Category: Stock Market

The Woodside Energy Group Ltd (ASX: WDS) share price went up more than 3%, adding to the ongoing rise over the last few weeks.

This gain compares to a 0.5% rise of the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO), so it was a day of useful outperformance for Woodside shareholders.

The oil and gas giant is highly sensitive to changes in the oil price. A higher commodity price means that Woodside can generate higher earnings for the same amount of resources produced.

According to CommSec, the oil price went up by around 4% overnight, so perhaps it is unsurprising that the Woodside share price rose by a similar amount.

Upcoming FY22 result

On 30 August, shareholders will receive the FY22 half-year result, revealing how much net profit after tax (NPAT) and cash flow the business generated. Investors will also learn how large the interim dividend is going to be.

Woodside has already given its 2022 second quarter report for the period ending 40 June 2022. In that, it revealed that it achieved an average realised price of $95 per barrel of oil equivalent. This helped it deliver revenue of $3.44 billion, a rise of 44% compared to the first quarter of 2022.

Construction starts on Pluto Train 2 project

The resources business announced today that construction has commenced on the Pluto Train 2 project, which it called a “key milestone supporting jobs and economic growth in Western Australia.”

This project will be the second liquefied natural gas (LNG) train at Woodside’s existing Pluto LNG onshore facility and will process gas from the Scarborough development. Pluto Train 2 will have an LNG capacity of around 5 million tonnes per annum. This boost could be helpful for the Woodside share price in the coming years.

Woodside said that, as the operator of Pluto Train 2 and Scarborough, it has made “commitments to the Western Australian Government in its community development plans to support positive and sustainable community outcomes in the Pilbara region.”

The CEO, Meg O’Neill, said that the gas processed through an expanded and efficient Pluto facility will “support the decarbonisation goals” of customers in Asia.

Bechtel will execute the engineering, procurement and construction of Pluto Train 2. It has already engaged a number of local and indigenous businesses to support delivery, with more awards anticipated as the project progresses.

Woodside share price snapshot

Over the past six months, Woodside shares have risen by 24.6%.

The post What boosted the Woodside share price on Wednesday? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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More reading

• Why is the Woodside share price having such a cracker of a day?
• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Monday
• Here are the top 10 ASX 200 shares today
• Why is the Woodside share price whizzing 5% higher on Friday?
• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Friday

Motley Fool contributor Tristan Harrison has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. 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 S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) climbed 0.52% today, but three ASX 200 shares soared even higher on financial results.

The Home Consortium (ASX: HMC), Iluka Resources Limited (ASX: ILU) and Netwealth Group Ltd (ASX: NWL) share prices all lifted today.

Let’s take a look at what led to these ASX 200 shares outperforming the index.

Iluka

ASX 200 mining share Iluka rose 9.84% today on half-yearly results. The company reported a nearly 186% boost in net profit in its H122 results. Iluka’s earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortisation (EBITDA) also soared 70.5% to $525.5 million. Net total cash lifted to $600.3 million.

Iluka managing director Tom O’Leary said: “in a macroeconomic environment characterised by inflation and uncertainty, we increased margins and strengthened our balance sheet“.

In positive news for dividend investors, Iluka lifted its interim fully-franked dividend by 108.3% to 25 cents per share.

Netwealth

Netwealth shares soared 7.02% today. This follows the ASX 200 financial services share reporting a 2.7% lift in net profit to $55.6 million. Revenue lifted 19.6%, while operating expenses jumped 30.7%. Netwealth declared a fully franked final dividend of 10 cents per share. Total dividends for FY22 were 20 cents, 8% more than FY21. Netwealth is predicting inflows of $11 to $13 billion in FY23.

Home Consortium

The Home Consortium share price rocketed 10.85% today amid its FY22 full-year results. The company lifted its funds management revenues by 490% compared to FY21. External assets under management also exploded 321% to $5.8 billion.

Commenting on this result, CEO David Di Pilla said:

We strengthened the capital position of our funds through opportunistic asset sales which took advantage of the disconnect between property and global capital markets.

The ASX 200 property share said it is “well positioned” going into FY23 with strong momentum.

Home Consortium delivered a fully-franked FY22 dividend of 12 cents per share, the same as FY21.

