Category: Stock Market

Investors have been eagerly waiting for a turnaround for the A2 Milk Company Ltd (ASX: A2M) share price.

The embattled company’s shares have lost more than 75% since reaching an all-time high of $20.05 in June 2021.

At the time of writing, A2 Milk shares are trading 0.44%% lower to $4.56 apiece.

Why is the A2 Milk share price falling?

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused the infant formula company to face supply chain issues and margin pressure from increasing competition.

In addition to the cross-border trade issues, weakened growth in China has driven the A2 Milk share price to fall.

Management noted the challenging market conditions in its first half results, which included lower birth rate numbers recorded in China.

With a rapidly changing market landscape, A2 Milk has been forced to adapt.

Increasing brand investment to drive consumer demand along with other strategic growth priorities is paramount to A2 Milk.

As such, implementation is currently underway, with the company advising “good early progress across a range of initiatives”.

Furthermore, A2 Milk is expanding in new markets such as Malaysia, Singapore and Vietnam. This is on top of building its revenue base in New Zealand and the United States.

For the second half of FY22, A2 Milk expects to deliver revenue growth.

According to Catapult Wealth financial adviser Tim Haselum, this could lead to a recovery in 2023 and beyond.

Does the current share price represent good value?

A number of brokers believe that the A2 Milk share price is currently trading at a bargain price.

Following the company’s half-year financial scorecard, Macquarie analysts raised its 12-month price target by 7.7% to $5.60. Based on current share price, this implies an upside of 22% for investors.

On the other hand, the team at Citi lowered its outlook on the company’s shares by 1.8% to $7.02. While the broker reduced its assessment on A2 Milk, it still sees value in the fresh milk and infant formula company. The price target represents a potential upside of 54% from where it trades today.

The post Despite continuing woes in China, here’s what to like about A2 Milk shares appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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• It’s time to buy these 2 fallen ASX shares again: expert
• Is there still hope for the A2 Milk share price in 2022?
• These were the worst performing ASX 200 shares last week
• Why is the A2 Milk share price outperforming today?
• 3 ASX 200 shares sliding to 52-week lows on Tuesday

Motley Fool contributor Aaron Teboneras owns A2 Milk. 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 A2 Milk. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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The Brickworks Limited (ASX: BKW) share price has been falling since the end of March. Given the decline, there could be some good reasons to consider the business.

Brickworks may be best known for being an Australian building products company but there are other divisions within the business to consider Brickworks for the long term.

Here are four reasons why the Brickworks could be attractive, beyond simply being cheaper:

Industrial property trust

One of the company’s divisions that is growing rapidly for Brickworks scaling is its industrial property trust.

This is a 50:50 partnership between Brickworks and Goodman Group (ASX: GMG). The trust builds industrial properties on excess land that Brickworks no longer needs. The land is sold into the trust.

Brickworks and Goodman both talk of elevated demand for logistics and e-commerce properties which are helping rental growth and valuations.

Brickworks’ share of the trust went up 38% in the first half of FY22 to $1.26 billion, thanks to valuation gains and some projects being completed.

But the trust has a long pipeline of land. It said there is a total of 221,100 square metres of lease pre-commitments already secured across the property trust. In addition, a further 176,400 square metres is available for development at existing estates.

Based on current demand, Brickworks expects its estates to be fully built out within three years. Brickworks said that will result in additional gross rent of around $60 million and leased asset value of $1.5 billion, taking total leased assets to around $4.5 billion.

Operational property trust

Another initiative by management to generate value for shareholders was announced in the HY22 result, which could be a boost for the Brickworks share price.

We have just looked at what Brickworks does with excess land – it’s sold into the industrial property trust. But there’s an extra plan – sell operational manufacturing properties into a different trust.

This will allow Brickworks to ‘realise’ the value of the land in its Australian building products segment.

Brickworks said that 15 properties have been identified for inclusion in the first stage, with a total gross value of around $415 million.

