The ASX 300 slightly underperformed the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) last financial year.

The ASX 200 increased by 9.97% and provided total returns of 13.81%, according to S&P Global data.

Seventeen ASX 300 shares delivered double-or-more share price growth last financial year.

Did you own any of these winners?

Here are the ASX 300 double-baggers of FY25

1. Catalyst Metals Ltd (ASX: CYL)

ASX 300 gold share Catalyst Metals rose by an astounding 362% to close at $5.22 apiece on 30 June.

Catalyst is one of many gold miners and explorers featured in this list of 17 double-bagger ASX 300 shares.

Strong growth in the gold price was a tailwind for gold stocks last year, with the S&P/ASX All Ords Gold Index (ASX: XGD) soaring 57%.

2. Catapult Group International Ltd (ASX: CAT)

This ASX 300 tech stock leapt 210% higher to close at $5.86 per share on 30 June.

Catapult is a global sports data and analytics company that provides real-time data to optimise athletes' performance. 

3. Austal Ltd (ASX: ASB)

ASX defence share Austal roared 152% higher to close at $6.28 on 30 June.

The navy shipbuilder is benefiting from the global defence investment theme.

4. Regis Resources Ltd (ASX: RRL)

ASX 300 gold mining stock, Regis Resources, rose 150% to close at $4.39 on 30 June.

5. Genesis Minerals Ltd (ASX: GMD)

Another ASX 300 gold mining share, Genesis Minerals, ascended 145% to close the financial year at $4.30.

6. Sigma Healthcare Ltd (ASX: SIG)

ASX 300 healthcare share Sigma ripped 135% amid exuberance over its merger with Chemist Warehouse to close FY25 at $2.99.

7. Iperionx Ltd (ASX: IPX)

Stock in this titanium metal and critical materials company closed at $4.75 apiece on 30 June, up 133% for the year.

8. Ora Banda Mining Ltd (ASX: OBM)

ASX gold mining stock Ora Banda surged 128% to close at 76.5 cents on 30 June.

9. Temple & Webster Group Ltd (ASX: TPW)

The share price of online furniture retailer Temple & Webster rose by 127% to close at $21.32 on 30 June.

10. Develop Global Ltd (ASX: DVP)

Stock in this critical minerals miner leapt 126% to close the year at $4.90.

11. Evolution Mining Ltd (ASX: EVN)

ASX 300 large-cap gold share Evolution leapt 123% to $7.79 on 30 June.

12. Technology One Ltd (ASX: TNE)

Stock in enterprise software company TechnologyOne rose 121% to $41.01 in FY25.

13. Predictive Discovery Ltd (ASX: PDI)

ASX 300 gold explorer Predictive Discovery rose by 120% to finish the year at 38.5 cents per share.

14. Generation Development Group Ltd (ASX: GDG)

Small-cap financial share, Generation Development Group, rose by 114% to close out FY25 at $5.50.

15. Zip Co Ltd (ASX: ZIP)

Global buy now, pay later payments business Zip enjoyed a 110% rise in its share price to $3.07.

16. SRG Global Ltd (ASX: SRG)

ASX 300 industrials share SRG Global increased by 106.6% in FY25.

The engineering services group finished the year at $1.725 per share.

17. Spartan Resources Ltd (ASX: SPR)

Another ASX 300 gold mining share, Spartan Resources, lifted 101.5% to $1.985 on 30 June.

The post 17 ASX 300 shares that soared 100% or more in FY25 appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

Meantime, the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is up 0.12% to 8,678.3 points at the time of writing.

Yesterday, the Supreme Court of Western Australia approved the takeover of Spartan Resources by Ramelius Resources Ltd (ASX: RMS).

Spartan said it would lodge the court's orders with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) today.

This will make the scheme effective. The ASX will suspend Spartan shares from trading after the market close today.

S&P Dow Jones Indices will remove the gold miner from the ASX 200 before tomorrow's market open.

