Market Update: Suncorp & Kogan soar, cannabis play LGP jumps on German legalisation news

The ASX200 is trading flat to begin the week.

In terms of sectors, IT and consumer discretionary are in the green, both up nearly a per cent – while energy is down nearly 2 per cent.

In this bulletin, we’ll look at news from Kogan.com, Suncorp Group, Little Green Pharma, The Calmer Co and Mount Ridley Mines.

In company news,

Queensland bank Suncorp Group (ASX:SUN) is up more than 3 per cent on its half-year results.

The financial institution reported cash earnings of $660 million, a 14 per cent increase from $580 million in the previous period.

Its NPAT was also up 5.4 per cent year on year to $582 million.

Suncorp Group announced it will pay a fully franked interim dividend of 34 cents a share – and has been trading at $15.63.

Australian e-commerce brand Kogan.com (ASX:KGN) is up nearly 20 per cent also on its half-year results, also.

For the first six months of FY24, Kogan’s revenue was down 9.9 per cent to $248.2 million.

However, the company posted a half-year net profit of $10.2 million – which is up from a $9.6 million loss at the same time last year.

The deal breaker for investors today was Kogan revealing its first dividend payout in 3 years.

It will pay a 7.5-cent full-franked dividend on May 31.

Kogan.com has been trading at $7.40.

Cannabis producer Little Green Pharma (ASX:LGP) is up more than 20 per cent on news the German Bundestag is on track to legalise cannabis in Germany and remove it from the Narcotics List from April 1, 2024 – which will position Germany as the largest federally legal cannabis market globally.

What does this mean for LGP?

The legislative shift presents an opportunity for LGP to leverage its established partnerships with multiple German distributors, a robust bank of cannabis genetics, and ownership of the largest EU GMP-recognised medicinal cannabis facility in Europe.

LGP has been trading at 14 cents.

Fiji-sourced Kava-based health drink maker The Calmer Co (ASX:CCO) has completed a top-up placement of just over $500,000 to sophisticated investors.

In the background, the company’s products have just become available on Walmart’s e-commerce platform in the US.

CCO has been trading at 0.6 cents.

And explorer Mount Ridley Mines (ASX:MRD) has confirmed its receipt of just over $1 million dollars from the Australian Government as part of a Research and Development tax rebate from Canberra.

The company will use the funds to push forward its 2024 campaigns.

MRD has been trading at 0.2 cents.