Why are Mesoblast (ASX:MSB) shares in trading halt today?

August 04, 2022 12:27 PM AEST | By Ashish

Why are Mesoblast (ASX:MSB) shares in trading halt today? — Image source: © Sofiaworld | Megapixl.com

Highlights

Mesoblast placed its shares in a trading halt today.

The company announced that it would undertake a private placement to raise capital.

No further details were announced by the company in its latest regulatory filing.

Mesoblast Ltd (ASX:MSB) on Thursday said that it would be placing its shares in a trading halt. The ASX-listed biotech major announced that it would undertake a private placement to raise capital. However, the ASX-listed firm didn’t reveal further details in its latest regulatory filing.

The halt implies that MSB shares will be paused until Monday, 8 August 2022, or when additional information is announced to the market (whichever is earlier).

“The Securities of Mesoblast Limited (MSB) will be placed in trading halt at the request of MSB, PENDING it releasing an announcement. Unless ASX decides otherwise, the securities will remain in trading halt until the earlier of the commencement of normal trading on Monday, 8 August 2022 or when the announcement is released to the market,” Mesoblast said in a statement to the ASX.

The biotech firm last week reported US$60.5 million cash on hand and a gross bank debt of nearly US$90, as of 30 June 2022.

Meanwhile, the company lowered its net cash usage in the March quarter 2022. Mesoblast’s net cash outflows stood at US$15.5 million (AU$21.7 million) in the March quarter, a marked decline compared to December quarter’s US$19.76 million (AU$27.7 million).

The quarterly customer receipts dropped to US$2.4 million (AU$3.4 million) in the March quarter of 2022, down by over US$1 million (AU$1.4 million), compared to December 2021 quarter.

The company last month announced receiving promising results from a trial treating patients with class II/III chronic heart failure with reduced ejection fraction. According to the release, “rexlemestrocel-L delivered an improvement in left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) at 12 months after a single intervention in the 565-patient randomised controlled trial in New York Heart Association (NYHA) class II/III chronic heart failure (CHF) with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF).”

Mesoblast share price snapshot

Over the past year, Mesoblast’s shares have fallen nearly 54%. The share price has dropped over 33% on a year-to-date (YTD) basis. In the past six months, the shares have dipped over 18%. The share price has risen over 29% in the past month. However, in the last five days, the stock has surged over 3.6%. The 52-week high and low of the stock stand at AU$2.08 and AU$0.61, respectively.

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