Spartan Resources shares will be replaced by energy, transport, and social infrastructure investment company, Infratil Ltd (ASX: IFT).

Next steps for Spartan Resources shares

Implementation of the scheme is expected to occur next Thursday, 31 July.

Spartan shareholders will receive 25 cents in cash plus 0.6957 new Ramelius shares per Spartan share held.

Ramelius Resources and Spartan announced their proposed "transformational combination" on 17 March.

Spartan shareholders were enthusiastic, with the news pushing the share price 9.37% higher on the day to $1.75.

The companies said their combination would make them "a leading Australian gold producer with a supercharged growth profile and exceptional potential exploration upside".

Their combined Group Mineral Resource estimate is 12.1Moz Au and Ore Reserve of 2.6Moz Au.

The companies said Spartan's excess processing capacity and high-grade mineral resource would combine well with Ramelius' large mineral resource, operating plant, and proven operations team.

The companies expect cost savings through the rationalisation of site administration and removal of duplicate corporate costs.

Ramelius and Spartan have a vision to increase their gold production to more than 500koz per annum by FY30.

Spartan's Executive Chairman, Simon Lawson, said:

This is highly attractive and transformational combination which we believe represents a great outcome for Spartan shareholders.

The Combined Group will be positioned as a leading mid-tier ASX-listed gold producer with an enviable and robust growth pipeline including a significantly de-risked development pathway for Dalgaranga underpinned by Ramelius' robust balance sheet, strong cash generation and development expertise.

What happened to the Spartan Resources share price in FY25?

The Spartan Resources share price rose by 101.5% to finish the year at $1.985 apiece.

This made the ASX gold explorer one of just nine ASX 200 shares that doubled in value in FY25.

Like all ASX gold shares, Spartan Resources benefited from the strongly rising gold commodity price.

The gold price soared due to its safe-haven appeal amid geopolitical tensions and global trade uncertainty throughout the year.

The gold price hit a record US$3,500.05 per ounce on 22 April.

At the time of writing, the gold price is trading at $US3,396 per ounce, up 1.35%.

This is a five-week high and follows the US dollar and bond yields easing overnight.

What's ahead for the newly-fortified Ramelius Resources?

Ramelius Resources shares are trading at $2.60, up 5.5% at the time of writing.

Top broker Macquarie has an outperform rating on Ramelius Resources shares with a 12-month price target of $3.10.

This implies a potential upside of about 20%.

Ramelius revealed strong preliminary full-year FY25 results earlier this month.

The company's full-year gold production was 301,664 ounces, ahead of its guidance range of 290,000 ounces to 300,000 ounces.

Ramelius also expects its all-in sustaining costs (AISC) to be at the lower end of its guidance range of $1,550 to $1,650 per ounce.

Macquarie commented:

The 4QFY25 production result beat RMS' own expectations (which we were anchored to) and continued to demonstrate strong cash generation.

In the near term our valuation relies on completion of the [Spartan Resources Ltd (ASX: SPR)] deal and key study results.

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Nine ASX 200 shares doubled in value — or did even better — in FY25.

Four of them were ASX 200 gold mining shares, which benefited from a strong, continual rise in the commodity price.

The gold price reached a record US$3,500.05 per ounce on 22 April.

Let's check out this group of ASX 200 double baggers for FY25.

Investors doubled their money with these ASX 200 shares in FY25

1. Regis Resources Ltd (ASX: RRL)

ASX 200 gold mining share, Regis Resources, rocketed 150% higher in FY25 to close the financial year at $4.39 apiece.

2. Genesis Minerals Ltd (ASX: GMD)

Fellow gold miner Genesis Minerals also had an amazing year, with its share price lifting 145% to close at $4.30 on 30 June.

3. Sigma Healthcare Ltd (ASX: SIG)

ASX 200 healthcare stock, Sigma Healthcare, flew 135% higher to close at $2.99 per share.

The company's share price surge was largely due to its merger with Chemist Warehouse.

