Category: Stock Market

The market may have closed lower today but that has not stopped three ASX 200 shares from hitting new multi-year highs.

The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) slipped 0.2%, with most sectors closing in the red on Thursday.

But it isn’t all bad news – especially not for the Brambles Limited (ASX: BXB) share price. Shares in the logistics group jumped 3.6% to a two-and-a-half-year high of $12.84.

Strong results pushing this ASX 200 share to a high

Brambles continued to bask in the afterglow of its pleasing full-year results, which were released yesterday. Not only did it manage to deliver a 9% constant currency increase in sales to US$5.6 billion, but it also delivered fatter margins.

The global supply chain indigestion could not derail the company’s growth – showing how defensive its business is.

How important Brambles is to its customers is also evident in the fact that it could push through price increases during these volatile economic times.

Burning bright ahead of profit results

Another ASX 200 share that reached for the sky today was the Whitehaven Coal Ltd (ASX: WHC) share price.

Shares in the coal miner gained 2.2% to $6.93 – which is a more than 10-year high. Investors are banking on great things when it hands in its profit results later this month.

Expectations are set high as energy prices have soared following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. A coal shortage in China is giving the miner an extra boost too.

The positive macroeconomic backdrop helped this ASX 200 miner achieve a record average coal price of $514 a tonne in the June quarter.

Whitehaven is expecting its FY22 earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) to hit around $3 billion. That’s 15 times what it made the year before!

The ASX 200 share that hit a record high

The Coles Group Ltd (ASX: COL) share price is the third ASX 200 share scaling new heights. The supermarket giant inched up 0.4% to hit a record high of $19.38 on Thursday.

Coles is yet to release its full-year results, but investors are feeling confident about a good outcome. While most companies are feeling the heat from high inflation, supermarkets benefit from higher prices. This is because they can charge more at the checkout, which means increased sales.

The March quarter sales update from Coles showed as much. Its supermarkets delivered a 3.9% increase in sales when compared to the same period last year.

Throw in the fact that consumer staple shares like Coles have defensive qualities, and you can understand the attraction given rising rates and a slowing economy.

The post 3 ASX 200 shares inking new multi-year highs today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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More reading

• Why did the Coles share price just smash its all-time high?
• Here are the top 10 ASX 200 shares today
• Here are the 3 most heavily traded ASX 200 shares on Thursday
• Why are ASX 200 coal shares having such a top run on Thursday?
• Why is the Zip share price behaving so strangely on the ASX today?

Motley Fool contributor Brendon Lau 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 positions in and has recommended COLESGROUP DEF SET. 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 NRW Holdings Limited (ASX: NWH) share price had a huge day today.

NRW shares lifted 6.25% to $2.38 before entering a trading halt. In late afternoon, the construction and mining contractor released an announcement related to a takeover plan.

Let’s take a look at what took place today.

What happened?

NRW entered a trading halt today pending a response to media speculation. Rumours emerged that NRW had launched a takeover offer of Maca Ltd (ASX: MLD), The Australian reported.

However, just before market close, NRW advised Maca had knocked back its proposal.

NRW confirmed it approached the board of Maca with a confidential merger proposal on 11 August. Under the deal, NRW would have acquired all of Maca’s shares for $1.085 per share.

However, NRW said Maca “does not consider the merger proposal as superior to the current conditional Thiess takeover offer”.

As my Foolish colleague Brooke reported at the time, Thiess launched a $350 million takeover bid at 1.025 per share in July.

Commenting on today’s news, NRW managing director Jules Pemberton said: “We are disappointed that the Board of MACA has indicated that it is not willing to entertain our compelling proposal.”

NRW share price lifts on earnings

Earlier today, NRW reported full-year financial results. Highlights included:

• Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) lifted 2% on FY21 to $272.4 million
• EBITA lifted 30.1% on the previous year to $157 million.
• Statutory net profit of $97.4 million, a 79.4% boost
• Normalised earnings per share of 22.5 cents, a 30.3% lift on FY21
• Fully franked dividend of 7 cents per share, a 40% lift in FY21

The EBITA result was higher than the previously forecast guidance of between $150 and $155 million.

