As it happened: ASX bounces back; Iluka, Lynas hit fresh highs, Perpetual falls 6.1% after Pendal bid

“Consolidation in the sector has been well overdue and that’s how these guys survive - they buy other businesses to keep things moving.”

The offer saw Pendal closing at an 11-week high of $5.29, while Perpetual ended the session at a 13-month low of $31.97, down 6.6 per cent.

Overall the financial sector closed lower with the big banks declining ahead of Tuesday’s Reserve Bank meeting, and a 3.2 per cent fall in Bank of Queensland.

However, Magellan Financial gained 9.4 per cent to its highest close in eight weeks at $16.79.

But it was the mining sector that underpinned Monday’s gains, especially lithium producers.

IGO gained 4 per cent, Pilbara Minerals gained 5.5 per cent, Allkem gained 7.3 per cent, and Liontown Resources gained 9 per cent. Iluka jumped to new highs of $12.50 after announcing it would spend up to $1.2 billion on a rare earth oxide refinery with help from a $1 billion government loan.

And Lynas hit a decade high of $11.59, pushing its market cap over $10 billion for the first time after a rival highlighted the “clear lack of (lithium) supply to meet the expected lift in demand” on an investor call.

Iron ore prices edged close to $US160 per tonne despite China’s manufacturing index falling below 50 points, indicating contraction. This saw gains in Fortescue, BHP and Mineral Resources.

A full lock-down of Chinese mega-city Shanghai dragged on oil prices late last week, but US crude firmed a little on Monday $US99.74 per barrel.

Biggest gains:

• Pendal 18.1%
• Telix 10.1%
• Magellan 9.7%
• Liontown 9%
• Novonix 8%

Biggest declines:

• Perpetual -6.6%
• Imugene -4%
• Fletcher Building -3.2%
• Bank of Queensland -3.2%
• Aristocrat Leisure -3%

Ukraine has accused Russia of carrying out a massacre, while a leading human rights group has documented what it called “apparent war crimes” by Russian troops against Ukraine civilians.

Mr Gorey described farmers as a “decidedly determined bunch” and said Ukrainian farmers would attempt to harvest their 2022 crop, but would face challenges in terms of where and how to store their wheat.

Meanwhile, Russia will not have any difficulties harvesting wheat but will face difficulties with exporting goods in general, Gorey added.

The likelihood of a Foxtel float is the talk of corporate media circles. It is seen as a referendum on not just the growth prospects of streaming services in Australia but News Corp’s strategy. Most bankers, analysts and executives not tied to the potential deal don’t think it can be done, arguing that it is too difficult to sell a content aggregation business when key contracts with HBO and ESPN/Disney may not be renewed in the coming years. Others working on the deal are, unsurprisingly, more confident.

News has wanted to list Foxtel since 2016. But it’s a transaction that became more possible last year as the company dramatically cut costs as it tried to pivot to streaming from its declining cable TV roots. Since then News Corp, which owns 65 per cent, and Telstra, which owns 35 per cent, have been weighing up the risks and the implications of a deal that could help pay down the significant amount of debt owed to banks and shareholders (almost $2 billion as of December 31).

Foxtel had bankers from Citi and Bank of America running meetings with fund managers late last year after its September strategy day. A prospectus is not finalised but will need to be in the next few weeks if the plan is to float before June 30.

That final decision of whether to press go is likely to coincide with the completion of the long-awaited US$43 billion merger of Discovery and Warner Media, slated for April 11 (April 12 in Australia). This won’t have any immediate impact on Foxtel, but could dramatically change what Australia’s streaming landscape looks like in the next three years.

Read the full story here

A more plausible response is that it’s game on. Two lines in Pendal’s response in a statement on Monday provide telling clues.

Firstly, Pendal notes that the takeover premium being offered by Perpetual is next to nothing - if one considers Pendal’s volume weighted average price over 180 days. This certainly feels like code for - you’re trying to get us on the cheap. (The offer premium over last Friday’s closing price is a far more respectable 39 per cent.)

Read Liz’s full column here

MP said Lynas was the only other company - ex-China - that were guaranteed to bring supply online.

The big source of demand will continue to be electric vehicles with estimates that the average vehicle will consumer 2 to 3 kilos of rare earth elements Neodymium and Praseodymium (NdPr).

Wind turbines will be the next biggest source, generally requiring 150 kilos of rare earths per Mega Watt.

The structure of the deal means head building contracts, subcontractor agreements and other project costs accrued at the time Probuild and Monaco Hickey entered administration will be honoured, Deloitte said.

More than 150 Probuild and Monaco Hickey head office and site employees will also keep their jobs.

“While numbers are to be finalised and reported to creditors at a later date, the agreement with Roberts Co saves over $100 million of potential creditor claims, and also avoids substantial liquidated damages risks from ongoing project delays,” Deloitte turnaround and restructuring partner Jason Tracy said.

Probuild’s collapse in February put its $5 billion-odd workbook under threat, shuttered multiple projects and left 2300 creditors and 786 employees with an uncertain future.

A second creditors meeting of the collapsed group, held last week, approved the $15.2 million sale of Probuild’s West Australian WBHO Infrastructure to engineering firm SRG Global, keep its 275 engineers and other staff employed.

Proceeds from the sale will be distributed to creditors at a later date, Deloitte said.