Brickworks said it expects the sale and leaseback of these manufacturing sites will deliver gross cash proceeds of around $200 million and an estimated pre-tax profit of between $260 million to $280 million after the valuation uplift.

After the initial stage, additional properties with a similar value are earmarked for inclusion in the operational property trust in the coming years.

In the long term, these properties can then be turned into industrial property locations.

Investments segment

Brickworks owns a significant amount of Washington H. Soul Pattinson and Co Ltd (ASX: SOL) shares.

Soul Pattinson is an investment house that is invested in a variety of different sectors including telecommunications, resources, agriculture, building products, swimming schools, financial services, and more.

Brickworks says that the ASX share has provided growing dividends and rising earnings for the long term.

US building products

Brickworks isn’t just an Australian business. It also has a growing presence in the US after making a few acquisitions such as Glen Gary, which could help the Brickworks share price for the long term.

The ASX share is looking to make its US operations more efficient and profitable.

The US is a much larger market than Australia, giving the company a long growth runway to work with.

Brickworks also said that there are “property opportunities” emerging in North America, with “strong market interest” for some operational and surplus land assets. It’s considering outright sales, sale and leaseback, and joint venture property development opportunities.

The post 4 reasons it could be time to look at the Brickworks share price appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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• Is it time to buy these 2 quality ASX shares?
• Why is the Brickworks share price sliding on Monday?

Motley Fool contributor Tristan Harrison owns Washington H. Soul Pattinson and Company Limited. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns and has recommended Brickworks and Washington H. Soul Pattinson and Company Limited. The Motley Fool Australia owns and has recommended Brickworks and Washington H. Soul Pattinson and Company Limited. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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The BHP Group Ltd (ASX: BHP) share price is having a very poor start to the week.

In morning trade, the mining giant’s shares have dropped 6% to $45.52.

This appears to have been driven by weakness across a range of commodity prices following weak data out of China.

Is the BHP share price weakness a buying opportunity?

One leading broker that is likely to see the weakness in the BHP share price as a buying opportunity is Morgans.

Late last week the broker retained its add rating and lifted its price target on the Big Australian’s shares to $54.30.

Based on the current BHP share price, this implies potential upside of 19% for investors. And that’s before the big dividends the broker is forecasting in the coming years.

For example, in FY 2022 and FY 2023, Morgans has pencilled in yields of 8.5% and 6.5%, respectively.

What did the broker say?

While Morgans wasn’t overly impressed with BHP’s quarterly update, it saw enough to remain bullish.

The broker said: “Nearly two years into the pandemic, but this was undoubtedly the worst COVID quarter for BHP. WAIO and Nickel West were impacted by WA’s first COVID wave, while the already struggling Escondida workforce was hit by Omicron. While not immune to COVID and inflationary pressures, BHP’s position as the lowest cost iron ore miner positions its flagship WAIO business to sustain its earnings strength (also helped by the lack of development activity in the Pilbara).”

“We have updated our forecasts for guidance changes and the 3Q22 result, and rolled our model forward. We have also lifted the lump proportion in sales and slightly trimmed inflation assumptions on WAIO unit costs to keep within guidance.”

The post BHP share price sinks 6%: Is this a buying opportunity? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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• ASX 200 mining stocks just ended a dire week of trade. What’s next?
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The Washington H. Soul Pattinson and Co. Ltd (ASX: SOL) share price has dropped by over 10% since the start of 2022.

But, since mid-March, the Soul Pattinson share price has risen by 8%.

Is it still an opportunity, or has it recovered too much to be good value?

What does this ASX share do?

Soul Pattinson is an investment house that owns a diversified portfolio across different sectors, with some ASX shares being significant holdings within the business.

It is invested in sectors like telecommunications, building products, property, resources, agriculture and financial services.

