Daily Brief Australia: Qbe Insurance, Virgin Australia Holdings, Liontown Resources, Lithium Power International, Paradigm Biopharmaceuticals and more

• Newcrest Mining (NCM AU) shares stop trading after the close on 26 October and Newmont Mining (NEM US) CDIs will start trading from the open on 27 October.
• Newmont Mining (NEM US) CDIs should replace Newcrest Mining (NCM AU) in the S&P/ASX indices from 27 October. But there could be index changes at the subsequent rebalances.
• Based on the case of Block (SQ2 AU), we could see Newmont Mining (NEM US) CDIs deleted from the ASX20 Index in December and from the ASX50 Index in March/June.

• FY23 performance positions VA at the top table relative to global LCC financial performance
• Global analysis of #2 positions behind a strong market leaders suggests an efficient VA should be well positioned to sustainably outperform the global airline industry’s average financial performance
• Forecasting mean reversion for operating performance but aircraft financing savings should sustain superior profitability and cash flow generation than pre-COVID.

• Liontown Resources‘ Suspension from Quotation “pending the release of an announcement regarding the finalisation of funding arrangements associated with the Kathleen Valley Project” could last till the open 20 October.
• Short interest continued to increase prior to the trading halt and passive selling will be higher following Hancock increasing its stake to 19.9%.
• The immediate funding for Liontown Resources (LTR AU) could come from debt sources with an equity raise coming later this year or early next year.

• Lithium Power International (LPI AU) has announced it has entered into a Scheme Implementation Deed with Chilean state miner Codelco, the world’s largest copper producer. 
• Codelco is offering LPI shareholders A$0.57/share, a whopping 119% premium to last close. LPI’s major shareholder, Minera Salar Blanco SpA with 28.25%, is supportive. As is LPI’s board. 
• The Scheme Meeting is expected to be held on the 23 January with implementation on the 8 February. Clean deal. 

Paradigm has announced positive day-365 data from its Phase II trial (PARA_OA_008) assessing injectable pentosan polysulfate (iPPS) as a potentially disease-modifying treatment for knee osteoarthritis (kOA). The latest data show durable responses based on measures of pain and function, while confirming the company will be pursuing an iPPS (2mg/kg) twice-weekly regimen for six weeks across all of its clinical programmes for kOA. Based on this update, Paradigm now plans to proceed with a Provisional Approval application to the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA, the Australian regulatory authority). The day-365 data are encouraging for iPPS as a potential treatment for kOA, in our view, adding to the company’s data package to support discussions with regulatory authorities and potential partners. We note that Paradigm is awaiting full analysis of MRI data from this trial, and plans to share it in the near term.