The post These three ASX 200 shares rocketed higher on earnings updates today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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More reading

• Here are the top 10 ASX 200 shares today
• HMC Capital share price jumps 9% on explosive results
• Why Domino’s, Iluka, Netwealth, and WiseTech shares are storming higher
• Netwealth lifts full-year dividend on record inflows
• Netwealth share price rises 9% on strong revenue growth in FY22 results

Motley Fool contributor Monica O’Shea has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has positions in and has recommended Netwealth. The Motley Fool Australia has positions in and has recommended Netwealth. 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 Fortescue Metals Group Limited (ASX: FMG) share price is under the spotlight as its reporting time gets close.

Fortescue is one of the biggest iron ore miners in the world. It’s expected to make a fairly large profit in the upcoming result and pay a pretty big dividend.

As a resources business, Fortescue’s short-term success is heavily linked to the performance of the iron ore price. If the iron ore price rises, it doesn’t cost much more for Fortescue to mine the iron, aside from government payments, so extra revenue can largely fall to the net profit line of the accounts. But, the reverse is true when iron ore prices fall.

Insights into FY22 update

In the production report for the three months to June 2022, Fortescue said that it achieved average revenue of US$108 per dry metric tonne (dmt) and an average of US$100 per dmt in FY22.

The C1 cost was US$17.19 per wet metric tonne (wmt) for the fourth quarter and US$15.91 per wmt for FY22. As readers can see, there is a sizeable profit margin between the revenue and costs.

The company shipped 189 million wet metric tonnes of ore, up 4% year over year. The iron is shipped with 8% to 9% moisture, according to Fortescue.

Fortescue has already provided guidance for FY23 of iron ore shipments of between 187mt to 192mt, including approximately 1mt from Iron Bridge (its new, high-grade project).

There are a number of different analyst estimates for what Fortescue may reveal for FY22. Let’s look at one of them before getting into whether the Fortescue share price is a buy.

According to the numbers on CMC Markets, the market predicts Fortescue to generate $2.91 of earnings per share (EPS) in FY22. That would put the miner’s current valuation at under 7x FY22’s estimated earnings.

The projection for the annual dividend is $2.07 per share, which would represent a dividend payout ratio of just over 70% of net profit after tax (NPAT). In terms of a dividend yield, that would be a grossed-up yield of 15.4%.

Is the Fortescue share price a buy?

Before getting to some broker views, I’ll just share my two cents, seeing as I’m a Fortescue shareholder. I plan to own my shares for years to come because of the company’s green energy initiatives, as it aims to build up a green hydrogen industry and become a major exporter with a global network of projects.

However, considering Fortescue generates nearly all of its earnings from iron ore, and will continue to do so for multiple years, I think it’s important to ensure any investing is done with the iron ore operations and iron ore price in mind.

I think it’s possible that the iron ore price could fall to the US$90s – like it did in November 2021. Or even lower due to the weakening Chinese economy and issues facing the construction sector.

If the iron ore price and Fortescue share price were to suffer, I think that could prove to be an opportunistic time to buy. And I would consider buying more. My average purchase price of Fortescue shares is materially lower than where it is today, which is partly why I’m being picky about any further investing.

But, I’m not the only one being cautious on the iron ore price.

The broker Macquarie has an underperform rating on Fortescue, with a price target of just $14.50. It thinks the iron ore price could fall below US$90 by the end of 2022 due to lower demand from China.

UBS rates Fortescue as a sell, with a price target of $15.80. Higher mining costs is one of the reasons for the negativity, as well as uncertainty for the iron price. Fortescue’s guide is that the FY23 C1 cost is likely to be between US$18 and US$18.75 per wmt.

Fortescue share price snapshot

Over the last month, Fortescue shares have risen by around 5%.

The post Is the Fortescue share price a buy going into the FY22 result? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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More reading

• What’s with the Fortescue share price on Monday?
• Could this be set to boost ASX 200 iron ore shares?
• Why the Fortescue share price is on watch next week
• Worried about the iron ore price? Why the need for it ‘ain’t going anywhere’: broker
• 1 factor that could drag on Fortescue Future Industries’ green dream

Motley Fool contributor Tristan Harrison has positions in Fortescue Metals Group Limited. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Macquarie Group Limited. 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 share market volatility has pushed down the valuations of some businesses. A company isn’t necessarily a buy just because it has fallen in price.

However, for businesses that we are interested in, a cheaper price gives us the opportunity to buy a small slice of the business at a lower entry point.