In terms of the biggest ASX shareholdings, these are some of the biggest positions: Brickworks Limited (ASX: BKW), TPG Telecom Ltd (ASX: TPG), New Hope Corporation Limited (ASX: NHC), Macquarie Group Ltd (ASX: MQG), Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA), BHP Group Ltd (ASX: BHP), Tuas Ltd (ASX: TUA), Wesfarmers Ltd (ASX: WES), CSL Limited (ASX: CSL) and Pengana Capital Group Ltd (ASX: PCG).

What has happened to the Soul Pattinson share price?

There has been a lot of volatility in the ASX share market since the start of the year. There has been an increasing focus on strong inflation and the possible interest rate rises to deal with that. There is also the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine.

However, one of Soul Pattinson’s main holdings called New Hope Corporation, a coal miner, has seen its share price rise by 43% this year amid a strong environment for coal prices.

The investment house recently announced its FY22 half-year result. The group’s regular net profit after tax was up 281% to $343.7 million thanks to increased commodity prices, property profits in Brickworks and higher dividend income after the Milton merger.

HY22 net cash flow from investments increased 114% to $182.6 million, while cash flow per share increased by 42% year on year.

The company’s portfolio value was $9 billion at the end of the first half of FY22, while the fully franked interim dividend was increased by 11.5% to 29 cents per share. That was the 24^th consecutive increase in interim dividends.

Is the Soul Pattinson share price a buy?

Morgans rates it as a buy. The broker’s price target on Soul Pattinson is $30.60. That implies a potential rise of the Soul Pattinson share price of more than 10%, plus the dividends.

Soul Pattinson boasts that an investment in the company over the last 20 years has increased over ten times. The annualised total shareholder return over the last two decades has been an average of 13% per annum. However, past performance is not a guarantee of future results.

The company’s investment philosophy is to be diversified, unconstrained, long-term and provide capital protection.

The unconstrained part of the strategy allows the company to “invest in and support companies from an early stage and grow with them over the long-term.”

How does Soul Pattinson achieve capital protection? The company says its portfolio of assets generate “reliable cash(flow) through market cycles which serves to protect downside in market corrections.”

At the current Soul Pattinson share price, it has a trailing grossed-up dividend yield of 3.4%.

The post Is the Soul Pattinson share price a buy after falling over 10% in 2022? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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• Here’s why the Soul Patts share price is getting whacked today
• Keen to bag the Washington H Soul Pattinson dividend? Read this
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• Top ASX dividend shares to buy in April 2022
• Why has the Washington H. Soul Pattinson share price leapt 13% in 3 weeks?

Motley Fool contributor Tristan Harrison owns Washington H. Soul Pattinson and Company Limited. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns and has recommended Brickworks, CSL Ltd., and Washington H. Soul Pattinson and Company Limited. The Motley Fool Australia owns and has recommended Brickworks, Washington H. Soul Pattinson and Company Limited, and Wesfarmers Limited. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Macquarie Group Limited and TPG Telecom Limited. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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Bendigo and Adelaide Bank Ltd (ASX: BEN) has one of the best dividend yields going around on the ASX.

The regional bank offers an attractive dividend yield of 5.03% which is higher than most of the major banks.

In contrast, Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA) has a dividend yield of 3.56%, while National Australia Bank Ltd. (ASX: NAB) stands at 3.82%.

However, with the first half of FY22 already wrapped up, it’s time to look towards August’s earnings season.

The Bendigo Bank dividend in a nutshell

In the first half of FY22, Bendigo Bank paid an interim dividend of 26.5 cents per share. That reflected an increase of 12.8% compared to the H1 FY21 dividend.

This came off the back of stronger cash earnings of $260.7 million in the first six months of FY22. The result was 19% higher than the prior corresponding period.

The H1 FY22 payout ratio stood at 57%, which is below the target range of 60% to 80% of cash earnings. However, management noted that it expects this to be in the low end of the range for the full year. This means there should be a slightly higher payout ratio for the second half.

So, what about the FY22 dividend?

