The S&P/ASX 200 (ASX: XJO) finished the day trading mostly flat at 7125.1. As of the market close, the ASX 200 is priced 26.68% from its 52-week low of 5624.6
Making today’s ASX sharemarket news was Paradigm Biopharmaceuticals Ltd (ASX:PAR), QBE Insurance Group Ltd (ASX:QBE) and Brambles Limited (ASX:BXB).
Here’s what happened on the ASX 200 and Australian share market today.
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ASX 200 Recap
1. Paradigm Biopharmaceuticals Ltd – down 1%
Paradigm has repurposed an anti-inflammatory drug called pentosan polysulphate sodium (PPS) to treat multiple new indications, including Osteoarthritis.
Paradigm shares ended the day 1% lower after the company reported its latest results on Friday. Since Paradigm is a loss-making biotech company, without a current product, it does not have any sales.
During the last half, the company reported a loss of $5.1 million, but it had cash reserves worth almost $71 million, as of 31 December, 2019. You can read more here.
2. QBE Insurance Group Ltd
QBE is Australia’s largest global insurer, it operates in 31 countries and is one of the top 20 global insurance and reinsurance companies.
In its 2019 financial year, QBE reported that its gross written premium rose 2% to $US13.44 billion and its renewal rate rose to 6.3% from 5% last year. Profit rose 41% from $US390 million to $US550 million. Full year dividends stood at 27 cents per share, down from 28 cents per share last year. Keep reading: “QBE reports”
3. Brambles Limited
Brambles is a pooling solutions company specialising in the provision of reusable pallets, crates, containers and associated logistics services through the CHEP and IFCO brands.
Brambles released its interim financial report showing a 7% increase in sales revenue to $US2.4 billion together with a net profit of $US278 million, up 8% in constant currency terms. An interim dividend of 9 US cents or 14.5 Australian cents was declared by the board.
“Despite a range of challenges, we delivered sales and earnings growth across all our segments and materially improved Group cash flow generation in the first half,” Brambles CEO Graham Chipchase said. Keep reading: “Brambles’ half-year report”
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