Investing is ultimately all about making returns. The lower the price we can buy a (good) asset, the better chance we give ourselves of making good returns.

There are plenty of good ASX growth shares to consider in my opinion. While plenty of businesses have seen a strong rise in the share price over the last couple of months, I believe that a number of them still represent very attractive value at the current levels.

Both of these businesses look like compelling opportunities to me:

RPMGlobal Holdings Ltd (ASX: RUL)

The company describes itself as a global leader in the provision and development of mining software solutions, advisory services and professional development to the mining industry. Its aim is to help mining clients extract more value at every stage of the mining lifecycle, enabling them to achieve safer, cleaner and more efficient operations in over 125 countries.

In terms of being better value, the RPMGlobal share price has dropped 26% in 2022. It’s currently been transitioning clients from perpetual license sales to subscription license sales over the last 12 months.

Its total contracted value (TCV) derived from software license sales for FY22, to the end of June 2022, totalled $55.9 million – this was an increase of $5.6 million from its last announcement to the market on 27 June 2022, just four days earlier, of $50.3 million.

The ASX growth share’s annually recurring revenue (ARR) from software subscriptions (excluding annually recurring maintenance and support revenue from past perpetual software licenses) finished the year at $32.8 million, up $10.9 million from the start of FY22.

RPMGlobal said that mining companies are accelerating their endeavours to move their technology solutions into the cloud and that it has a first-mover advantage, so it’s well-positioned to benefit most from this structural change. Its software sales pipeline continues to grow as its product range and customer base expands.

It has a number of major clients including Glencore, Anglo American, Rio Tinto Limited (ASX: RIO), BHP Group Ltd (ASX: BHP), Vale, Fortescue Metals Group Limited (ASX: FMG) and South32 Ltd (ASX: S32).

Pushpay Holdings Ltd (ASX: PPH)

This ASX growth share provides a donor management system, which includes donor tools, finance tools and a custom community app, a church management system and video streaming solutions to the faith sector, non-profit organisations and education providers. It is benefiting from the long-term shift of donations from cash to digital giving.

One of the first things to keep in mind with Pushpay is that it has received unsolicited, non-binding and conditional expressions of interest or approaches from third parties that want to buy the company. It’s in the process of assessing these approaches and has provided selected information to better inform those parties and to assist them to submit proposals.

A takeover offer could provide a useful boost to the Pushpay share price.

In FY23 to March 2023, it’s expecting to report annual operating revenue growth of between 10% to 15%, while investing in the business to support growth and enable future scale.

By FY25, it’s expecting to reach more than US$10 billion of total processing volume and more than 20,000 customers. It’s expecting the benefits from investing in its business from FY24, with underlying profit expected to grow faster than revenue. For example, in the long-term, the ASX growth share wants to reach a 25% market share of Catholic parishes – in FY24 it’s expecting a strong uplift in sales.

The company recently announced the Archdiocese of Seattle as a customer, which will use ParishStaq, the company’s integrated technology platform to help parishes and dioceses increase engagement and grow their communities. This represents an opportunity to reach 174 parishes and a Catholic population of over 600,000 people.

The post I think these 2 ASX shares are buys due to exciting growth potential appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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More reading

• Does the bull beat the bear for this ASX tech share?
• Loss-making ASX shares: Big investment opportunity or extreme risk?

Motley Fool contributor Tristan Harrison has positions in Fortescue Metals Group Limited. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has positions in and has recommended PUSHPAY FPO NZX and RPMGlobal Holdings. The Motley Fool Australia has positions in and has recommended PUSHPAY FPO NZX. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended RPMGlobal Holdings. 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 Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd (ASX: ANZ) share price, and that of other ASX-listed banks, could come under fire due to the threat of climate change.

This insight comes amid comments made by the Reserve Bank of Australia’s head of domestic markets, Jonathan Kearns, who recently spoke at a legal conference in Sydney, as originally reported by the Australian Financial Review.

Dr Kearns stated that climate change could make new home mortgages riskier for banks by extending their maturity dates while also devaluing the loan’s collateral, increasing debt leverage:

New housing mortgages are typically for 25 years, while business loans are often for three to five years. Over these horizons, the effects of climate change are likely to be significant but are also very uncertain. But if climate change makes a home’s location less desirable and significantly reduces its value, the borrower may have less opportunity to refinance or upgrade their property. The lender may then find that the loan on that property has a much longer realised maturity, and the collateral backing the loan has a lower value.

