Author: therawinformant

In early afternoon trade the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is on course to record a very strong gain. At the time of writing the benchmark index is up a sizeable 1.35% to 6,082.2 points. This is thanks largely to strong gains in the tech sector.

Four shares that are climbing more than most today are listed below. Here’s why they are racing higher:

The Afterpay Ltd (ASX: APT) share price is up almost 8% to $74.89. Investors have been buying Afterpay and other tech shares on Tuesday after their U.S. counterparts stormed higher on the technology-focused Nasdaq index overnight. At the time of writing the S&P/ASX 200 Information Technology index is up an impressive 5.5%.

The Ecofibre Ltd (ASX: EOF) share price has jumped 10% to $2.49. Investors have been buying the hemp products company’s shares after the release of its profit guidance on Monday. Ecofibre is expecting to report a net profit after tax of ~$12.5 million in FY 2020. This will be more than double what it achieved in FY 2019. Its strong position in the U.S. market has driven the impressive profit growth.

The Mesoblast limited (ASX: MSB) share price has climbed almost 8% higher to $3.61. This follows the announcement of a review date for its remestemcel-L treatment by the U.S. FDA. The review will assess data supporting Mesoblast’s application for approval for remestemcel-L in the treatment of steroid-refractory acute graft versus host disease in children.

The Zip Co Ltd (ASX: Z1P) share price is up almost 9% to $6.57. As well as getting a lift from the rampant buying in the tech sector, Zip’s shares were given a boost from a broker note out of Ord Minnett this morning. Its analysts have put an accumulate rating and $6.45 price target on the buy now pay later provider’s shares.

More reading

• Mesoblast share price climbs 9% on FDA meeting
• 3 tips for investing in ASX 200 shares for beginners
• Why I would buy Afterpay and these exciting ASX tech shares
• Top fund manager names favourite ASX growth shares
• Why the BlueScope share price is outperforming today

James Mickleboro has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of ZIPCOLTD FPO. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of AFTERPAY T FPO. 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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At lunch on Tuesday S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is on course to record a very strong gain. The benchmark index is currently up 1.15% to 6,071.1 points.

Here’s what has been happening on the market today:

Big four banks push higher.

The big four banks are all pushing higher on Tuesday. The best performer in the group is the Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA) share price with a gain of 1.5%. Investors have been buying the banking giant’s shares despite analysts at Goldman Sachs rating them as a sell this morning.

Tech shares storm higher.

It has been a fantastic day for Australia’s leading tech shares. The likes of Altium Limited (ASX: ALU) and Nearmap Ltd (ASX: NEA) are storming notably higher. This has driven the S&P/ASX 200 Information Technology index 5.5% higher at lunch. The catalyst for this was a very positive night of trade on Wall Street’s technology-focused Nasdaq index. It jumped 2.5% thanks to strong gains by the likes of Amazon, Apple, Microsoft, and Google parent, Alphabet. Amazon was the star of the show with a gain of almost 8%.

BHP Q4 update

The BHP Group Ltd (ASX: BHP) share price is trading sideways on Tuesday following the release of its fourth quarter and full year update. BHP had a solid 12 months with production guidance met for iron ore, metallurgical coal, and operated copper and energy coal assets. Iron ore production was the highlight of FY 2020 with 248 Mt produced. BHP commanded an average realised price of US$77.36 a tonne for the steel making ingredient. This was up 16% year on year.

Best and worst ASX 200 shares.

The best performer on the ASX 200 on Tuesday has been the Nearmap share price with an impressive 10% gain. This follows strong buying in the tech sector today. The worst performer has been the Alumina Limited (ASX: AWC) share price with a 4% decline. This may be down to profit taking after some very strong gains last week.