According to Goldman Sachs, the broker is anticipating Bendigo Bank to maintain a final dividend of 26.5 cents per share.

It said that Bendigo Bank faces continued margin pressure with headwinds expected to moderate by end of the second half.

Nonetheless, despite near term revenue challenges, management is firmly fixed on a continued improvement in cost-to-income ratio. This financial metric came to 59.3% for the H1 FY22 period, slightly below the 60.9% reported year-on-year.

Bendigo Bank also registered a bad debt benefit of A$17.8 million, which accounted for 5 basis points of total loans.

Looking further afield, Goldman Sachs analysts are forecasting the company to pay a full year dividend of 54 cents in FY23. While this is similar to FY22’s 53 cents, the dividend is expected to amplify to 70 cents in FY24. This translates to grossed-up dividend yields of 5.6% and 7.2%, respectively.

The post How big will the Bendigo Bank dividend be in 2022? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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• The CBA share price has leapt 14% since February. Too late to buy?
• How has the Bendigo Bank share price outperformed its ASX peers by 10% in 2022?

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 owns and has recommended Bendigo and Adelaide Bank Limited. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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So, it wasn’t a great past week for ASX 200 mining stocks. The S&P/ASX 200 Resources Index (ASX: XJR) finished the week down 5.36% and the S&P/ASX 200 Materials Index (ASX: XMJ) was also down 5.38%. Meantime, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) faltered just 0.68% to finish trading last week at 7,473 points.

But for a couple of mining giants, the week was worse. Let’s take a look.

BHP Group Ltd (ASX: BHP)

The BHP share price tanked 7.13% last week to finish trading at $48.49 on Friday. On Thursday, the Big Australian released its March quarterly activities report. It noted that coronavirus-related labour disruptions weighed on many of its operations. BHP management reaffirmed the FY22 production guidance for iron ore, metallurgical coal, and energy coal but lowered it for copper and nickel.

Broker Citi says BHP is a buy and has upped its share price target to $56. As my Fool colleague James wrote earlier today: “While the broker concedes that BHP and its peers have underwhelmed during the March quarter, it thinks investors should overlook this due to the significant cash flow the company is generating thanks to sky high commodity prices.”

Rio Tinto Limited (ASX: RIO)

The Rio Tinto share price has fallen 6.8% in the past week to finish trading on Friday at $113.60. The mining giant also released a quarterly update last week that appeared to disappoint ASX investors. It reported production declines but Rio management says things will improve and reiterated its full-year production and cost guidance.

Citi likes Rio Tinto shares and rates them a buy with a $135 price target. As my Fool colleague Aaron reported last week, Goldman Sachs reckons Rio Tinto will pay the biggest dividend among the top three miners in 2022. The broker projects dividends of US$9.30 in FY22 and US$8.90 in FY23.

Fortescue Metals Group Limited (ASX: FMG)

The Fortescue share price did better than BHP and Rio last week. It fell by 1.58% over the past week to finish trading at $21.22 on Friday.

As my Fool friend Aaron wrote last week, two brokers price Fortescue shares at $16 but this represents an upgrade by one of them and a downgrade by the other. A recent broker note from RBC Capital Markets raised its rating on Fortescue shares by 6.7% to $16, while Citi slashed its outlook by 5.9% to $16.

This implies a potential downside of 24.5%.

The post ASX 200 mining stocks just ended a dire week of trade. What’s next? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• 2 ASX 200 dividend shares experts are tipping as buys
• Top brokers name 3 ASX shares to buy next week
• How much were Fortescue shares when they first listed on the ASX?
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• Why BHP, Megaport, OZ Minerals, and Zip shares are dropping

Citigroup is an advertising partner of The Ascent, a Motley Fool company. Motley Fool contributor Bronwyn Allen owns BHP Billiton Limited and Fortescue Metals Group Limited. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns and has recommended Goldman Sachs. 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 Bruce Jackson.

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Looking for some growth shares to buy? Then take a look at the three listed below that are rated as buys with major upside potential.