The National Recovery and Resilience Agency cites climate change as contributing to natural disasters in Australia It’s said to affect the frequency and severity of bushfires, cyclones, floods, and other events.

Climate change and the financial system

To mitigate the impacts of these disasters, Kearns stated that banks are seeking guidance from the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) in the form of a climate vulnerability assessment (CVA), with results due some time this year:

Because of the substantial uncertainty they face, banks use scenario analysis to consider how their exposure to climate change depends on various parameters and behaviours. Individual bank results were provided to APRA in late May 2022, and APRA is looking to publish information on the outcomes and insights later this year after analysing these submissions. It is not only the banks that will learn from the CVA, but regulators will also learn how to better assess climate risk in the Australian financial system.

The CVA assessment and other developments in the banking industry could put climate change in renewed focus as it threatens to take a toll on the company’s fundamentals. In August, the Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA) said that $31.2 billion worth of its loans were at risk from natural disasters caused by climate change.

ANZ share price snapshot

The ANZ share price is currently down 18% year to date. By comparison, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is 7.8% lower over the same period.

Shares in the bank closed at $22.81 apiece on Wednesday, gaining 1.6%.

The bank’s current market capitalisation is around $66 billion.

The post Could this pose a risk to the ANZ share price in the future? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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More reading

• ANZ share price on watch following equity raising update
• Can ANZ’s latest acquisition help it catch up to the other ASX 200 bank shares?
• 2 ASX 200 dividend shares analysts rate as buys
• Could the ANZ share price really offer more than 20% upside?
• Why did the ANZ share price have such a stellar run today?

Motley Fool contributor Matthew Farley has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. 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 Bitcoin (CYPTO: BTC) price currently stands at US$21,466 (AU$31,072).

That’s right about where the world’s original crypto was trading at this time yesterday.

With Bitcoin well-known for its volatility, the past 24 hours have seen the token trading in an unusually tight range.

According to data from CoinMarketCap, the Bitcoin price topped out at US$21,646 and hit lows of US$20,955 over the past full day.

Why the muted price action?

The reason may stem from Jackson Hole.

What does Jackson Hole have to do with Bitcoin?

If you’re not familiar with Jackson Hole, it’s located in the US state of Wyoming, surrounded by the Grand Teton mountains.

Aside from offering some of the best snow skiing in the world, the small town also hosts central bankers and leading policymakers from across the globe at its annual retreat.

So, what does this have to do with the Bitcoin price?

Cryptos have been moving closely in line with US stocks this year. This week, investors appear to be taking a wait-and-see attitude regarding what Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell will say on Friday morning US time (Friday night in Australia).

With inflation running hot in the world’s number one economy, analysts widely expect Powell to reiterate the central bank’s determination to keep hiking interest rates until inflation cools.

Commenting on Powell’s upcoming speech at Jackson Hole, Laura Rosner-Warburton, a senior US economist at MacroPolicy Perspectives, said (quoted by Bloomberg):

That’s everyone’s top-of-mind question: How much will Powell micro-manage financial conditions? We have reached a point where the economy is showing signs of slowing. If we don’t see more slowing in the data and instead things bounce, then the Fed will have to more actively manage financial conditions.

Noelle Acheson, head of market insights at Genesis, added:

As August limps toward a weak close, market attention is turning to this week’s Jackson Hole symposium. A key question on traders’ minds is whether the Fed chairman will signal a potential reduction in the pace of hikes, double down on his nominal commitment to lowering inflation, or indeed try to convince the market that the Fed can have its proverbial cake and eat it, too.

Should Powell flag a more dovish path ahead for the Fed, risk assets and the Bitcoin price will likely benefit.

If the Fed instead leans towards further aggressive tightening, equities and the Bitcoin price will come under fresh pressure.

The post What on earth does Jackson Hole have to do with the Bitcoin price? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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More reading

• The Bitcoin price is down today but these 2 cryptos just rocketed 17%
• Why Ethereum, Solana, and Dogecoin are falling today
• Cryptos retreat. Is the Bitcoin price rally over?
• 3 cryptos I would regret not buying on the dip
• This company profited $2.6 billion from crypto. What is it investing in now?

Motley Fool contributor Bernd Struben has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has positions in and has recommended Bitcoin. The Motley Fool Australia has positions in and has recommended Bitcoin. 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 Regional Express Holdings Ltd (ASX: REX) share price ended up having a flat day today, despite the company reporting its full-year earnings for the 2022 financial year.