4. Temple & Webster Group Ltd (ASX: TPW)

The online furniture retailer outperformed every other ASX 200 retail stock in FY25.

The Temple & Webster share price rose by 127% to $21.32 on 30 June.

5. Evolution Mining Ltd (ASX: EVN)

The next gold share among the ASX 200 double-baggers of FY25 is Evolution Mining.

The Evolution Mining share price ascended 123% in FY25 to close at $7.79 on 30 June.

6. Technology One Ltd (ASX: TNE)

Stock in enterprise software company TechnologyOne ripped 121% higher in FY25.

The large-cap tech share closed at $41.01 apiece on 30 June.

7. Generation Development Group Ltd (ASX: GDG)

ASX 200 small-cap financial share, Generation Development Group, rose by 114% to close out FY25 at $5.50.

Generation Development Group is a market leader in retirement and investment solutions, including bonds.

8. Zip Co Ltd (ASX: ZIP)

Global buy now, pay later payments business Zip saw a 110% lift in its share price to finish the year at $3.07.

Zip has turned itself around in recent years after management changed focus from network growth to profitability.

9. Spartan Resources Ltd (ASX: SPR)

Another gold mining stock, Spartan Resources, rounds off the list of ASX 200 double baggers for FY25.

The Spartan Resources share price rose by 101.5% to finish FY25 at $1.985.

It's an impressive final year in the ASX 200 for Spartan Resources shares.

Ramelius Resources Ltd (ASX: RMS) is expecting final court approval to acquire Spartan Resources at a hearing today.

Pending approval, S&P Dow Jones Indices will remove the gold miner from the ASX 200 before the market open on 23 July.

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Here are three ASX shares that the experts think are undervalued at their current share prices.

3 ASX shares with plenty of upside: experts

CSL Ltd (ASX: CSL)

CSL is an Australian biotech and the biggest ASX 200 healthcare stock on the market.

The company has three divisions.

Seqirus is a world leader in influenza vaccines, Behring focuses on rare and serious diseases, and Vifor specialises in renal disease.

Morgans has a buy rating on CSL shares with a 12-month price target of $303.70.

CSL shares closed at $242.41, down 0.53%, on Thursday.

Therefore, the target implies a potential upside of 14% for investors who buy CSL shares at today's price level.

Morgans said:

We view CSL as materially undervalued, trading on an EV/EBIT of 18.2x, more than 25% below its 10-year average (24.7x).

Based on a conservative SOTP valuation, we estimate fair value of A$196bn, implying c35% upside from current trading levels.

Notably, the market appears to be valuing CSL on less than a single division, with a c10% discount to the core Behring business alone, while effectively assessing zero or negative value to Seqirus and Vifor.

We adjust our underlying earnings estimates lower by c4%, mainly on lower sales assumptions in Seqirus and Vifor, with our target price declining to A$303.70.

Ramelius Resources Ltd (ASX: RMS)

Macquarie has an outperform rating on this ASX 200 gold mining share with a 12-month price target of $3.10.

The Ramelius Resources share price closed at $2.40, up 2.56%, on Thursday.

Hence, the target price implies a potential upside of 29%.

Ramelius revealed strong preliminary full-year FY25 results this week.

Full-year gold production was 301,664 ounces, ahead of its guidance range of 290,000 ounces to 300,000 ounces.

Ramelius also expects its all-in sustaining costs (AISC) to be at the lower end of its guidance range of $1,550 to $1,650 per ounce.

Macquarie commented:

The 4QFY25 production result beat RMS' own expectations (which we were anchored to) and continued to demonstrate strong cash generation.

In the near term our valuation relies on completion of the SPR deal and key study results.

Ramelius is working through regulatory processes to merge with Spartan Resources Ltd (ASX: SPR).

Ramelius announced the 'transformational combination' in March.

Monash IVF Ltd (ASX: MVF)

Monash IVF shares closed at 74.5 cents on Thursday, down 0.68%.