Here’s what you need to know about these growth shares:

Life360 Inc (ASX: 360)

The first ASX growth share to look at is Life360. It is the company behind the hugely popular Life360 app, which is the world’s leading real time, location-sharing app used by families across the world to stay safe and communicate. At the last count, there were almost 34 million monthly active users on its platform. This is generating significant recurring revenue and creates material cross-selling and upselling opportunities for the company.

Bell Potter is bullish on Life360 and believes recent share price weakness is a buying opportunity. It currently has a buy rating and $10.00 price target on its shares. This suggests that its shares could almost double in value from current levels.

ResMed Inc. (ASX: RMD)

Another growth share to look at is ResMed. It is a medical device company with a focus on the sleep treatment market. ResMed has been growing at a strong rate for over a decade and has been tipped to continue this positive form over the long term. This is thanks to its industry-leading products and massive market opportunity. In respect to the latter, management estimates that there are ~1 billion people impacted by sleep apnoea worldwide, with just ~20% already diagnosed.

Morgans is a fan of ResMed and has an add rating and $40.46 price target on its shares. This implies potential upside of 25% for investors.

Temple & Webster Group Ltd (ASX: TPW)

A final ASX growth share to look at is this online furniture and homewares retailer. Its shares have been hit hard this year amid weakness in the tech sector and particularly the online shopping category. While this is disappointing, it could have created a buying opportunity for long term focused investors.

Goldman Sachs has a buy rating and $12.65 price target, which implies over 100% upside. The broker likes Temple & Webster due to its “early lead in the home furniture category which is still in the early stages of online penetration.”

The post 3 fantastic ASX growth shares with major upside potential appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• 2 beaten-up ASX shares with massive upside: experts
• Why Alliance Aviation, Life360, Ramsay Health Care, and Whitehaven Coal are racing higher
• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Wednesday
• Mining and tech: Experts name 2 ASX 200 shares to buy now
• Top brokers name 3 ASX shares to buy next week

Motley Fool contributor James Mickleboro owns Life360, Inc. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns and has recommended Life360, Inc. and Temple & Webster Group Ltd. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has recommended ResMed. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended ResMed Inc. and Temple & Webster Group Ltd. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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If you’re looking for dividend shares to help you beat inflation, then the two listed below could be worth considering.

Here’s why these ASX 200 dividend shares are rated as buys right now:

BHP Group Ltd (ASX: BHP)

The first ASX 200 dividend share to look at is BHP. The Big Australian’s shares have been on fire this year and are up over 14% since the start of 2022 despite a recent pullback. This has been driven by the rising iron ore price, among with other commodities, which has positioned BHP to deliver bumper free cash flows again in the coming years.

The team at Citi believes the BHP share price still has a long way to run. It recently upgraded its shares to a buy rating with a $56.00 price target. Citi said: “BHP cash flow generation is up strongly on our revised IO price deck and we think market outperformance can continue given the hefty cash forecast cash build and upgrade to Buy.”

As for dividends, the broker expects fully franked dividends of $4.80 per share in FY 2022 and $4.55 per share in FY 2023. Based on the current BHP share price of $48.49, this implies potential yields of 9.9% and 9.4%, respectively.

Centuria Industrial Reit (ASX: CIP)

Another ASX 200 dividend share to look at is Centuria Industrial. It is the largest domestic pure play industrial REIT and the owner of a portfolio of high-quality industrial assets situated in key metropolitan locations throughout Australia.

Demand for these properties has been very strong in FY 2022, leading to strong rental growth during the first half. Management explained: “Strong leasing activity increased portfolio occupancy to a high 99.2%. Leasing across CIP’s portfolio delivered 10% rental growth driven by elevated occupier demand, particularly from the e-commerce sector, creating competition for high-quality industrial assets.”

The team at Macquarie expect this trend to continue. As a result, the broker has put an outperform rating and $4.27 price target on its shares.