More reading

• The worst performing ASX 200 oil stock is finally catching a break today
• What the latest economic data could mean for ASX 200 shares
• Mesoblast share price climbs 9% on FDA meeting
• Why AGL Energy, Alumina, BlueScope, & BWX shares are dropping lower
• What you need to know about Downer’s share price, $400m cap raise and acquisition

James Mickleboro has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of Altium and Nearmap Ltd. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Nearmap 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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The Mesoblast limited (ASX: MSB) share price has jumped 8.9% this morning after the healthcare company announced a review date for its remestemcel-L treatment has been granted by the FDA. The review will assess data supporting Mesoblast’s application for approval for remestemcel-L in the treatment of steroid-refractory acute graft versus host disease (SR-aGVHD) in children. 

SR-aGVHD is a potentially life threatening complication from bone marrow transplants for blood cancer. There are currently no FDA approved treatments in the United States for children under the age of 12 with SR-aGVHD. An advisory committee will review the data on 13 August and make a recommendation regarding approval to the FDA. 

What is remestemcel-L?

Remestemcel-L is a therapy utilising mesenchymal stem cells derived from bone marrow. It is administered via a series of intravenous infusions. The treatment is believed to counteract inflammatory processes and enable recruitment of naturally occurring anti-inflammatory cells to involved tissues. Remestemcel-L has gained significant publicity recently due to its use in the treatment of COVID-19 patients. 

Remestemcel-L is currently undergoing phase 3 trials to assess its use in treating adult COVID-19 patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome. The product is also available in the US for compassionate use for child COVID-19 patients with cardiovascular and other complications of multisystem inflammatory syndrome. 

How is the Mesoblast share price performing? 

During the nine months to 31 March 2020, Mesoblast reported revenues of US$31.5 million. This was a 113% increase on the prior corresponding period when US$14.8 million in revenue was reported. Loss after tax reduced to US$45.3 million for the first nine months of FY20, compared to a loss of US$69.1 million for the first nine months of FY19. 

The Mesoblast share price has gained 146% over the last year and 233% from its March low. Encouraging results from clinical trials of remestemcel-L have pushed the Mesoblast share price higher, as has its use in the treatment of coronavirus. Mesoblast’s increased share price saw it join the S&P/ASX 200 (ASX: XJO) in the most recent quarterly rebalance. 

What’s next for Mesoblast?

Mesoblast had cash on hand of $60.1 million at 31 March 2020. An additional $138 million of capital was raised in May which will be used to scale up manufacturing of remestemcel-L for the treatment of COVID-19 patients. The company is now well positioned to pursue this new imperative with clinical trials underway. 

More reading

• The worst performing ASX 200 oil stock is finally catching a break today
• What the latest economic data could mean for ASX 200 shares
• Why Afterpay, Ecofibre, Mesoblast, & Zip Co shares are racing higher
• ASX 200 jumps 1.15%: BHP Q4 update, tech shares rocket higher
• What you need to know about Downer’s share price, $400m cap raise and acquisition

Motley Fool contributor Kate O’Brien has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. 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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The WAM Global Limited (ASX: WGB) share price is up around 3% after announcing a larger-than expected FY20 final dividend for investors.

Overview of WAM Global

WAM Global is a listed investment company (LIC). It’s operated by Wilson Asset Management. The job of a LIC is to invest in other shares on your behalf. As the name may suggest, WAM Global invests in global shares. It’s meant to be the international version of WAM Capital Limited (ASX: WAM). It provides geographic and currency diversification compared to the domestic WAM LICs.

One of the benefits of LICs is that they can make investment returns from capital gains as well as receiving investment income from shares. LICs can then pay out some of those investment returns as steady dividends or retain the profit for more growth.

WAM Global looks for international shares where there’s a catalyst that would cause the share price to rise. It’s particularly looking for what it describes as ‘undervalued international growth companies’.

For shareholders it wants to provide a stream of fully franked dividends, provide capital growth over the medium-to-long term and preserve capital. As WAM Global’s investments grow in value, hopefully the WAM Global share price will rise as well.