Depreciation and amortisation fell 21% as a result of the sale of Boggabri assets in July 2021.

During the year, NRW secured “major order wins”, boosting the order book to a record $5.2 billion.

What did management say?

Commenting on the results, NRW managing director and CEO Jules Pemberton said:

These are the best results NRW have reported despite the challenging conditions the business has encountered over the last 12 months.

Apart from the earnings highlight, the strong cashflow underlines the quality of those earnings and our ability to deliver a disciplined approach to balance sheet management

What’s ahead?

NRW is predicting FY23 EBITDA in the range of $162 million to $172 million. This assumes projects will face current resource and supply chain pressures. NRW expects these pressures could ease during the 2023 financial year.

NRW has secured $2.3 billion worth of work for the FY23.

Share price snapshot

The NRW share price has soared nearly 43% in the past year and 35% in the year to date.

NRW has a market capitalisation of nearly $1.1 billion based on the current share price.

The post Results and trading halts: What went down for the NRW share price on Thursday? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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More reading

• 3 ASX All Ordinaries shares celebrating Friday with new 52-week highs
• NRW share price leaps 11% on guidance upgrade for FY22
• Why Appen, Centuria Industrial, NRW, and Sayona Mining shares are pushing higher
• Maca share price leaps 23% on Thiess takeover news

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 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 Westpac Banking Corp (ASX: WBC) share price has lifted 10.05% over the past month.

In comparison, the S&P/ASX 200 Banks Index (ASX: XBK) and the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) are up 7.64% and 6.96% respectively.

Shares in the other three big banks — Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA), National Australia Bank Ltd (ASX: NAB) and Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd (ASX: ANZ) — have climbed between 6.36% and 7.52% over the same period.

So Westpac has clearly outperformed its ASX peers in the banking sector and the broader market. What is going on?

Let’s look into what might be behind the price surge.

What’s going on with the Westpac share price?

The banking giant has not released any price-sensitive news to support its share price acceleration this month.

In fact, on Monday, Westpac shares dipped 1.06% when it announced its third-quarter results. My Foolish colleague James Mickleboro observed that its Q3 earnings report lacked detail around its profits and margins, which could have spearheaded a small sell-off for its share price.

However, after the Q3 results were posted, investment bank Goldman Sachs issued a note stating that Westpac’s earnings were beating forecasts.

The broker said:

While no earnings update was provided, the CET1 ratio, RWA and capital deduction disclosures did imply that the quarterly cash earnings performance may have been run-rating slightly better than what was implied by our previous 2H22E forecasts.

The Goldman Sachs analysts rated Westpac a buy and upgraded its price target to $26.55, giving it an 18.73% upside at the time of writing.

And yesterday, Goldman Sachs doubled down on its bullish stance towards Westpac, noting that the bank had the most potential out of any listed share in the S&P/ASX 200 Banks Index.

The broker listed four reasons, saying:

We continue to see WBC as our preferred exposure to the A&NZ Financials reflecting: i) its strong leverage to rising rates, ii) while we think its A$8 bn FY24 cost target will now be unachievable, we still forecast a 7% reduction in underlying expenses, iii) its recent market update highlighted that the business is still investing effectively in its franchise, and iv) our 12-mo TP implies a 23% TSR, and we note the stock is trading at a 20% discount to peers, versus the historic average discount of 2%.

Finally, It News reported today the bank acquired the westpac.com website address today from a company in the semiconductor industry. Previously the westpac.com address directed visitors towards a business listed as being in South Korea. Today it redirects them to the westpac.com.au address.

Westpac share price snapshot

The Westpac share price closed 0.8% lower today, trading at $22.34 apiece. Shares in the bank are currently down 13.48% over the past 12 months. Meanwhile, the S&P/ASX 200 Banks Index is down only 2.76% over the same period.

Westpac’s market capitalisation is $78.22 billion based on the current share price.

The post Up 10%, why has the Westpac share price smashed other ASX banks this past month? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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More reading

• Brokers say BHP and this ASX 200 share are buys
• Is the Westpac share price a buy following the bank’s latest update?
• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Tuesday
• Westpac share price slips following release of Q3 update
• Westpac share price on watch following Q3 update

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 recommended Westpac Banking Corporation. 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 OZ Minerals Limited (ASX: OZL) share price has barely moved since the BHP Group Ltd (ASX: BHP) bid was announced last week.

