Sunrise Energy Metals Falls 11 Percent to A$17.15, Extending a Slide Since Its U.S. Listing Plan

Sunrise Energy Metals shares fell 11 percent on Friday, a fourth loss in five sessions, as the stock kept giving back the run that followed a plan to move the parent company to the United States and list on Nasdaq.

The shares closed at A$17.15, down A$2.13, or 11.05 percent, from Thursday's A$19.28. They opened at A$19.00, traded as high as A$19.26 and as low as A$17.05, on volume of about 1.18 million shares. The 52-week range is A$3.58 to A$23.65. The market value is about A$2.9 billion. Revenue in the last fiscal year was A$112,000. The company lost A$15.17 million. There is no dividend. The next earnings date is estimated for Dec. 9.

The company is developing the Syerston scandium project in central New South Wales, next to the Sunrise nickel-cobalt project. On Aug. 10 it said the U.S. Department of War's Office of Strategic Capital had made a conditional commitment of up to $400 million in long-term debt for Syerston. On Oct. 2 it said it had signed a scheme implementation deed to redomicile the parent to a U.S. holding company, with a view to a Nasdaq listing. Shareholders would receive one CHESS depositary interest for each share, or could elect a Nasdaq-listed share. The scheme needs shareholder approval, Federal Court approval, Foreign Investment Review Board clearance, an effective U.S. registration statement, and listing approvals from Nasdaq and the ASX. The ASX listing would be kept through the depositary interests.

The shares were at A$21.58 when that announcement crossed. They are down about 20 percent since. Cleansing notices and applications for quotation of new securities followed on Oct. 5 and Oct. 7, the paperwork that follows an issue of shares. The company did not issue a statement explaining Friday's drop. Baker McKenzie, advising on the scheme, put the group's value at about A$3.6 billion when the deed was announced. Friday's market value is under that.

A development stock with almost no revenue and a nine-figure conditional loan will move on the financing path and on the metal, not on a quarter. Scandium is a small market. A U.S. listing is the company's answer to who will fund the mine. The 11 percent day is the market's answer, so far, to the dilution and the wait. The scheme is not approved. The debt is conditional. The close is A$17.15.