Morgans has a speculative buy rating on Monash IVF with a 12-month share price target of $1.

The broker's price prediction indicates a potential 34% upside for investors.

The broker recently updated its earnings assumptions for the company following a second incident involving an incorrect embryo transfer.

The broker commented:

Despite earnings uncertainty, we think MVF's current valuation makes it a compelling takeover candidate for acquirers seeking scale in a structurally growing sector, with it trading at roughly half the multiple of recent industry transactions.

We have lowered our FY26/27 forecasts driven by greater market share loss assumptions.

The post 'Materially undervalued': Brokers name 3 ASX shares ripe for investment appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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The post Here are the top 10 ASX 200 shares today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

The post Here are the top 10 ASX 200 shares today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

The post Here are the top 10 ASX 200 shares today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

The post Here are the top 10 ASX 200 shares today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

The post Here are the top 10 ASX 200 shares today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

The post Here are the top 10 ASX 200 shares today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

Ramelius shares closed yesterday trading for $2.30. In morning trade on Thursday, shares are swapping hands for $2.41 apiece, up 4.8%.

For some context, the ASX 200 is down 1.9% at this same time.

The Ramelius share price should be getting some added support today amid another uptick in the gold price. Investors are seeking out the haven asset amid the uncertainty unleashed by Trump's tariff reveal. The yellow metal topped US$3,146 per ounce this morning, marking another new record high.

Ramelius also just released a promising update for the March quarter.

Here's what investors are mulling over.

ASX 200 gold stock surges alongside cash balance

The Ramelius share price is flying higher after the ASX 200 gold stock reported quarterly gold production of 80,455 ounces. That's down 5.7% from the 85,311 ounces produced in the December quarter.

Ramelius produced 67,464 ounces from its Mt Magnet hub and 12,991 ounces from the Edna May hub over the three months.

The miner's cash and gold balance increased by 31% over the quarter to reach $657 million.

And Ramelius achieved record underlying free cash flow of $223 million, before an income tax instalment of $68 million.

The March quarter also saw the ASX 200 gold stock declare its maiden interim dividend of 3 cents per share, fully franked. Eligible investors can expect that passive income payout on 17 April.

And in a big development over the quarter, Ramelius and Spartan Resources Ltd (ASX: SPR) announced that they entered into a binding Transaction Implementation Deed.

If it goes through, Ramelius will acquire all the Spartan shares it doesn't already own for 25 cents in cash and 0.6957 new Ramelius shares for each Spartan share.

What did management say?

Commenting on the quarterly results that are lifting the ASX 200 gold stock today, Ramelius managing director Mark Zeptner said, "The operations team continues to maximise cash flows from our existing operations in this elevated gold price environment."

Addressing the pending merger with Spartan, Zeptner added:

Ramelius looks forward to integrating our business with Spartan during the September 2025 quarter, following completion, and the subsequent release of an Integrated Study of Mt Magnet / Dalgaranga.

Activities associated with the transaction are proceeding to plan, with the independent expert appointed and well underway. Feedback from meetings since the transaction was announced, regarding the potential of the combined entity, has been overwhelmingly positive.

The ASX 200 gold stock will provide FY 2025 guidance and additional details in its full March quarterly report. That's due out later in April.

The post ASX 200 gold stock leaps higher on record cash flow in Thursday's sinking market appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

The gold explorer finished trading at $1.91 per share today, up 0.53% following a market announcement.

Meanwhile, the S&P/ASX All Ordinaries Index (ASX: XAO) finished 0.92% higher on Tuesday following the RBA interest rate decision.

Let's see what Spartan Resources told the market today.

Spartan Resources shares lift on maiden drilling program news

Spartan Resources released an exploration and operations update for its Dalgaranga Gold Project today.

The explorer said its maiden underground drilling program at the West Winds Deposit has confirmed a high-grade shoot at depth.

Over 4,700 metres of underground drilling has been completed at West Winds.