BHP wanted to buy OZ Minerals with a bid of $25 cash per share.

OZ Minerals’ response? The board unanimously rejected the bid and said it “significantly undervalued” the company. The OZ Minerals share price soared 35% on the news to $25.59.

While explaining the reasons behind the rejection, OZ Minerals managing director and CEO Andrew Cole said:

We have a unique set of copper and nickel assets, all with strong long-term growth potential in quality locations. We are mining minerals that are in strong demand, particularly for the global electrification and decarbonisation thematic and we have a long-life resource and reserve base. We do not consider the proposal from BHP sufficiently recognises these attributes.

OZ Minerals also pointed out that if BHP bought it, BHP would get “significant synergies and other benefits” in both South Australia and Western Australia. It also said there is significant growth and diversification opportunity for BHP’s global copper portfolio.

What growth potential does OZ Minerals have?

Cole gave a presentation earlier this week about the company’s major projects in South Australia.

He pointed to a number of projects where there is growth potential to more than double production. That includes expansions at Prominent Hill and Carrapateena in South Australia, as well as Carajas East Province, Carajas West Province and Gurupi Province.

Cole said the company has “unique organic growth pipeline ideally placed to deliver production into a copper market with long-term structural supply challenges and distinguishes OZ Minerals from other peers which lack growth optionality”.

OZ Minerals pointed out that copper and nickel demand for electric vehicles is expected to grow by seven times between 2020 to 2040. Copper and nickel are reportedly the most widely used metals in clean energy.

The copper miner also noted that there is a growing need for grid expansion. Between 2020 and 2040, demand for electricity grids is expected to double.

Where is the OZ Minerals share price headed?

The business got a huge boost from the BHP bid.

BHP didn’t exactly say it wouldn’t bid any higher. But, it pointed out that the offer price was a 32.1% premium to the last closing price and it was “materially above” the average broker price targets.

It’s possible that BHP may not have expected that offer to be accepted, but it wasn’t given access to due diligence despite the offer.

A further offer from BHP would likely be a boost for the OZ Minerals share price, but the BHP leader didn’t say what it would do next.

BHP CEO Mike Henry said:

Our proposal represents compelling value and certainty for OZ Minerals shareholders in the face of a deteriorating external environment and increased OZ Minerals operational and growth related funding challenges.

We are disappointed that the board of OZ Minerals has indicated that it is not willing to entertain our compelling offer or provide us with access to due diligence in relation to our proposal.

The broker Morgans thinks that BHP will come back with a better offer, because of the benefits that BHP would get from the deal. However, its price target is $25.40, implying little movement.

The broker Credit Suisse has a price target of $28, implying a possible rise of close to 10%.

The OZ Minerals share price closed 0.65% lower at $25.84 on Thursday.

The post The OZ Minerals share price has barely moved since rocketing on BHP’s takeover bid. So, what now? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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More reading

• How have ASX nickel stocks been performing in 2022?
• Here’s the BHP dividend forecast through to 2026
• Is the BHP share price a buy after the miner’s FY22 results?
• Can BHP shares keep cashing in on coal?
• An ASX 200 market darling in the past, but don’t expect fireworks from the CSL share price going forward

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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With the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) losing 0.21% to 7,112.8 points by the end of today’s trading session, it certainly wasn’t a great day for many ASX 200 shares. But the Coles Group Ltd (ASX: COL) share price was not among them.

Today was, in fact, a great day for Coles shares. The supermarket giant ended up recording a gain of 0.36% to $19.38, so a healthy outperformance of the broader market. But it was even better for investors during intra-day trading.

This company rose as high as $19.50 a share around midday today. That happens to be both a new 52-week high and an all-time record high for the Coles share price.

Today’s move means that Coles shares are now up a healthy 8.2% in 2022 so far. That’s a marked outperformance of the ASX 200 as well, which remains 6.3% in the red over 2022.