FY20 dividend

The board of WAM Global decided to declare a fully franked final dividend of 4 cents per share, bringing the FY20 final dividend to 7 cents per share. This is a 250% increase on FY19’s total dividend and a 100% increase on the final FY19 dividend.

To pay future dividends WAM Global needs a profit reserve to pay from. WAM Global said that it had a profit reserve of 24 cents per share as at 30 June 220, which is 3.4 years of dividend coverage. WAM Global said it wants to pay a growing stream of fully franked dividends.

FY20 investment performance

The WAM Global share price and dividends are influenced by the investment performance of the LIC.

Before fees, expenses and taxes, the WAM Global investment portfolio increased by 3.1% during FY20, it outperformed the MSCI World SMID (small/mid) Cap Index in Australian dollar terms by 5%. However, it unperformed the MSCI World Index (AUD) which rose by 4.8%, it was driven by large cap tech companies which performed strongly during COVID-19 such as Amazon.

What shares does WAM Global own?

WAM Global revealed some of shares it owned at the end of June 2020.

Its biggest 10 positions included: Nomad Foods, Tencent, Lowe’s, Dollar General, Thermo Fisher Scientific, Kobe Bussan, Microsoft, Aon, AutoZone and Hasbro.

The next biggest 10 holdings were: Intuit, CME, Intercontinental Exchange, CDW, HelloFresh, Logitech, Edwards Lifesciences, Electronic Arts, Fidelity National Information Services and Arista Networks.

This is a diversified group of shares that should be able to perform well regardless of what the global economy does in regards to COVID-19.

Is the WAM Global share price a buy?

At the current WAM Global share price it’s trading at a 14% discount to the net tangible asset (NTA) despite today’s rise. I think that’s an attractive discount. The LIC that is well managed and has the potential to keep outperforming the MSCI small and medium cap index.

With the bigger than expected final FY20 dividend, WAM Global now offers an impressive dividend yield. Using an annual dividend payment of 7 cents per share, it offers a grossed-up dividend yield of 5.1%. If WAM Global pays another 4 cents per share dividend in six months then the forward grossed-up dividend yield could be 5.8%.

The management fees are certainly a drag on the net performance of the LIC, but if your focus is dividend income then I think this is a good time to buy WAM Global shares at an attractive NTA discount with a growing dividend.

More reading

• 3 blue chip ASX 200 dividend shares to buy in the next market correction
• 2 ASX shares I would buy for growth and income
• 3 ASX dividend shares growing their payouts fast
• ASX income stalwart WAM Capital announces 8.2% dividend
• Safe ASX 200 dividend shares to buy today

Motley Fool contributor Tristan Harrison has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. 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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The ASX is home to a dynamic and fast growing tech market. Here we look at 2 ASX tech shares that I believe could be worthy additions to your share portfolio: Bravura Solutions Ltd (ASX: BVS) and Megaport Ltd (ASX: MP1).

Bravura

Bravura is a locally based fintech company. It provides mission-critical enterprise software solutions to both the wealth management and funds administration industry. Since it was founded in 2015, Bravura has seen impressive revenue growth. In FY19, Bravura’s overall revenue increased strongly by 16% to $257.7. million and its earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation were up by 27%. 

The Bravura share price was hit hard during the early phase of the coronavirus pandemic. It has seen a partial recovery since then, and has been trading in the $4–$5 zone since late April. Over the next few months, I see potential for further share price gains from pre-COVID 19 levels as Bravura has not reported any major decline in demand during the pandemic.

Over the longer term, I believe Bravura is well positioned for continued strong revenue and profitability growth, driven by a growing product set and increased demand for wealth management software solutions globally.

Megaport

Megaport provides a ‘network as a service’ offering to enterprises. It is also commonly referred to as an elastic interconnection service. This enables enterprises to increase or decrease their fixed broadband bandwidth. The service is enabled via a network of cloud providers, data centre operators, and network service providers.

Megaport continues to grow its customer base across Asia Pacific, Europe and North America. This ASX tech share reported a whopping 70% increase in revenue to $25.9 million in the first half of FY 2020.

