Topic: How To Invest

Hi Pat: What is your opinion of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals? Thanks.

Article Excerpt

Aurinia Pharmaceuticals, $3.79, symbol AUP on Toronto (Shares outstanding: 12.4 million; Market cap: $46.9 million; www.auriniapharma.com), was formed from the recent merger of Isotechnika Pharma and Aurinia Pharmaceuticals. In tandem with the merger, Aurinia has completed a $6-million issue of 133.3 million units at $0.045 each (pre-consolidation—see next paragraph), with each unit consisting of one common share and half a common share purchase warrant. Each full warrant lets the holder buy one share at $0.05. Because its share price was so low, the company then consolidated its shares on a 1-for-50 basis on October 23, 2013. This reduced the recent share issue to a post-consolidation total of 2.7 million shares. Aurinia now has 12.4 million shares outstanding and a market cap of $46.9 million. Consolidations, or reverse splits as they are also called, can undermine the value of a given holding by as much as 25%, even without any change in the company’s business or assets. This is a greater risk with struggling…