So what happened today that pushed Coles to these new record highs?

Why did Coles shares hit a new record high today?

Well, if you (understandably) suspect earnings, that isn’t the case. Coles isn’t scheduled to report its FY22 full-year numbers until next Wednesday (24 August).

In fact, there wasn’t any fresh news or announcements out of the company today at all, or indeed since 11 August.

So we don’t have a smoking gun for Coles’ new highs today.

As such, let’s look at what happened to Coles’ consumer staples peers. Woolworths Group Ltd (ASX: WOW) shares didn’t do as well as Coles today, losing 0.25%.

But Endeavour Group Ltd (ASX: EDV) also had a positive day, gaining 0.6%. Treasury Wine Estates Ltd (ASX: TWE) had a corker (no pun intended), lifting 4.04%.

So we are seeing some market-defying moves in Coles’ consumer staples sector.

Consumer staples shares such as Coles are often good performers on days when the market is falling. This is due to a perception that these companies are ‘safer’, given that they sell life’s needs, not wants.

So it’s possible this was the reason why Coles shares had such a cracking day of trading this Thursday. We also can’t discount the possibility that some investors are taking a bet that what Coles will report next week will impress the markets.

Whatever the reasons for the positive performance of the supermarket operator, no doubt investors will be happy.

At the last Coles share price, this ASX 200 blue chip has a market capitalisation of $25.8 billion, with a dividend yield of 3.15%.

The post Why did the Coles share price just smash its all-time high? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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More reading

• Here are the top 10 ASX 200 shares today
• Here are the 3 most heavily traded ASX 200 shares on Thursday
• Why are ASX 200 coal shares having such a top run on Thursday?
• Why is the Zip share price behaving so strangely on the ASX today?
• Down 16% in 3 days: Why is the Lake Resources share price still sliding?

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 positions in and has recommended COLESGROUP DEF SET. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Treasury Wine Estates 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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The National Australia Bank Ltd (ASX: NAB) share price has been rising in recent days after last week’s profit update.

For readers who didn’t see it, NAB reported the profit it generated in the third quarter of FY22, which was $1.85 billion of statutory net profit after tax (NPAT) and $1.8 billion of cash earnings. The cash earnings represented 6% growth year over year.

Cash earnings before tax and credit impairment charges went up by 10%.

However, part of the growth came from the acquisition of the Australian consumer business of Citigroup.

Including the acquisition, compared to the FY22 first half quarterly average, cash earnings before credit impairment charges and tax increased 3%. Excluding the acquisition, it only grew by 2%.

NAB has done a lot of work on improving its operational performance. The CEO said the bank’s performance was “pleasing” for the quarter and highlighted the “ongoing execution” of its strategy.

The NAB share price has risen by 5.4% since the update, closing at $31.42 on Thursday.

Expert view on the update

Despite the growth, some experts felt that the quarterly numbers weren’t quite good enough.

Brad Potter, Tyndall’s head of Australian shares, said in a podcast released on Livewire that NAB’s update was “slightly disappointing” for a business that was trading at such a “high premium”. But, the bottom line was “okay”.

He noted that NAB is not demonstrating profit margin growth yet after the recent interest rate rises.

However, Potter did say that asset quality is “pristine” and NAB is writing back excess provisions that it took during the COVID-19 pandemic. There is little mortgage stress and he doesn’t think this will be an issue unless unemployment rises “substantially”.

Potter said:

Over the next 12 months at least, banks have a net interest margin tailwind and, when combined with few bad debt issues, earnings should be reasonably strong.

What’s going to happen next for NAB?

Many experts acknowledge that banks like NAB can benefit from rising interest rates because they will help the net interest margin (NIM). That’s the margin that NAB makes on its lending (e.g., mortgages) compared to the cost of funding for those loans (e.g., savings accounts).

NAB thinks its customer base is well positioned to deal with whatever happens next.

NAB CEO Ross McEwan said:

As the economy changes, continued low unemployment and healthy household and business balance sheets are helping mitigate the impacts of higher inflation and higher interest rates. The majority of our customers are well placed to manage these challenges, including approximately 70% of customer home loan repayments ahead of schedule.