Spartan said the results confirm the high-grade plunge shoot at depth below the current resource estimate.

Latest assay results include:

• 8.0m at 4.16g/t gold from 344.70m from within a broader intercept of 21.93m at 1.74g/t gold from 332.50m down-hole
• 5.1m at 5.58g/t gold from 348.53m from within a broader intercept of 21.17m at 1.97g/t gold from 348.53m down-hole
• 9.67m at 4.32g/t gold from 255.7m from within a broader intercept of 32.57m at 2.36g/t gold from 249.11m down-hole

Spartan also revealed significant new results from in-fill and extensional drilling at the high-grade Pepper Deposit.

Assay results include:

• 25.76m at 23.20g/t gold from 597.66m down-hole, including 7.84m at 69.06g/t gold from 644.8m

• 15.42m at 19.44g/t gold from 583.7m down-hole, including 5.24m at 51.71g/t gold from 686.02m
• 20.65m at 13.82g/t gold from 579.65m down-hole, including 4m at 61.73g/t gold from 582.46m

The company said development of the Juniper Decline was advancing on schedule.

So far, more than 1,675 metres of drilling have been completed, with the initial scope on track for completion before 30 June.

Spartan Executive Chair, Simon Lawson, said:

Drilling activities have quickly ramped up and our 2025 exploration campaign is in full swing, with three surface rigs and one underground diamond drill rig operating on site at Dalgaranga.

This reflects our commitment to deliver further growth in our high-grade resource inventory and unlock the next chapter of growth at Dalgaranga above and beyond what will be captured in the upcoming Feasibility Study.

ASX gold shares in the green amid new record commodity price

Many of the other ASX gold shares also finished in the green today following a strong session for the gold commodity price.

The S&P/ASX All Ordinaries Gold Index (ASX: XGD) finished up 0.49%.

The gold price is currently at US$3,145, up 0.79% today and up 8.1% over the past month.

According to Trading Economics, the gold price keeps smashing records due to its safe-haven appeal to investors.

Among the ASX 200 large-cap gold shares, Evolution Mining Ltd (ASX: EVN) shares finished up 1.69% to $7.23 at market close.

Newmont Corporation CDI (ASX: NEM) shares finished 1.06% higher at $77.93.

Among the smaller players, Perseus Mining Ltd (ASX: PRU) shares finished up 1.20% to $3.37.

The Gold Road Resources Ltd (ASX: GOR) share price finished 0.35% higher at $2.90.

Spartan's suitor, Ramelius Resources Ltd (ASX: RMS), finished 0.84% higher at $2.39.

Last month, Ramelius and Spartan Resources announced a takeover deal.

The parties announced they had entered into a binding Transaction Implementation Deed (TID).

Under the TID, Ramelius proposes to buy all issued Spartan Resources shares it does not already own via a scheme of arrangement, or if this is not successful, a conditional off-market takeover offer for the same consideration.

The proposed consideration for Spartan Resources shareholders is 25 cents per share in cash plus 0.6957 new Ramelius shares for each Spartan share held.

The ASX small-cap gold share has risen 19.06% since the deal was announced.

The post Up 189% in a year, what's next for this ASX small-cap gold share? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

During the period, the benchmark index lost a disappointing 4% of its value to finish at 7,843.4 points.

Fortunately, not all ASX 200 shares fell with the market and some even managed to record strong gains.

Here are the best performers on the index in March:

Spartan Resources Ltd (ASX: SPR)

The Spartan Resources share price was the best performer on the ASX 200 in March with a gain of 45%. This was driven by the gold price hitting a record high and news that it plans to merge with Ramelius Resources Ltd (ASX: RMS). Ramelius' managing director, Mark Zeptner, said: "Ramelius is delighted to be combining with Spartan, which will see Ramelius' Mt Magnet Production Hub supercharged by the integration of Spartan's high-grade Dalgaranga Mineral Resource. The combination will see Mt Magnet deliver higher ounces, at higher grade, with higher margins. With the Spartan Effect, Ramelius has a vision for the Combined Group to be a +500koz/pa producer in FY30."

