

At the closing bell the S&P/ASX 200 index closed 9 points higher to finish at 7,017.

Over the week, the market has shed 1.04 per cent.

Futures market

Dow futures are suggesting a lift of 62 points
S&P 500 futures are eyeing a rise of 5 points.
The Nasdaq futures are eyeing a lift of 20 points.
And the ASX200 futures are eyeing a 19 point rise on Monday morning.

Economic News

The Australian Bureau of Statistics has released figures for Producer Price Indexes for December 2019. Final demand (excluding exports) rose 0.3 per cent compared to the previous quarter. The index was up 1.4 per cent over the 12 months to the December 2019 quarter.

Broker moves

Shares in Adelaide Brighton (ASX:ABC) are down over 3 per cent today after Macquarie downgraded the company. The broker downgraded it from a neutral to an underperform, with a 12 month price target of $3.30. It is concerned that the company faces challenges in its strategically important South Australian market. The broker assumes no price growth. Shares in Adelaide Brighton (ASX:ABC) closed 3.5 per cent lower at $3.64.

Company news

Clean Seas Seafood (ASX:CSS) has released its second quarter 2020 financial year cash flow statement and an update on business progress. It achieved positive cash flow from operations of $3.2 million – that’s an increase of $1.1 million versus the first half of the 2019 financial year. It boasts strong sales growth in the first half of the 2020 financial year with sales revenue up by 14 per cent versus the first half of the 2019 financial year. The Company settled its legal action against Gibson’s for $15 million, which it received in January 2020. Furthermore, the company says “fish health remains excellent with biomass weight up 14 per cent” over the past 12 months. Shares in Clean Seas Seafood (ASX:CSS) closed 2.1 per cent higher at 73 cents.

Emeco Holdings (ASX:EHL) has raised $55 million under an institutional entitlement offer at $2.07 per share.

Frontier Digital Ventures (ASX:FDV) reports record revenue following the release of its preliminary results for the 12 months ended 31 December 2019. Full year portfolio revenue is up 75 per cent to $72.5 million.

Link Administration Holdings (ASX:LNK) has been a top performer today after news that it had entered into a binding agreement to acquire Pepper European Servicing for an upfront payment of $266 million.

IPO

Cobre (ASX:CBE) began trading today. The newly listed company is focused on the exploration and discovery of new high-grade base metal deposits. It floated with an issue price of 20 cents, opened at 23 cents and closed at 25 cents.

Best and worst performers of the day

The best performing sector was Infotech adding 1.7 per cent while the worst performing sector was Communications, shedding 0.3 per cent.

The best performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200 was Link Administration Holdings (ASX:LNK) rising 9.7 per cent to close at $6.81, followed by shares in GUD Holdings (ASX:GUD) and Avita Medical (ASX:AVH).

The worst performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200 was PolyNovo (ASX:PNV), dropping 5.1 per cent to close at $2.80. Shares in Gold Road Resources (ASX:GOR) and Adelaide Brighton (ASX:ABC) followed.

Asian markets are mostly higher. Japan’s Nikkei has added 1.3 per cent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng has gained 0.3 per cent and the Shanghai Composite is closed.

Wall Street

Wrapped up our four trading days this week in negative territory: The Dow Jones lost 4.5 per cent, The S&P 500 was down 0.4 per cent and the tech heavy Nasdaq lost 0.2 per cent.

Commodities and the dollar

Gold is trading at US$1,573 an ounce.
Iron ore price has lost 2.2 per cent to US$84.94.
Iron ore futures are pointing to a fall of 2.3 per cent.
Light crude is 81 cents higher at US$52.95 a barrel.
One Australian dollar is buying 67.19 US cents.
 
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Source: Finance News Network