Is the ASX OK? Argent Biopharma plummets as it leaves the bourse one day after Marley spoon; low liquidity blamed

Argent Biopharma (ASX:RGT) has announced it’s leaving the ASX because it can’t attract investments (or interest in its stock) in Australia – one day after Marley Spoon announced it will leave the bourse for the same reason.

While the company wasn’t able to foster much enthusiasm for its shares in recent history, it’s clear that shareholders are paying attention. Following its announcement on Thursday, the stock fell -42% to 16.5cps. Argent closed at 28cps on Wednesday afternoon.

Likely prompting the sell-off is a rather straightforward instructive from the company: “if [shareholders] wish to sell their Shares on ASX, they will need to do so before [de-listing].”

So why leave the bourse?

“Following a detailed review, the board … have unanimously determined that the delisting is in the best interests of Shareholders for … there has been a significant lack of liquidity in trading in the Company’s shares on ASX.”

In June, the total value of shares traded reflected just over $53,000 for 174.1K shares trading hands. Of the entire month, only 19 days saw trading activity.

March was slightly better at 711.9K shares for $303.8K, but much like June, only 20 days of the month saw trading activity. From the six months of data it provided in a table, it does appear March was an outlier.

In March, the company’s share price briefly touched 50cps, but was quickly sold-off and the stock fell back to the 40cps range. Its busiest month YTD was May when 23 days of the month saw share trading activity. No data was provided for July.

The news is unsurprising, at least, to this financial journalist. Given that I’m looking at how many announcements are published day-by-day on the ASX, I can relay my personal anecdote that newsflow volumes broadly have tanked compared to where they were this time last year.

In the land of IPOs, a dearth of activity is clear – 2024 is shaping up to be just as bad as 2023 for new listings, if not worse. Thank god we’ve had Guzman Gomez to give the illusion of activity.

A number of companies have dual listed overseas for various reasons this year, but the underlying trend is that the Australian retail (and institutional) investor pool is running out of steam. Or confidence, if not both.

If you need evidence for that, consider that Argent is keeping its listing on the London Stock Exchange.

“The Board considers that the Company’s LSE listing is more beneficial to the Company due to the composition of its investor base. The LSE listing is considered the Company’s primary listing,” Argent wrote on Thursday.

“For the reasons set out above, the Board considers that the Company no longer requires a second listing on the ASX.”

So when will we get back to the good old days of yore? It probably has a lot to do with interest rates. But how many will we need to see the IPO market take off again?

That remains to be seen.

RGT last traded at 29cps.