The Megaport share price has also performed strongly recently, increasing by more than 100% over the past year.

I believe that Megaport is well placed to continue its growth story over the next few years, driven by the continued rise of cloud computing and the need for rapid connectivity. 

Foolish takeaway

Both Bravura and Megaport are 2 of my top ASX tech share picks right now. Both have strong entrenched market positions in their respective tech niches. Both tech companies also continue to grow their international presence, which in my opinion is likely to lead to strong revenue growth in the years to come.

More reading

• Buy and hold these mid cap ASX shares for strong potential returns
• 5 of the worst performing ASX shares from last week
• ASX 200 Weekly Wrap: Blue chip shares pull ASX 200 back over 6,000 points
• Want to beat the market? Try these 3 ASX growth shares
• These were the worst performing ASX 200 shares last week

Phil Harpur owns shares of MEGAPORT FPO. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of MEGAPORT FPO. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of and has recommended Bravura Solutions Ltd. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended MEGAPORT FPO. 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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It has been a very positive day for the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO). In late morning trade the benchmark index is up almost 1% to 6,059.2 points.

Four shares that have failed to follow the market higher today are listed below. Here’s why they are dropping lower:

The AGL Energy Limited (ASX: AGL) share price is down 2% to $17.10. As the energy company is regarded as a safe haven asset, investors may be selling its shares and rotating back into risk-on assets due to improving investor sentiment. In addition to this, earlier this month Macquarie downgraded AGL’s shares to an underperform rating with a $15.91 price target.

The Alumina Limited (ASX: AWC) share price is down 4% to $1.71. Investors may be taking profit after some strong gains this month following its quarterly update. One broker that still thinks the Alumina share price can go higher is Morgan Stanley. On Monday it retained its overweight rating and price target of $2.00.

The BlueScope Steel Limited (ASX: BSL) share price is down almost 1.5% to $11.43. This could have been triggered by another note out of Morgan Stanley on Monday. It slapped an underweight rating and $10.00 price target on this steel producer’s shares. This follows the recent release of its guidance for FY 2020.

The BWX Ltd (ASX: BWX) share price has fallen 4% to $4.10. This may be a case of profit taking from investors after some very strong gains by the personal care products company’s shares this month. Prior to today, BWX’s shares were up 22% since the start of the month. This follows the release of its unaudited full year result which revealed strong sales and earnings growth. The company is also currently raising funds to enhance its manufacturing capability and future-proof its supply chain.

More reading

• Why the BlueScope share price is outperforming today
• 5 top performing ASX 200 shares from last week
• ASX 200 down 0.5%: Sydney Airport and South32 updates, HUB24 delivers record Q4
• ASX 200 Weekly Wrap: Blue chip shares pull ASX 200 back over 6,000 points
• These were the best performing ASX 200 shares last week

Motley Fool contributor James Mickleboro has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of and has recommended BWX 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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The Immuron Limited (ASX: IMC) share price is up by 89.80% to 46 cents per share this morning on news that Immuron’s product IMM-124E has neutralising activity against the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2), the virus that causes COVID-19.

This follows on from another positive announcement yesterday that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) provided guidance about the development pathway for Immuron’s new oral therapeutic drugs.

What sent Immuron’s share price skyrocketing?

The Immuron share price has shot higher in early trade following news that IMM-124E, which is used in the manufacture of Immuron’s flagship drugs Travelan and Protectyn, demonstrates antiviral activity against COVID-19 in laboratory testing.

Trevelan is Immuron’s only drug that currently generates revenue and is predominantly used to reduce the risk of traveller’s diarrhoea and minor gastro-intestinal disorders. It is licensed in Australia, Canada and sold as a dietary supplement in the US.

