The BPH Energy Ltd (ASX: BPH) share price has had a dramatic day today. BPH shares started the day at 16 cents a share. But the BPH share price plummeted 36.36% to just 10 cents a share in afternoon trading before being placed in a trading halt.
This latest move gives back most of the gains BPH investors have enjoyed since the company rocketed from 5 cents a share to as high as 33 cents in late January.
So what on earth is going on with this ASX energy company?
Well, unfortunately, we don't know too much yet, that's certain. But here's what we do know.
BPH share price in a trading halt
The BPH share price was having a fairly uneventful day, bobbing along at around 16 cents per share. Until midday, that was. BPH shares started dropping soon after noon, with the selling accelerating around 1pm. That's when the BPH share price hit 10 cents. At 2.02pm, BPH announced to the ASX that trading would be paused pending a further announcement.
At 2.48pm, the company released another announcement. This one told investors that BPH had requested an immediate halt to all trading of shares and options "pending an announcement to be made by the company to respond to an ASX price and volume query".
It went on to say the following:
The trading halt is necessary to assist the company in managing its continuous disclosure obligations as the company expects to make a material announcement to the market in relation to the stated purpose.
The company will continue to be suspended until 8 March, or when the company makes another statement. At the time of writing, that is all the information available.
What's been happening lately?
BPH Energy shareholders have had a rollercoaster of a ride over the past few months. This is the second trading suspension the company has faced in the past month alone.
It was only back on 17 February that shares were last suspended. Back then, it was due to several reports that implied BPH's proposal to use its PEP11 oil project in the Sydney basic to investigate the potential for a carbon, capture and storage project would be rejected by the New South Wales government.
In response, BPH released a statement that pointed out that the project would need to be blocked at the federal government level if it was to be derailed at all. And that's the last we've officially heard on this interesting saga to date.
It's possible that today's moves are the result of news of further development in this story (even though that doesn't appear to be public knowledge just yet). But, for now, we shall have to wait and see.
