It has been a dreadful day for the S&P/ASX 200 (Index: ^AXJO) (ASX: XJO), in early afternoon trade the benchmark index is down by over 2.2% to 5,219 points.
Despite the vast majority of shares being deep in the red today there have been a few shares which have managed to outperform the index and carve out gains. Here's why:
Elders Ltd (ASX: ELD) shares are up a massive 7% to $3.75 following the release of an announcement which revealed it will undertake a managed exit from the logistics of shipping live animals. As well as this it advised the market that it expects full year underlying earnings before interest and tax to come in between the range of $54 million and $57 million. This will be an increase of at least 10% year on year.
GBST Holdings Limited (ASX:GBT) shares are up by just over 1% to $4 despite there being no major news out of the company. However one small piece of news released has shown that Melbourne-based boutique fund manager L1 Capital has increased its stake in the fintech company to just over 7%. It would appear the fund manager has taken advantage of GBST's 23% decline in the last three months to bolster its position.
Medical Developments International Ltd (ASX: MVP) shares extended their recent gains and climbed higher by over 3% to $5.78 before dropping back a touch following the release of another positive development for its Penthrox pain management product. In the last six days alone the company has been incredibly busy and announced a licensing deal in Korea, regulatory approval in the UAE, and a licensing agreement for Penthrox in Canada today. During this time its shares have climbed over 12% higher as a result.
Thorn Group Ltd (ASX: TGA) shares have jumped 3.5% to $1.49 after announcing the sale of its receivables management business National Credit Management to Credit Corp Group Limited (ASX: CCP) for $22.6 million. The company expects a small loss to be recorded on sale. Management believes the sale enables Thorn to focus on its Radio Rentals and business finance businesses, and expects the reinvested proceeds of the sales will deliver higher returns on capital.