The company reports that the cytopathic effect inhibition cell-based assay was established and performed by 360 biolabs, a Melbourne-based contract research organisation. All 4 of the tests performed saw inhibition of Covid-19 of at least 50%. Higher concentrations of IMM-124E stemmed the virus replication by up to 90%. None of the tests demonstrated any cell toxicity.

Commenting on the early results, Immuron CEO Dr Jerry Kanellos stated: 

The preliminary data set we have generated potentially offers a new oral therapeutic approach to target and directly inhibit the virus in the Gastrointestinal tract and warrants further evaluation to identify the inhibitory substances in our products. The company has filed a provisional patent application in respect of the findings.

What now for Immuron?

Immuron is an Australian biopharmaceutical company focused on developing and commercialising oral immunotherapeutics for the prevention and treatment of gut-mediated pathogens such as campylobacteriosis and E. coli (ETEC).

After languishing around the 12 cent mark over the past year, the Immuron share price has seen a stark reversal in fortunes, jumping 275% on 9 June alone, in response to news of briefing documentation being submitted to the FDA. The Immuron share price is up 253% year to date, and currently sits at 46 cents per share.

More reading

• Immuron share price shoots 6% higher after receiving FDA guidance for new drug

Motley Fool contributor Daniel Ewing has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. 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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For the many new investors that have hit the markets since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, it can be quite difficult to find good value shares to buy. On one hand you have the skyrocketing valuations of companies like Afterpay Ltd (ASX: APT) which, at the time of writing, has a valuation marginally less than Santos Ltd (ASX: STO) and Origin Energy Ltd (ASX: ORG) combined. On the other hand you have companies like Ansell Limited (ASX: ANN) which is a great company, but trading at 10 points above its 10-year price-to-earnings (P/E) average.

I think the companies below represent very good ASX shares to buy right now. They are both in the real estate space, and each one has a market cap less than its book value. Book value refers to total assets minus intangible assets and liabilities. It is also called the net asset value.

Theoretically, this means that if you had a spare billion dollars lying around, you could buy one of these companies and immediately sell all of its assets for a profit. 

A great office share to buy

Centuria Office REIT (ASX: COF) is a great ASX share to buy and Australia’s largest ASX-listed pure play office REIT. I believe that office real estate has been the least impacted by the coronavirus pandemic thus far. A report on residential real estate from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) shows that new approvals for total dwellings was down by 16.4% compared to April. In addition, GPT Group (ASX: GPT) reduced the value of its retail assets by $476.7 million, or approximately 8.8%, in response to a re-valuation. This was before the second wave of the virus hit Victoria. I expect retail assets to be even more devalued due to the current uncertainty.

Centuria Office has an occupancy of 99.2%. Importantly, the company has a weighted average lease expiry, or WALE, of 5.1 years. In addition, it manages a portfolio of high quality office assets worth $2.1 billion. At the time of writing, the company has a market cap of $1.05 billion – half of the value of its real estate portfolio. 

At its current price, Centuria Office has a trailing 12-month dividend yield of approximately 8.73% and is trading at a P/E of 13.42. This is lower than it has traded in the past five years. I think this is a great share to buy and I am contemplating investing in it personally. 

Storage assets are king

Abacus Property Group (ASX: ABP) is another ASX share to buy that is undervalued, in my opinion. It is an Australian real estate investment trust, or A-REIT, like Centuria, however it is diversified. According to the company’s portfolio statement, it has a balance sheet of $3.3 billion in total property assets as at H1 FY20, a significant increase from FY19.

This breaks down into approximately; 50.6% in office buildings, 34.4% in storage space, 6.8% in small convenience shopping centres, and about 8.2% in non-core assets.

While I remain concerned over the impact to retail, it is only a small percentage of the company’s portfolio. Both office assets and storage assets have been resilient in the current pandemic. Furthermore, Abacus has begun to show a growing interest in accumulating storage assets. Recently it increased its holding in rival National Storage REIT (ASX: NSR) to 8.09%. This is part of the organisation’s move to a recurring annuity type income stream, instead of its previous value-add model. An approach that will result in less volatility in earnings.