Rex shares closed at $1.40 each at the conclusion of Wednesday’s session, flat on where the company closed at yesterday, but above the $1.35 price that Rex opened at this morning.

What did the company report?

• Group revenue total of $319.2 million, up 24.6% on FY21’s $256.1 million
• Fuel costs of $65.4 million, up from FY21’s $24.8 million
• Statutory loss before tax of $68.3 million, up from the loss of $7.2 million in FY21
• Statutory loss after tax of $461 million, up from the loss of $3.9 million in FY21
• No dividend declared due to operating loss.

What else happened in FY22?

It was a tough year for Regional Express, given COVID-19 lockdowns and a surging oil price making fuel more expensive.

However, the company did clock a few positive developments, with Rex launching the Brisbane leg of the ‘golden triangle’ of Sydney, Brisbane, and Melbourne routes late last year.

The company also received a “multimillion dollar grant” under the NSW Jobs Plus program. This is helping Rex to fund new flight simulators at its headquarters, as well as a new hangar at Sydney Airport.

Regional Express was also re-awarded a 12-year contract with Ambulance Victoria that will commence in 2024.

In a sign of the ongoing disputes between Rex and its larger rival Qantas Airways Ltd (ASX: QAN), Rex blamed the June “cessation of services to Cooma from Sydney” on “Qantas’ predatory behaviour”.

But Regional Express also trumpeted the new services from Melbourne to Devonport, stating it will “end Qantas’ 17-year monopoly of the route”.

What did management say?

Here’s some of what Regional Express chair Lim Kim Hai had to say on these numbers:

Considering that COVID devastated practically three quarters of the FY and the war in Ukraine starting in February causing crude oil prices to skyrocket by over 70% during the Financial Year peaking at a near record high of A$174 per barrel in June 2022 as well as other supply shocks on the international economy, I am mildly pleased that our performance is not much worse than it is.

The operational statistics for the new Financial Year have been very encouraging and indicate that we have turned the corner.

We are continuing to see very strong bookings in August with the past week showing a 50% increase over the same period in July last month. Barring further external shocks, I am confident that the Group will return to good profitability in FY23.

What’s next for Rex?

As Lim stated, the company is now eyeing a return to profitability in FY23. He pointed out that falling oil prices in recent weeks will be a boon for the company in this endeavour.

In addition, it was mentioned that “we have every reason to believe that the performance will get stronger in the coming months”.

Rex share price snapshot

The Rex shares have been lacklustre, albeit market-beating, performers in 2022 thus far.

Regional Express shares are now down around 3.5% year to date. But the company is still in the green over the past 12 months, giving investors a gain of just over 13%.

The ASX airline operator has a market capitalisation of $154.2 million.

The post The Qantas factor: Rex shares hold steady despite deepening loss appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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More reading

• Could ASX 200 tech share Altium be in for another takeover approach?
• What’s been happening with the Nuix share price of late?
• Which 3 ASX mining shares are soaring more than 15% today?
• Here are the 3 most heavily traded ASX 200 shares on Wednesday
• Looking to buy Qantas shares? Here’s what to watch when the airline reports tomorrow

Motley Fool contributor Sebastian Bowen has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. 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 S&P/ASX 300 Index (ASX: XKO) finished up 0.52% to 6,987.6 points on Wednesday.

Earnings season continued with several companies reporting their FY22 or CY22 results today.

Here are the highlights from the earnings reports of these three ASX 300 companies.

Spark New Zealand Ltd (ASX: SPK)

The Spark New Zealand share price finished up 1.9% to $4.83 on Wednesday. The company reported its 2H FY22 earnings, claiming growth in its revenue, EBITDA, and net profit after tax (NPAT) in FY22.

Spark revealed it was increasing its total dividends for the first time since 2016. The ASX 300 share will deliver 25 NZ cents per share in dividends for FY22, with guidance of 27 cents for FY23.

ASX shareholders will receive a final dividend of 14.7 NZ cents per share. The total dividends will be 29.4 NZ cents per share. On today’s currency conversion, this equates to 13 cents and 26.6 cents per share respectively.

Spark chair Justine Smyth said:

In a year marked by ongoing Covid-19 disruption and increasing economic volatility, Spark has delivered an incredibly strong result, returning to revenue growth and delivering earnings at the top end of guidance.