Our business is also in good shape for this evolving environment. Balance sheet settings remain strong and we are well advanced on our FY22 term wholesale funding task with $34 billion raised by the end of June. Investments to deliver simpler, more digital experiences for customers and colleagues are supporting balanced growth and productivity benefits which are expected to exceed $400 million in FY22.

Predictions for the NAB share price

The broker Macquarie believes NAB will start seeing the benefit of an improving NIM in the final quarter of FY22. But it did say that the third quarter wasn’t quite as good as investors were expecting.

Macquarie also noted NAB’s rising market share. Its price target for NAB shares is $29.50, which would represent a fall of 6% over the next 12 months.

The broker UBS thought that the third quarter was pretty good, though the NIM wasn’t as good as hoped. UBS has a price target of $33 for NAB shares, implying a rise of around 5%.

It won’t be too long until investors get to see how NAB performed over the past full year. The bank will report its annual result for the year to 30 September 2022 on 9 November.

The post The NAB share price has gained 5% since last week’s update. What’s next? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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More reading

• These top ASX dividend shares have been tipped as buys by analysts
• Why this leading fund manager’s favourite ASX 200 bank share is NAB
• What does CommBank’s latest update mean for NAB shares?
• How to play ASX bank shares for dividends this reporting season: expert
• Is the NAB share price a buy following the bank’s latest update?

Citigroup is an advertising partner of The Ascent, a Motley Fool company. 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 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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The Blackmores Ltd (ASX: BKL) share price was on a slippery slope into the red on Thursday after the company released its full-year results.

At the close of trading today, the health supplements company’s shares were down 10.07% to $73.19. Let’s take a look at the results.

Double-digit revenue growth

Blackmores delivered its FY 2022 results for the 12 months ended 30 June 2022. Here are some of the key financial highlights:

• Group revenue increased 12.8% year on year to $649.5 million
• Group underlying earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) of $56.6 million, up 19%
• Group underlying net profit after tax (NPAT) of $31.1 million, up 22.6%
• Final dividend of 32 cents per share, fully franked, bringing the full year dividend to 95 cents per share, up 33.8%
• Net cash of $82.2 million

What happened in FY 2022?

Blackmores reported a solid financial performance, with growth recorded across all three brands for the first time in four years.

Continued focus on product innovation and investment led to an increased revenue base across the international, China, and Australia/New Zealand (ANZ) segments.

In particular, the international portfolio delivered EBIT growth of 43.9% to $29.8 million. This was underpinned by cost management, disciplined pricing and a shift to higher margin channels in all major markets.

Furthermore, the China segment registered an increase in EBIT by 11.2% to $16 million. Blackmores noted that gross margin was broadly flat with price initiatives and favourable mix offsetting higher input costs challenges.

And lastly, the ANZ division experienced a lift in EBIT by 7% to $43.1 million through gross margin improvement.

Overall, the group simplified its operations and strengthened the supply chain to address the significant disruption caused by COVID-19.

In addition, it implemented initiatives to enhance manufacturing productivity as input costs increased.

What did management say?

Blackmores CEO Alastair Symington had this to say about the results:

We are pleased to deliver a strong financial result during a period which continued to be impacted by the ongoing effects of COVID-19 and significant disruption to supply chains and increased input costs.

The resilience of our business model, together with the strength of our brands and distribution channels, have enabled the group to respond to these challenges to deliver top line growth along with further margin expansion.

What’s the outlook for FY 2023?

Looking ahead to the new financial year, Blackmores advised it remained focused on executing its strategic and commercial plan.

This involves expanding its distribution footprint and investing in brand awareness across the international segment.

In the ANZ business, Blackmores will spend more on advertising and channel differentiation behind its three-brand strategy.

With China, management is trying to navigate consumer and trade headwinds caused by government-mandated COVID-19 lockdowns. However, there’s hope that when this is lifted, e-commerce platforms will regain more traffic.

Blackmores share price snapshot

In 2022, the Blackmores share price has fallen 18.5%, but is relatively flat when viewed over the last 12 months.

In comparison, the S&P/ASX 200 Consumer Staples Index (ASX: XSJ) sector is up 3.6% for the current calendar year.

