Oreninc Index Crawls Back Up

The Oreninc Index crawled back up for the week ending April 2, 2015. Total dollars announced rose to $38.3m on 23 deals, three and five week highs respectively. Two brokered financings were announced for $17.4m, one of which has yet to announce an offer size, a two-week high. One bought deal was announced for $17.4m, a two-week high.

The only major deal from the week was Israel Chemicals Ltd. (NYSE:ICL) agreeing to purchase Allana Potash Corp. (TSX:AAA) for $137m CDN. Commodities had a roller coaster of a week, with iron ore dropping 15% in just one week and gold moving up and down before settling right around $1,200. Oil was down slightly on news that a framework of an Iranian nuclear deal had been achieved, though it did not drop as much as analysts had been expecting.

While not great, seeing an improvement over last week’s horrendous performance is a positive, even if the five-week moving average plunged further than last week’s multi-year low.

Oreninc Index Falls to Eleven-Week Low

The Oreninc Index fell to an 11-week low for the week ending March 26, 2015. Total dollars announced fell to $20.9m on 15 deals, 11- and two-week lows respectively. No brokered deals were announced for the first time in 11 weeks. No bought deals were announced for the third time in five weeks.

Deals were light, with the major deal of the week being Ivanhoe Mines Ltd.’s (TSX:IVN) agreement to sell China’s Zijn Mining Group a 9.9% stake in the miner. Commodities were fairly positive for the week, with oil and gold enjoying gains related to the political crisis in Yemen. 

In addition to the poor weekly performance, the Index’s five-week moving average hit a multi-year low, highlighting just how bad this first quarter has been. When the only strength of the week is increasing commodity prices due to an uncertain political crisis that is unlikely to spark some sort of long-term pricing trend, you know we are in a bad place. 

Oreninc Index Jumps 

The Oreninc Index jumped up for the week ending March 19, 2015. Total dollars announced fell to $33.5m on 17 financings, ten- and two-week lows respectively. One brokered bought deal was announced for $25.1m, a five-week high for both. 

Deals were almost non-existent again for the week. The biggest deal-making news of the week were reports that Barrick Gold (TSX:ABX) is looking into selling its Chilean Zaldivar copper mine for around $1.5b to reduce the company’s overall debt. Commodity prices for the week were mixed, with iron ore continuing its fall, but gold had a strong end to the week—rising almost 2%—on news that the US Federal Reserve will likely wait until the second half of 2015 to raise interest rates.

Although an increase in performance over last week, the financing market is still struggling, which can be seen with the ten-week low in dollars announced. As we go into spring, and enter the start of what has historically been lower performing months for the Index, it’s hard to stay positive that things will get much better before summer.

Oreninc Index Falls Further

The Oreninc Index fell further for the week ending March 12, 2015. Total dollars fell to to $57.4m, a three-week low. One brokered and bought deal was announced for $14.2m, a two-week low and three-week high respectively.

Deal-making was almost non-existent for the week, with the only major news of note being reports that Glencore Xstrata (LON:GLEN) and OAO Russneft are in negotiations to convert Glencore’s assets in Russneft subsidiaries into a 49% stake in the Russian oil firm’s holding company. No cash will change hands in the deal. Commodity prices took a beating for the week, with iron ore hitting a seven-year low. Gold also fell dramatically to a YTD-low, at least partially on news of a better than expected US jobs report.

While the Index’s low level, mixed with the especially bad commodity prices and lack of deal-making, looks and is troubling, the fact that there were three deals above $14m for the week, is a positive. Still, the sluggishness is disappointing for an industry that can’t seem to catch a break.

Oreninc Index Drops to Eight-Week Low

The Oreninc Index fell to an eight-week low for the week ending March 5, 2015, while total dollars announced jumped to $62.4m, a three-week high. Two brokered financings were announced for $17m, a two-week high. No bought deal financings were announced for the second time in as many weeks.

No major deals were announced for the week, with reports that Barrick Gold (TSX:ABX) will try to sell their Cowal and Porgera mines, which are respectively located in Australia and Papua New Guinea. Commodities had a rough week, with gold dipping back down below $1,200 and iron ore also falling a significant amount.

It appears that investors are still having trouble reaching far enough into their pockets for there to be any real improvement in this season’s fundraising market. 

Oreninc Index Rises Marginally

The Oreninc Index rose marginally for the week ending February 26, 2015. Total dollars announced jumped to $59.2m, a two-week high. Three brokered financings were announced for $11.3m, a seven-week low. No bought deal financings were announced for the first time in seven weeks.

A number of smaller deals were announced for the week, with Couer d”Alene Mines Corporation’s (NYSE:CDE) acquisition of Goldcorp’s (NYSE:GG) Wharf Gold Mine for $105m the largest of note. Commodity prices had an up and down week; gold started off horribly before rallying to end the week. Copper also rallied, to a six-week high. 

With 36 deals being announced — a nine-week high — it appears that companies were ready to try to raise some cash in anticipation of this week’s PDAC. With that said, the low average offer size indicates that, while companies would like to be raising money, they are not too confident it will happen at a significant level. The Index could certainly be worse, but any optimism that this year will be different is melting as we move closer to the spring months.

Oreninc Index Falls to Reality 

The Oreninc Index returned to reality for the week ending February 19, 2015. Total dollars announced dropped to $38.2m, a two-week low. Two brokered and bought deal financings were announced for $21m, six- and two-week low respectively.

Deal-making for the week continued, albeit on a lower level, with Timmins Gold Corp.’s (TSX:TMM) acquisition of Newstrike Capital Inc. (TSX-V:NES) in an all-stock deal worth $140m. The deal will create a Mexican-focused gold producer, with Timmins shareholders owning around 63% of the company post-deal and Newstrike owning the remaining 37%. Gold prices for the week crashed below $1,200 for the first time since the beginning of the year.

It’s never great to see such depressed numbers after a week as strong as last, though the fact that it came in a holiday-shortened week makes it easier to swallow. We’ll see if the PDAC has any lifting effect as companies try to build excitement leading into the annual meeting of the industry.

Oreninc Index Reaches Highest Level Since October

The Oreninc Index reached its highest level since October for the week ending February 12, 2015. Total dollars announced exploded to $221.6m, a 17-week high. Six brokered deals were announced for $165.7m, a 48-week high; five bought deals were announced for $156.6m, a 49-week high.

Deal-making increased for the week with Tahoe Resources Inc (NYSE:TAHO) and Rio Alto Mining Ltd.’s (TSX:RIO) announcement that they will merge to form a new precious metals major. The deal will leave Tahoe and Rio shareholders with roughly 65% and 35% of the company, respectively. Gold prices slid to below $1,220 for the first time since early January on news that the US employment climate continues to improve.

It’s nice to finally see a standout week after so much stagnation in what should be the height of the money-raising season. Hopefully the Index can stay at this level, or somewhere near it, as the industry looks ahead to the PDAC in the coming weeks.