Spark’s transition from its traditional telecommunications heritage to a more diversified and higher growth digital services provider continues at pace.

As we look to FY23 we have confidence in Spark’s ability to grow free cash flow to ~$460-$500 million to fund our ordinary dividend.

Calix Ltd (ASX: CXL)

The Calix share price closed at $6.92, up 4.85% today.

In its FY22 full-year preliminary results, Calix revealed that product revenue dipped 4% to $18.47 million. Total revenue fell by 30% to $20.8 million. It reported a loss of ($12.14 million).

As at 30 June, Calix has $25 million in cash and cash equivalents, up from $15.1 million in FY21. It has a surplus of $16.5 million in total current assets over total current liabilities, up from $15.3 million in FY21.

This ASX 300 share is a technology developer seeking to deliver sustainability solutions for industries.

As we reported recently, the company has developed a kiln capable of decarbonising metals and minerals. The kiln can extract substantial amounts of carbon dioxide to potentially create products such as low-carbon iron ore.

G8 Education Ltd (ASX: GEM)

The G8 Education share price closed the session on Wednesday at $1, up 3.09% for the day. Earlier, the company reported its CY22 half-year earnings.

The childcare operator reported an operating EBIT (earnings before interest and taxes) of $21 million (after lease expenses) for 1H CY22. This is 85% lower than the prior corresponding period (pcp) of H1 CY21.

The company said it was “significantly impacted in Q1 by COVID-19 and floods but recovered in Q2 with ‘core’ centres delivering higher EBIT than pcp”.

Once the impact subsided, the company’s strategic improvement program helped create “solid performance in quality, occupancy and profitability”.

G8 Education embarked on a cost reduction program in Q2 CY22, with $2.8 million in costs removed in 1H CY22. It says it is now “on track to deliver targeted $13 million-$15 million cost reduction to streamline the business and mitigate inflationary impacts” by the end of 2H CY22.

The company said its balance sheet “remains strong” with net debt at $86.3 million as of 30 June. This is “in line with expectations and reflecting the capital management initiatives and seasonal cash flow profile”.

The post 3 ASX 300 shares that climbed higher on earnings updates today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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Motley Fool contributor Bronwyn Allen has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. 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 Vulcan Steel Ltd (ASX: VSL) share price is 1% in the red despite the company boasting a “record performance” in FY22, according to its full-year results announcement today.

Vulcan is an Australasian steel and metal products distributor and processor. It was dual-listed on the ASX and New Zealand’s Exchange (NZX) in November last year.

The Vulcan Steel share price opened Wednesday’s session at $8.40 — a 1.95% increase from yesterday’s closing price of $8.24. Over the day, the shares have deteriorated to as low as $8.01.

At the time of writing, the shares have regained some ground and are swapping hands for $8.17. By comparison, the S&P/ASX All Ordinaries Index (ASX: XAO) is up 0.56% for the day so far.

Vulcan Steel share price down despite record result

The highlights of the report are as follows:

• Net profit after tax (NPAT) of NZ$124 million, up 91% on the prior corresponding period (pcp)
• Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortisation (EBITDA) of NZ$224 million, up 68% pcp
• Adjusted NPAT NZ$142 million, up 119% pcp
• Adjusted EBITDA NZ$243 million, up 82% pcp
• Final dividend of 37.5 NZ cents per share (ASX shareholders will receive 42.8 NZ cents per share, equating to 38 AU cents per share on today’s currency conversion)
• Total dividends for FY22 of 65 NZ cents per share, down 20% pcp.

What else happened in FY22?

Vulcan Steel started trading on the ASX on 4 November 2021 after a successful initial public offering (IPO) to raise AU$371.6 million at a share price of AU$7.10.

By year’s end, the Vulcan Steel share price was up 27.5%.

Vulcan Steel became part of the All Ords index during the March 2022 quarter rebalance. The All Ords represents the top 500 companies on the ASX by market capitalisation.

Also, in March, the company won New Zealand’s 2021 Deloitte Top 200 Award for ‘best growth strategy’. This gave the Vulcan Steel share price a 2% boost on the day.

What did management say?

Commenting on the results, Vulcan Steel managing director and CEO Rhys Jones said:

Notwithstanding the disruptions caused by COVID-19 and major floods across parts of Queensland and New South Wales during the year, Vulcan’s FY22 adjusted NPAT of approximately NZ$142m exceeded our prospectus forecast by 89%.