Blackmores commands a market capitalisation of approximately $1.42 billion.

The post Blackmores share price has dived 10% despite revenue boost appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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• Why Blackmores, Codan, Lake Resources, and Xero shares are falling today

Motley Fool contributor Aaron Teboneras 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 recommended Blackmores 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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The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) broke what was a three-session winning streak on Thursday with tech shares leading the downfall. The index finished today’s trade 0.21% lower at 7,112.80 points.

The S&P/ASX 200 Information Technology Index (ASX: XIJ) was the market’s worst-performing sector, falling 2.4%, following a rough day on the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index (NASDAQ: .IXIC). The Wall Street index slipped 1.25% overnight.

The S&P/ASX 200 Consumer Discretionary Index (ASX: XDJ) also underperformed after recording a notable gain on Wednesday, while the S&P/ASX 200 Consumer Staples Index (ASX: XSJ) lifted for a sixth consecutive session.

Also trading in the green was the S&P/ASX 200 Energy Index (ASX: XEJ). It gained 1.4% to lead the market, likely on the back of higher energy commodity prices.

European coal futures reportedly rose overnight amid increasing concerns of an energy shortage on the continent. Meanwhile, oil prices lifted off a six-month low. The Brent crude price rose 1.4% to US$93.65 a barrel and the US Nymex crude price gained 1.8% to US$88.11 a barrel.

At the end of Thursday’s session, three of the ASX 200’s 11 sectors were trading higher.

So, without further ado, let’s take a look at which share outperformed all others to be crowned today’s top performer.

Top 10 ASX 200 shares countdown

Today’s top performing ASX 200 share was IPH Ltd (ASX: IPH), and by a longshot too. There was plenty of exciting news from the intellectual property services firm today.

It announced a major acquisition and dropped its financial year 2022 results. Find out more about the company 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
IPH Ltd (ASX: IPH)	$10.21	16.02%
Treasury Wine Estates Ltd (ASX: TWE)	$13.14	4.04%
New Hope Corporation Limited (ASX: NHC)	$4.74	3.72%
Brambles Limited (ASX: BXB)	$12.84	3.55%
Coronado Global Resources Inc (ASX: CRN)	$1.755	2.33%
Santos Ltd (ASX: STO)	$7.07	2.32%
CSL Limited (ASX: CSL)	$299.20	2.29%
Viva Energy Group Ltd (ASX: VEA)	$2.72	2.26%
Whitehaven Coal Ltd (ASX: WHC)	$6.93	2.21%
Downer EDI Limited (ASX: DOW)	$5.43	2.07%

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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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 CSL Ltd. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has recommended IPH Ltd. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended IPH Ltd and Treasury Wine Estates 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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The Orora Ltd (ASX: ORA) share price closed lower today after the company announced its results for FY22. 

Shares of the global packaging manufacturer and distributor ended the day trading for $3.50 apiece, a fall of 0.85% from Wednesday’s closing price.

Let’s go over the key facts from the report.

What did Orora report?

• Revenue up 15.6% year-on-year (YoY) to $4 billion
• Net profit after tax (NPAT) up 36% YoY to $184.7 million
• Underlying NPAT of $187.1 million, up 19.4% YoY
• Underlying earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) up 14.6% YoY to $285.5 million
• Underlying earnings per share (EPS) of 21.7 cents per share (cps), up 28.2% YoY
• Operating cash flow up 10.8% YoY to $272.6 million
• A final unfranked dividend of 8.5 cents per share, representing 76.2% of the group’s NPAT

Orora’s results were stimulated by growth primarily in its North American segment. The company said it achieved this through optimising its business processes and managing the cost of its inputs amid inflation and supply chain disruptions.

The North American segment grew its revenues 14.3% YoY to $2.3 billion and its EBIT 32.6% YoY to $97.9 million.

Meanwhile, the Australasian operating segment grew revenues 9% YoY to $909.1 million, and its EBIT grew 0.2% to $150.6 million.

