At lunch on Monday, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is on course to start the week with a solid gain. The benchmark index is currently up 0.4% to 7,472.9 points.
Here's what is happening on the ASX 200 today:
Incitec Pivot results impress
The Incitec Pivot Ltd (ASX: IPL) share price jumped as much as 17% this morning following the release of its full year results. As management promised, Incitec Pivot delivered a strong second half performance. This led to the agricultural chemicals company reporting a 10% lift in full year revenue to $4,348.5 million and 91% jump in net profit after tax (NPAT) excluding individually material items to $209 million. This was driven by a strong performance from its Fertilisers APAC business, which benefited from a commodity price upswing and strong ammonium phosphates production.
Mesoblast shares jump
The Mesoblast limited (ASX: MSB) share price is charging higher today after the allogeneic cellular medicines developer released positive data from a phase three trial of rexlemestrocel-L in 565 patients with New York Heart Association (NYHA) class II and class III chronic heart failure (CHF) with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF). Among other things, the study notes that a single dose of rexlemestrocel-L on top of standard of care reduced the incidence of heart attacks or strokes by 65% across all 537 NYHA class II or class III treated patients compared with standard of care alone.
NAB shares fall
The National Australia Bank Ltd (ASX: ANZ) share price is trading lower on Monday. However, this has nothing to do with its performance. Today's decline is attributable to the banking giant's shares trading ex-dividend for its final dividend for FY 2021. Last week NAB declared a fully franked final dividend of 67 cents per share with its full year results. Eligible NAB shareholders can look forward to receiving this dividend on 15 December.
Best and worst ASX 200 performers
The best performer on the ASX 200 on Monday has been the Mesoblast share price with a 10% gain. This follows its trial update this morning. The worst performer on the ASX 200 has been the Ampol Ltd (ASX: ALD) share price with a decline of almost 3%. This is despite there being no news out of the fuel retailer.
