The Pro Medicus Limited (ASX: PME) share price has been a positive performer on Monday.

In morning trade the healthcare imaging software and services provider’s shares are up 1.5% to $29.25.

Why is the Pro Medicus share price pushing higher today?

Investors have been buying the company’s shares on Monday after it announced a major contract win with Northwestern Memorial HealthCare.

According to the release, Pro Medicus has signed a five-year, A$22 million deal with the Chicago-based healthcare company for its Visage 7 technology.

Visage 7 is an enterprise imaging platform that delivers fast, multi-dimensional images streamed via an intelligent thin-client viewer.

Todays’ deal extends the company’s footprint in the U.S. academic hospital segment, as well as regionally based community hospitals.

An important deal.

Pro Medicus’ Chief Executive Officer, Dr. Sam Hupert, believes this is one of the most important deals the company has signed.

He commented: “This certainly ranks up there as one of our most important not only because of the size of the deal, but also because of Northwestern’s standing in the medical and medical research communities. It will also provide us with a key reference site in the Chicago area.”

The good news for shareholders is that there may be more deals on the way. Dr Hupert revealed that its pipeline remains strong.

Commenting on other potential deals that are in the works, he said: “Some are looking at multiple products such as using Visage 7 Open Archive in addition to our Viewer, and there are also those who have expressed a preference for Cloud, so it is a good mix.”

Though, he has warned that it can take time for deals to be closed. In some cases, the whole process can take two years or even longer.

Another positive was that Pro Medicus has not experienced any major disruption from the pandemic.

Speaking about the pandemic, Dr Hupert said: “Up to now, we have not experienced any material deferral or delay in progressing any of these opportunities, Northwestern being a case in point. Our pipeline remains strong and, subject to there not being a second wave, we have a number of good opportunities across various sectors of the market that are continuing to progress through the sales cycle.”

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James Mickleboro has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. recommends Pro Medicus Ltd. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of and has recommended Pro Medicus Ltd. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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ASX 200 travel shares have been punished harshly since March. Both local and international air travel has essentially come to a grinding halt due to the harsh lockdown restrictions caused by the coronavirus crisis.

However, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) has seen strong share price gains over the past two weeks, as general market sentiment continues to rise.

Growing hope for the ASX travel sector

In particular, increasing optimism is now flowing through to the ASX travel sector, as lockdown restrictions begin to ease.

It is now looking more likely that domestic travel will start to slowly pick up in the months ahead. There is also the possibility that a Trans-Tasman bubble may open up travel between Australia and New Zealand.

This is helping to strongly lift the share price of a number of the heavily sold off travel shares. This includes Corporate Travel Management Ltd (ASX: CTD), Flight Centre Travel Group Ltd (ASX: FLT), Webjet Limited (ASX: WEB) and Qantas Airways Limited (ASX: QAN).

Here, we look at two of those companies, Webjet and Flight Centre, that have seen a strong share price rise over 30% during the past two weeks.

Webjet

The ASX share price for Webjet has soared by over 33% since 11 May. Investors are now starting to feel more optimistic that domestic flight bookings could begin to ramp up again soon.

However, Webjet’s share price is still 50% lower than what it was back in February, despite the recent share price rally. Webjet’s shares were heavily sold off during the initial phase of the coronavirus crisis, with booking almost drying up completely.

I believe that Webjet is better placed than its rival, Flight Centre in the months ahead.

It has lower overall operating costs, due to its purely online business model. I feel that this places it in a better position to weather any further dark clouds that may be on the horizon for travel.

Flight Centre

Flight Centre has been hit very harshly during the coronavirus crisis.

The travel bookings provider recently raised $700 million from institutional and retail shareholders, in a capital raising.  This will provide it with additional funds to help it get through the remainder of the travel restriction period.

The company has also been forced to undertake a range of cost-reduction initiatives. These include the loss of around 6,000 support and sales roles and the closure of a number of its retail outlets.

Rising market optimism has seen a 30.8% rally in its share price over the past two weeks.  However, Flight Centre shares are still down by over 60% since February.

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Motley Fool contributor Phil Harpur owns shares of Corporate Travel Management Limited and Webjet Ltd. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of and has recommended Corporate Travel Management Limited and Webjet Ltd. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Flight Centre Travel Group Limited. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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Once reliable S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) and All Ordinaries (ASX: XAO) dividend shares have come under fire, following uncertain earnings and challenging business conditions amidst the coronavirus pandemic. However, there are many dynamic businesses out there, surviving or even thriving in today’s unprecedented economic conditions.

Here are 3 ASX dividend shares that you could add to your income portfolio. 

1. Fortescue Metals Group Limited (ASX: FMG) 

Fortescue is positioned front and centre to benefit from the strong iron ore spot price and weak Australian dollar. This follows mounting supply concerns for Brazil, one of China’s biggest sources of iron ore. Brazil’s confirmed coronavirus cases have soared to more than 300,000, second only to the US. 

From a demand perspective, Chinese steel mills have been ramping up production since April. Exhausting iron ore inventories will place further pressure on the iron ore spot price. While the Fortescue share price might be near record all-time highs, the resilient iron ore spot price and China’s commodity intensive recovery should see this continue. Fortescue currently pays a whopping 7.19% dividend yield, which may make it one of the most desirable and resilient ASX dividend shares to watch out for. 

2. Money3 Corporation Limited (ASX: MNY) 

Money3 provides automotive finance for the purchase and maintenance of vehicles. It estimates that approximately one in every 500 vehicles in Australia have a current Money3 loan. One in every 800 vehicles in New Zealand have a current Go Car Finance loan (the New Zealand-based auto loan company Money3 acquired in 2019). 

In a recent conference presentation, the company provided unaudited financial results for YTD March 2020. It has so far seen a 44.4% increase in revenue and 43.6% increase in earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) compared to the prior corresponding period.

Despite the damage that COVID-19 has inflicted on the Australian economy, Money3 has seen minimal impact on cash collections. It believes that government stimulus will have a positive impact on customers’ ability to continue to make payments towards their loans. It confirmed that in its New Zealand market customers continued to seek loan pre-approval during lockdown, with digital signup and contactless delivery occurring.

The minimal impact that COVID-19 has had on Money3’s cash flows and the expected rebound in the vehicle market could make the company a very strong ASX dividend share to own. Money3 currently pays a market-leading dividend yield of 5.97%. 

3. People Infrastructure Ltd (ASX: PPE) 

People Infrastructure operates in the workforce management sector, providing support to 3 main industries: health and community services, information technology, and general staffing/specialist services. The company raised $17.6 million in April to provide additional balance sheet support for the period that the business impacted by COVID-19. The funds are also marked for potential future acquisition opportunities as a result of the current volatile economic situation. 

The company provided another update to the market in May. This highlighted an expected FY20 normalised EBITDA to be in the range of $24–25 million. This would represent an approximate 35% increase on FY19 figures. It also pointed to factors that may support or increase the company’s 2020 performance. This includes continued demand for staff services across its divisions, in particular, an increase in demand for staffing in its general staffing business, a recovery in its information technology and nursing businesses. With potential tailwinds in mind, PPE also pays a 2.91% dividend yield.

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Motley Fool contributor Lina Lim has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended People Infrastructure Ltd. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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