At the time of writing, Abacus has a market cap of $1.81 billion. This is 45.2% lower than its stated portfolio value. In terms of net asset value, it is worth $3.41 per security, while the current share price is $2.77 per security. The company also has a trailing 12 month dividend yield of 6.68%.

I think this is one of the better value shares to buy on the ASX today.

Foolish takeaway

Finding cheap shares to buy is difficult, however the price to book ratio is a good starting point. To illustrate further, compare the value of the company’s net tangible assets, against its current market capitalisation. However, this is only the beginning. You also need to make sure that the business has a solid operating model, and that management is making good decisions. This is more important than ever as we find ourselves in an unprecedented level of uncertainty. 

More reading

• ASX 200 flat: Westpac class action, Rio Tinto Q2 update, travel shares sink
• Top ASX dividend shares to buy in July 2020

Motley Fool contributor Daryl Mather has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. 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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The Downer EDI Limited (ASX: DOW) share price went into a trading halt as it’s rattling the can for $400 million in loose change.

The engineering group is tapping investors on the shoulder for extra cash as it downgraded its guidance, announced a big write-down and looked to acquire all of Spotless Group Holdings Limited.

No one can accuse management of not keeping busy. The group now expects FY20 underlying net profit after tax but before amortisation (NPATA) of $210 million to $220 million.

Profit downgrade and impairment charge

This is below its previous NPATA guidance of $300 million, according to the Australian Financial Review. The new guidance also represents around a 40% fall from FY19’s figure of $340 million.

The group also expects to take a $386 million hit to earnings due to goodwill impairment, restructuring and portfolio review costs, payroll remediation, legal settlements and historical contract claims adjustments.

Acquisition of Spotless

But Downer is putting a positive spin on the situation. It wants to take full control of Spotless to fulfil its strategy of offering “urban services” which will provide consistent earnings and cash flow.

Spotless provides cleaning and maintenance services to government, utilities and healthcare customers.

Downer capital raising details

To achieve this goal, it’s looking to sell new shares to raise cash via a 1-for-5.58 fully underwritten accelerated non-renounceable pro-rata entitlement offer. The offer price of $3.75 a new share is a 12% discount to Downer’s last closing price of $4.26 yesterday.

Downer joins a long list of S&P/ASX 200 Index (Index:^AXJO) companies that have raised capital during the COVID-19 market shake-up.

This includes the Flight Centre Travel Group Ltd (ASX: FLT) share price, the National Australia Bank Ltd. (ASX: NAB) share price and Cochlear Limited (ASX: COH) share price – just to name a few.

Offer for Spotless Group

To win over Spotless minority shareholders, Downer will pay $1 per share of the unlisted company and issue one share option in Downer for every 17.92741 Spotless shares.

The acquirer also entered into a call option agreement with one of Spotless’ minority shareholders, Coltrane Master Fund. This gives Downer the right to purchase 2.99% of Spotless shares, which will increase Downer’s ownership above the 90% if exercised.

A bidder can move to compulsory acquire a company once it holds more than 90% of the target.

Downer believes it can extract $10 million to $15 million in synergies a year from the merger through restructuring, integrating operations and consolidating the Group’s debt platform.

One hand taketh, the other giveth away

On the flipside, Downer is looking to divest what it deems as non-core assets as it tries to reinvent itself.

This includes its mining and laundry services businesses, on top of its Engineering and Construction (E&C) and Spotless’ Infrastructure and Construction (I&C) divisions.

More reading

• 3 tips for investing in ASX 200 shares for beginners
• Where to invest $10,000 into quality ASX 200 shares
• This is how the Hungarian Grand Prix affects you as an ASX investor
• Is the Super Retail share price cheap today?
• Down 5% in 1 day: Are Bendigo and Adelaide Bank shares a buy?

Brendon Lau owns shares of National Australia Bank Limited. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of Cochlear Ltd. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Cochlear Ltd. and 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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