Macquarie is also forecasting a 17.3 cents per share distribution in FY 2022 and an 17.8 cents per share distribution in FY 2023. Based on the current Centuria Industrial share price of $3.95, this will mean yields of 4.4% and 4.5%, respectively

The post 2 ASX 200 dividend shares experts are tipping as buys appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Top brokers name 3 ASX shares to buy next week
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• Why BHP, Megaport, OZ Minerals, and Zip shares are dropping
• Is this why the BHP share price is down 4% today?
• Dividend beasts: 5 ASX 200 shares with the highest dividend yield right now

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 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 Bruce Jackson.

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On Thursday, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) finished the shortened week deep in the red. The benchmark index fell 1.6% to 7,473.3 points.

Will the market be able to bounce back from this on Tuesday? Here are five things to watch:

ASX 200 expected to sink

The Australian share market looks set to start the week as it ended the last one. According to the latest SPI futures, the ASX 200 is poised to open the day 160 points or 2.15% lower. On Wall Street, the Dow Jones rose 0.7%, the S&P 500 climbed 0.6%, and the Nasdaq jumped 1.3%. However, all three indices fell hard on Friday amid a market selloff.

Megaport shares rated as a buy

The Megaport Ltd (ASX: MP1) share price could be a bit of a bargain following its selloff according to analysts at Goldman Sachs. A note this morning reveals that the broker has retained its buy rating but cut its price target down to $13.10. This implies potential upside of 45% for investors. While its quarterly update was disappointing, Goldman believes “the long term opportunity for MP1 is unchanged.”

Oil prices tumble

Energy producers such as Beach Energy Ltd (ASX: BPT) and Santos Ltd (ASX: STO) could have a tough start to the week after oil prices tumbled overnight. According to Bloomberg, the WTI crude oil price is down 2.8% to US$99.12 a barrel and the Brent crude oil price has fallen 3.5% to US$102.97 a barrel. Concerns about falling demand in China weighed on prices.

Gold price falls

Gold miners Evolution Mining Ltd (ASX: EVN) and Regis Resources Limited (ASX: RRL) could have a poor day after the gold price fell overnight. According to CNBC, the spot gold price is down 1.7% to US$1,901.10 an ounce. The precious metal hit a four week low amid rate hike fears.

Mineral Resources rated as a buy

Goldman Sachs is also very positive on the Mineral Resources Limited (ASX: MIN) share price. Its analysts have retained their buy rating and lifted their price target on the mining and mining services company’s shares to $73.80. Goldman notes that Mineral Resources is benefiting from stronger than expected iron ore and lithium prices.

The post 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Tuesday appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Top brokers name 3 ASX shares to buy next week
• Brokers name 2 ASX shares to buy after the tech selloff
• These were the best performing ASX 200 shares last week
• These were the worst performing ASX 200 shares last week
• Own Westpac shares? Here’s why the bank has just copped a further $100m in fines

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. owns and has recommended MEGAPORT FPO. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended MEGAPORT FPO. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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My father was a veteran of the Vietnam War.

For as long as I can remember, I’ve been going to the ANZAC Day Dawn Service.

Best I can recall, I’ve only missed one – when I was over in London more than a decade ago.

And attending Sydney’s ANZAC Day March, usually outside the Queen Victoria Building on George Street, was another annual ritual, as we waved our flags and applauded until our hands were sore, and waited for Dad and my grandfather to march past.

In those days, the march was led by a riderless horse, with boots backward in the saddle.

It was a poignant act of remembrance for the veterans of the Boer War, none of whom were still alive.

I’m getting older, and so are many of our veterans.

Now, there are no Great War veterans alive, either.

And the ranks of the Second World War veterans thin further with each passing year.

It evokes Eric Bogle’s song, The Band Played Waltzing Matilda:

But the band plays Waltzing Matilda

And the old men still answer the call

But as year follows year, more old men disappear

Someday no one will march there at all

Except, of course, there are more veterans, from more recent wars, just as our soldiers were in Vietnam when Bogle wrote his famous anti-war ballad.