West African Resources Ltd (ASX: WAF)

The West African Resources share price wasn't far behind with a gain of 33% last month. The main catalyst for this was the release of the gold miner's full year results on 6 March. West African Resources revealed revenue of $730 million and a profit after tax of $246 million for the year. The latter was up 49% year on year. Its CEO, Richard Hyde, said: "WAF's Sanbrado production centre delivered another strong result in 2024 producing 206,622 ounces of gold at US$1,240 per ounce AISC, generating A$252 million cashflow from operations and A$246 million NPAT. Kiaka's construction remains on schedule and on-budget for first gold in Q3 2025."

Regis Resources Ltd (ASX: RRL)

The Regis Resources share price was on form and raced 23% higher during the month. This was driven by the gold price charging to record high after record high in March due to trade war concerns and rate cuts. This also led to a host of other ASX 200 gold shares recording double digit returns during the month, including Newmont Corporation (ASX: NEM) and Evolution Mining Ltd (ASX: EVN).

Healius Ltd (ASX: HLS)

The Healius share price had a strong month and charged 8.5% higher. This was driven by the release of an investor day update from the pathology services provider. While Healius revealed that trading has been positive early in 2025, the big news getting investors excited was that its board is planning to return $300 million to shareholders through a special dividend. If the sale of its Lumus business completes successfully, the company expects to pay a fully franked special dividend of 41.3 cents per share. This represents a massive dividend yield of almost 30%.

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Gold shares are having a phenomenal day so far. Take the market's largest miner, Newmont Corporation (ASX: NEM). It's currently enjoying a 1.22% lift to $76.58 a share.

Most ASX gold shares are doing even better than that, though. Evolution Mining Ltd (ASX: EVN) and Northern Star Resources Ltd (ASX: NST) are both up more than 3% at present.

West African Resources Ltd (ASX: WAF) and Spartan Resources Ltd (ASX: SPR) have clocked gains of 3.7% and 4.9%, respectively. But Ramelius Resources Ltd (ASX: RMS) is currently the best-performing stock on the entire ASX 200 Index, up a rosy 5.2% at $2.43 a share.

So, what's going on today that has resulted in these ASX gold shares smashing the market so convincingly?

Why are these ASX gold shares surging this Friday?

Well, we don't have to look too far to see what's going on. As we flagged this morning, the price of gold itself experienced a significant jump in value in overnight trading. At one point last night, one ounce of the precious metal cost US$3,059.55, a new record high for gold. Gold spot prices have since pushed even higher, hitting as much as US$3,075 an ounce on some exchanges.

With the precious metal pushing to such significant heights, it's no surprise to see the ASX's biggest gold stocks following suit today. Remember, gold miners tend to have relatively fixed costs. As such, an increase in the price of gold gives these miners' profitability a leveraged boost. That's why we usually see the prices of ASX gold shares rise by even more than the price of the metal itself during rallies. Of course, the opposite can also be true. But fortunately for gold bugs, it's the former scenario that's occurring right now.

Gold prices hit record high

Today's latest record high for gold continues a trend that has been playing out for more than a year. It was only at the start of last year that gold was going for under US$2,000 an ounce. Since then, the precious metal has rallied more than 50%, going off of today's new highs.

As gold is the classic 'safe haven' asset, we can probably put this rise down to renewed fears over global inflation, American sovereign debt, as well as continued global geopolitical tensions. This has evidently been a potent cocktail of tailwinds for gold prices. Let's see what the rest of 2025 holds in store for gold and the ASX gold shares that mine it.

