Daily Brief Australia: Opthea Ltd, Alkane Resources and more

• Opthea Ltd (OPT AU) is seeking to raise A$80M ($51M) through a combination of private placement and accelerated non-renounceable entitlement offer. The proceeds will fund the clinical development of OPT-302.
• The proceeds of the offer, pending funds from the earlier agreements, along with existing cash balance, are expected to fund the company’s operation through Q3 2024.
• OPT-302 is in two phase 3 trials, which are expected to be fully enrolled by 1H24. In phase 2 trial, OPT-302 has demonstrated superior visual acuity over standard of care.

Alkane Resource’s FY23 financial results were broadly in line with our forecasts, with profit after tax totalling A$42.5m (compared to our forecast of A$44.0m) and EPS of 7.10c (cf 7.38c). Cash flows from operations exceeded our forecasts (A$95.5m cf A$75.6m) as a result of an increase in deferred tax liabilities, albeit this was balanced by higher exploration capex of A$58.1m to result in a net cash flow of A$4.1m (cf A$2.4m). Following FY23 production of 70,253oz at an all-in sustaining cost (AISC) of A$1,602/oz, FY24 guidance for Tomingley is 60,000–65,000oz at an AISC of A$1,750–2,100/oz. Our forecasts remain largely unchanged in the aftermath of Alkane’s FY23 results. We maintain our valuation.