A final unfranked dividend of 8.5 cents was declared, to be paid to shareholders on 10 October. Orora said the dividend was unfranked due to the company’s “near-term capital investment programs and the tax benefits associated with Australia’s instant asset write-off legislation for capital expenditure, plus other timing differences”,

What else happened in FY22?

Orora bought 30.7 million shares as part of its share buyback program for a total of $109 million.

The company also said it’s on track to deliver on its environmental, social, and governance (ESG) policies, including using recycled content in its glass packaging and reducing emissions.

Orora used 38% recycled content for its glass packaging, up 31% YoY. Headway was made in reducing emissions through the use of its oxyfuel technology, reportedly the first company to do so in Australia. Orora intends to reduce 40% of its emissions by 2035.

What did management say?

Commenting on the FY22 results, Orora managing director and chief executive officer Brian Lowe said:

I am incredibly proud of the entire team’s performance — we have delivered against our corporate strategy while remaining agile in response to external challenges as they have emerged. With a strong balance sheet and operating cash flow we are making significant investments in initiatives that will continue to sustainably grow our business and deliver for shareholders in FY23.

What’s next?

Orora gave guidance for FY23, and notes that it expects to be a “challenging year of economic conditions”.

For the Australasia operating segment, EBIT is expected to be similar to the result observed for FY23. The first half of FY23 is expected to be more difficult than the last, with the company citing pressures from inflation and the recovery in prices it charges its customers.

The outlook for the North American segment is more positive, with growth in EBIT expected due to the price increases of its products due to its profit enhancement initiative.

Orora share price snapshot

The Orora share price is down by around 1% year to date and by a similar amount over the 12 months.

For comparison, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) has fallen by around 6% so far in 2022 and by almost 5% since this time last year.

Orora has a market capitalisation of $2.98 billion.

The post Orora share price slips despite $187 million profit appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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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 Nuix Ltd (ASX: NXL) share price was out of form on Thursday.

The embattled investigative analytics and intelligence software provider’s shares ended the day 3.5% lower at 68.5 cents.

This followed the announcement of a sizeable loss for FY 2022.

Nuix share price on FY 2022 results

• Annualised contract value (ACV) down 2.3% to $162 million
• Statutory revenue down 13.5% to $152.3 million
• EBITDA down 82% to $12.1 million
• Net profit after tax down 190.4% to a loss of $22.8 million

What happened during FY 2022?

For the 12 months ended 30 June, Nuix reported a 2.3% reduction in its ACV to $162 million. Management advised that this reflects a softer performance in North America and EMEA, which offset ACV growth in the Asia Pacific region.

Nuix’s statutory revenue for the period was down 13.5% to $152.3 million. This was due to the lower value of multi-year contracts sold and lower new sales. Combined with an increase in costs, this led to a much lower EBITDA outcome for FY 2022.

And while Nuix saw an increase in customer churn to 5.4% in FY 2022, management feels this is a low level and notes that strong customer relationships have been maintained.

Incredibly, the company spent over one-third of its revenue on research and development activities during the 12 months. Nuix spent $58.3 million on these activities, which is an increase of 32% on the prior year. It notes that important progress was made on critical projects, including further development on the integrated SaaS platform and Natural Language Processing (NLP) integration.

Management commentary

The company’s CEO, Jonathan Rubinsztein, appears optimistic on the future thanks to Nuix’s strategic refresh initiatives.

We’ve been clear about the need for a refresh of strategic initiatives to drive growth. Our strategy revolves around a greater focus on customer centricity and initiatives across three key horizons. The team has been working exceptionally hard behind the scenes over the last half.

Nuix is a remarkable organisation making a meaningful difference in the world. We’re putting the right people in the right roles to make sure Nuix is fit for growth. Our customer and partner relationships remain strong. Our Engine remains unparalleled and is central to our platform, underpinning our growth trajectory. And lastly, our strategy is clear and we’re acting on it, with urgency and focus. I’m excited and optimistic about our future, and as an organisation, the Nuix team is mobilising to enact the changes required to drive growth.

The Nuix share price is now down 70% in 2022

The post Nuix share price tumbles following $23m loss in FY22 appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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Motley Fool contributor James Mickleboro has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has recommended Nuix Pty Ltd. 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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