Oventus AGM 2017: Shares rise after Thorney speech, as sleep-device maker sticks by cash guidance

SHARES in sleep-device maker Oventus climb back over float price — but Brisbane-based firm believes the jump was due to key investor talking up stock.

Oventus inventor Chris Hart and CEO Neil Anderson. Pic: Peter Wallis

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SHARES in sleep-device maker Oventus have climbed back over their float price — but the Brisbane-based company believes the jump on Friday was due to a key investor talking up the stock.

Oventus, which has developed a mouthguard like device with a special tube to aid sleep-troubled patients, stuck by guidance at its annual general meeting on Friday of becoming “cash positive” by 2019.

The company floated last year on the sharemarket at 50c and soon rocketed to $1, then fell to 31c.

Oventus chairman Mel Bridges said Melbourne-based fund manager Thorney Technologies, which holds 15 per cent of the stock, had given a presentation on Oventus on Friday, boosting the share price. Oventus stock closed up 7c at 54c.

The Brisbane-based company said highlights from 2017 included signing a distribution deal for its devices with Hong Kong-based Modern Dental. They hope Modern Dental will start marketing Oventus products from December this year.

One investor aired concerns about Oventus’s device being counterfeited, with the company aiming for the Chinese market.

Oventus chief executive officer Neil Anderson argued Modern Dental’s size would help because the large player could theoretically clamp down on any rivals trying to offload mimicking products in China.

Hurdles for Oventus include heavy competition for the sleep market, although the company argued its device sits in a niche between offerings already for sale.

Oventus finished last quarter with $7.5 million in the bank, having burned through $1.75 million on operating costs in the preceding three months.