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Four ASX shares that are rising more than most today are listed below. Here's why they are rising:

Navigator Global Investments Ltd (ASX: NGI)

The Navigator Global share price is up 2% to $1.80. This morning, this investment company revealed that it has entered into an agreement to acquire a strategic minority stake in 1315 Capital and its affiliates. The release notes that 1315 Capital is a private equity firm with over US$1 billion assets under management that provides growth equity and growth buyout capital to commercial-stage medtech and pharma outsourcing, healthcare services, medical technology, and health and wellness companies. They target markets where high-quality management teams can rapidly scale platform companies into large and important businesses that positively impact patients, physicians, and the broader healthcare system.

Pilbara Minerals Ltd (ASX: PLS)

The Pilbara Minerals share price is up almost 8% to $1.96. This is despite there being no news out of the lithium miner. However, a number of lithium miners are pushing higher today as investor sentiment improves. They may believe that this side of the market has been oversold in recent time and created a buying opportunity.

Smartpay Holdings Ltd (ASX: SMP)

The Smartpay share price is up 48% to 78.5 cents. Investors have been scrambling to buy the payments company's shares after it received a takeover approach from both Tyro Payments Ltd (ASX: TYR) and another third party. Tyro Payments' indicative proposal is to acquire 100% of the issued ordinary shares of Smartpay by way of scheme of arrangement for a price of NZ$1.00 (approximately A$0.90) per share. This comprises a majority of Tyro shares as well as cash consideration.

Spartan Resources Ltd (ASX: SPR)

The Spartan Resources share price is up 9% to $1.75. This follows news that the gold miner has agreed to merge with Ramelius Resources Ltd (ASX: RMS). It has accepted a deal that will see Ramelius acquire all outstanding Spartan shares for $0.25 in cash and 0.6957 new Ramelius shares per share. This valued the company at $1.78 per share, which represented a relatively modest 11.3% premium to its last close price but a 27.5% premium to its 30-day average price. Ramelius' managing director, Mark Zeptner, said: "With the Spartan Effect, Ramelius has a vision for the Combined Group to be a +500koz/pa producer in FY30."

The post Why Navigator Global, Pilbara Minerals, Smartpay, and Spartan shares are charging higher appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

Four ASX shares that have failed to follow the market higher today are listed below. Here's why they are falling:

Austin Engineering Ltd (ASX: ANG)

The Austin Engineering share price is down 2% to 41.7 cents. Investors have been selling this engineering company's shares after they traded ex-dividend this morning. Last month, the company released its half year results and revealed a fully franked 0.6 cents per share interim dividend. This will be paid to eligible shareholders next month on 9 April. Based on its last close price, this equates to a 1.4% dividend yield for investors.

DroneShield Ltd (ASX: DRO)

The DroneShield share price is down over 6% to $1.02. This appears to have been driven by profit taking from investors after some strong gains in recent weeks. In fact, the counter drone technology company's shares are still up by 65% since this time last month despite today's pullback. Investors appear to have been betting on increased defence spending giving the growing company's sales a major boost in 2025.

Meridian Energy Ltd (ASX: MEZ)

The Meridian Energy share price is down 1.5% to $4.90. This follows the release of the New Zealand based energy company's monthly update. According to the release, national electricity demand in February 2025 was 5.2% lower than the same month last year. This led to Meridian Energy reporting a 1.9% decline in retail sales volumes compared to the same period in February 2024.

Ramelius Resources Ltd (ASX: RMS)

The Ramelius Resources share price is down almost 1.5% to $2.17. Investors have responded relatively negatively to news that the gold miner is merging with Spartan Resources Ltd (ASX: SPR). The two parties have agreed on a deal that will see Ramelius acquire all outstanding Spartan shares for $0.25 in cash and 0.6957 new Ramelius shares per share. Ramelius' managing director, Mark Zeptner, said: "Ramelius is delighted to be combining with Spartan, which will see Ramelius' Mt Magnet Production Hub supercharged by the integration of Spartan's high-grade Dalgaranga Mineral Resource. The combination will see Mt Magnet deliver higher ounces, at higher grade, with higher margins. With the Spartan Effect, Ramelius has a vision for the Combined Group to be a +500koz/pa producer in FY30."

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