Truth be told, my old man didn’t like Bogle’s song.

He was no warmonger, but he had an issue with a couple of the lines; the last two in this verse:

And the old men march slowly, old bones stiff and sore

They’re tired old heroes from a forgotten war

And the young people ask, “what are they marching for?”

And I ask myself the same question

Dad knew why they marched.

A Vietnam veteran, the song stung in particular, I assume, because of the terrible reception those men got when they returned home.

Their treatment was – and this is my phrase, not his – a betrayal.

Their country asked them to fight, then turned its back on them when they returned.

It was a deep wound. Many Vietnam veterans still don’t march on ANZAC Day for that reason, but the Welcome Home parade, in 1987, as well as the popularity of another folk song, I Was Only 19 (A Walk in the Light Green), helped salve the hurt for many.

They marched because they had served. They marched because some of their mates didn’t come home. They marched because it was an act of remembrance for those who served, suffered and died in other wars, too.

I don’t share Dad’s unhappiness with the song. But I understand it, and can’t blame him for it.

I wonder if, perhaps, that line might have been differently written or contextualised, but nor could Bogle have foreseen the country’s mistreatment of our Vietnam vets (something Bogle has spoken about, since).

And, of course, war is a tragedy for all involved.

Sometimes there are ‘winners’, but the cost is high on all sides.

My father never regretted doing his duty and serving his country. But he struggled with post-traumatic stress disorder for the rest of his life.

Some others came home with physical wounds.

Some didn’t come home at all.

Those are the reasons that Veterans march on ANZAC Day.

They are the reasons we remember those Australians, New Zealanders, and the service personnel of our allies, who served, suffered and died during war and warlike conflicts.

And we do remember. Gratifyingly, in increasing numbers.

My earliest memory of ANZAC Day Dawn Services are of maybe 50 or 60 people, at best, attending our local RSL’s commemoration.

There were so few that they used to put a bottle of rum and a jug of milk on a table at the club after the service, and while I’m sure it was eventually emptied, I don’t remember it going quickly.

These days many hundreds of people turn up to that same location, to pay their respects to our fallen, and their comrades who served.

Eric Bogle rightly hoped for a time when there would be no veterans left to march, because he hoped for an end to war.

As do we all.

In the meantime, although it pales compared to the sacrifice of those who served, we are left with a sacred duty: to remember.

To remember those who went to war, and who did not return.

To remember those who returned, but who carry the emotional and physical scars of their service.

At Dawn Services around the country, the ANZAC Dedication will be delivered. It reads:

At this hour, upon this day, ANZAC received its baptism of fire and became one of the immortal names in history. 

We, who are gathered here, think of our comrades who went with us to the battlefields of war but did not return.  We feel them near us in spirit. 

We wish to be worthy of their great sacrifice. 

Let us therefore once more dedicate ourselves to the service and ideals for which they died. As dawn is even now about to pierce the night, so let their memory inspire us to work for the coming new light in the dark places of the world. 

We will remember them.

Perhaps that’s why ANZAC Day is so enduring.

Because it is absolutely about remembrance.

But it’s not about “tired old men from a tired old war”.

It’s about men (and women), who gave their best years (and for some, their lives) in the service of their country.

And it’s an opportunity for us not only to remember, but to, in the words of the dedication, “dedicate ourselves to the service and the ideals for which they died”.

The ‘ANZAC Spirit’ has been co-opted for many things, sometimes inappropriately.

But the ANZAC Dedication carries the true meaning of the phrase.

And it is what we will commemorate on ANZAC Day.

They shall grow not old,

As we that are left grow old;

Age shall not weary them,

Nor the years condemn.

At the going down of the sun

And in the morning

We will remember them

Lest We Forget

The post Lest We Forget appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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Motley Fool contributor Scott Phillips 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 Bruce Jackson.

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