The strong FY22 performance has enabled the company to invest in our staff, working capital and processing capacity and support the debtfunding for our acquisition of Ullrich to position the company for long term growth.

What’s next?

Vulcan Steel says rising interest rates and ongoing COVID-19 disruptions in some major markets are “likely to temper global economic activity and demand for steel and metal products”.

The company said:

For Australia and New Zealand, Vulcan expects a more challenging industry environment in FY23 due to the impact of higher interest rates. New Zealand business confidence remains weak while in Australia economic activity appears more resilient for now. Some normalisation in industry margins will likely occur in FY23.

Vulcan’s FY23 EBITDA guidance of NZ$215m-NZ$235m reflects these business cycles and industry headwinds.

… Vulcan’s FY23 NPAT is expected to be in the range of NZ$93m-NZ$107m compared with NZ$142m achieved in FY22.

Vulcan Steel share price snapshot

The Vulcan Steel share price is down 14% in the year to date alongside a 9% drop in the All Ords index.

The post Vulcan Steel share price dips despite record year appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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More reading

• 3 ASX 300 shares that climbed higher on earnings updates today
• Here are the top 10 ASX 200 shares today
• Could ASX 200 tech share Altium be in for another takeover approach?
• Why did the Tritium share price just leap 14%?
• Why has the Mesoblast share price tumbled 10% so far in August?

Motley Fool contributor Bronwyn Allen has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. 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 S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) broke a two-session losing streak on Wednesday as energy shares bolstered the market. The index closed 0.52% higher at 6,998.10 points.

The S&P/ASX 200 Energy Index (ASX: XEJ) led the way on Wednesday, gaining 2.8% amid earnings from Worley Ltd (ASX: WOR) and rising oil prices.

The Brent crude oil price rose 3.9% to US$100.22 a barrel overnight while the US Nymex crude oil price rose 3.9% to US$93.74 a barrel.

The S&P/ASX 200 Information Technology Index (ASX: XIJ) also surged 2.2% today despite a weak Tuesday session on Wall Street. WiseTech Global Ltd (ASX: WTC) was its top performer. The company’s stock was driven by an 80% increase in full-year profits.

Meanwhile, the S&P/ASX Consumer Staples Index (ASX: XSJ) and the S&P/ASX 200 Communication Services Index (ASX: XCJ) fell 1.3% and 1% respectively.

At the end of Wednesday’s session, seven of the ASX 200’s 11 sectors were in the green. But which share will be crowned today’s best performer? Keep reading to find out.

Top 10 ASX 200 shares countdown

Today’s best-performing ASX 200 share was none other than WiseTech. Find out more about the tech giant’s earnings and what it’s been up to here.

Today’s biggest gains were made by these ASX shares:

ASX-listed company	Share price	Price change
WiseTech Global Ltd (ASX: WTC)	$59.77	12.77%
Home Consortium Ltd (ASX: HMC)	$5.21	10.85%
Iluka Resources Limited (ASX: ILU	$10.38	9.84%
Pointsbet Holdings Ltd (ASX: PBH)	$3.50	8.7%
Paladin Energy Ltd (ASX: PDN)	$0.735	8.09%
Domino’s Pizza Enterprises Ltd (ASX: DMP)	$72.15	7.57%
Netwealth Group Ltd (ASX: NWL)	$14.02	7.02%
Telix Pharmaceuticals Ltd (ASX: TLX)	$6.46	6.25%
Worley Ltd (ASX: WOR)	$14.95	6.25%
Sonic Healthcare Limited (ASX: SHL)	$6.46	6.18%

Our top 10 ASX 200 shares countdown is a recurring end-of-day summary to let you know which companies were making big moves on the day. Check in at Fool.com.au after the weekday market closes to see which stocks make the countdown.

The post Here are the top 10 ASX 200 shares today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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• HMC Capital share price jumps 9% on explosive results
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• WiseTech share price surges 11% on record profits

Motley Fool contributor Brooke Cooper has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has positions in and has recommended Netwealth, Pointsbet Holdings Ltd, and WiseTech Global. The Motley Fool Australia has positions in and has recommended Netwealth and WiseTech Global. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Dominos Pizza Enterprises Limited, Pointsbet Holdings Ltd, and Sonic Healthcare Limited. 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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