Category: Stock Market

The Lake Resources N.L. (ASX: LKE) share price is pushing higher on Wednesday.

In afternoon trade, the lithium developer’s shares are up 5% to 42 cents.

This means the Lake Resources share price is now up over 420% since the start of the year.

Why is the Lake Resources share price pushing higher today?

Investors have been bidding the Lake Resources share price today following a positive announcement.

In fact, that announcement might make Lake Resources shareholders feel like it’s Christmas in July.

According to the release, in recognition of the support received from its shareholders, Lake Resources revealed that it intends to undertake a bonus issue of options to all shareholders with an address in Australia or New Zealand.

These options will be granted to eligible shareholders that are holding Lake Resources shares at 5pm on the record date of 10 August.

What are the options?

The release explains that all eligible shareholders will be granted one free bonus option for every 10 Lake Resources shares they own on the record date.

These options will be exercisable at 35 cents before their expiration date of 15 October, resulting in 1 new share per option. This represents a 16.5% discount to the current Lake Resources share price.

But it doesn’t stop there! For every option that is exercised, Lake Resources will issue a second option to the shareholder. On this occasion, those options will be exercisable at 75 cents each, with an expiration date of 15 June 2022.

Once again, if exercised, this will result in the shareholder being allotted one new Lake Resources share for every option.

Given that the second option represents a 79% premium to the current Lake Resources share price, management appears confident in the company’s prospects over the next 12 months.

Lake Resources’ Managing Director, Steve Promnitz, commented: “The intent of the offer is to thank supportive shareholders as Lake enters a major development phase through financing, construction and into production. Shareholders appreciated the benefits from a similar bonus option offer in 2019 and the company seeks to repeat that success.”

The post Here’s why the Lake Resources (ASX:LKE) share price is charging 5% higher appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Why the Lake Resources (ASX:LKE) share price is storming higher

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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The AGL Energy Ltd (ASX: AGL) share price continues to set record lows as we head into the remainder of 2021.

AGL shares are now exchanging hands at $7.52, a 2.4% dip into the red from the market open.

Today’s dip extends the previous 1 month’s loss of ~16% and the previous 12 months’ loss of 55%.

Let’s take a look at some of the headwinds AGL shares have faced lately.

Planned demerger

AGL started the month on the back foot after provided an update on its planned demerger back on 30 June.

AGL explained that it will create two separate listings from the demerger: AGL will become Accel Energy. It will then form a new company, AGL Australia.

The plan will complete the work to spin off its coal-fired power plants to Accel, which will retain these under the new structure.

AGL Australia will then focus its priorities as the largest power retailer in Australia.

Considering AGL is labelled as Australia’s top emitter of “scope 1 greenhouse gases”, it is pursuing a strategy to compete with the emergence of renewables.

AGL chair Peter Botten was quoted saying in the announcement:

The impact of recent challenging market conditions on our financial performance emphasises that AGL Energy is not at an inflection point as the transition of the energy sector accelerates.

Shareholders will go to vote on the proposal later this year, with the company aiming to complete the demerger by Q4 if successful.

Guidance downgrade

AGL also withdrew its FY22 guidance amid the ongoing uncertainties with the planned demerger.

Regarding the coming financial year, it estimates a “material step-down” in earnings on a backdrop of “lower wholesale electricity prices”.

It states these prices have been low for the last 2 years and are only now to be realised by the company.

Suspension of dividend

Regarding its dividend, AGL will be terminating its special dividend program to “preserve ~$400 to $500 million in cash within AGL prior to execution of the demerger”.

Analysts are not viewing AGL’s dividend prospects highly, with an overall negative sentiment.

The company has paid dividends per share of 92 cents over the last 12 months, implying a current yield of 12.2%.

This has crept up from 11.7% on 26 July when AGL shares had set a new record low at $7.87.

However, there is an inverse relationship between share price and dividend yield. If price goes down, yield goes up, and vice-versa.

The Motley Fool encourages investors to consider the concept of a “value trap”. This is where a high and increasing dividend yield is masking a depreciating share price.

Investors who are chasing yield buy on the increasing dividend yield for a particular company, believing they have nabbed a bargain.

However, the prospect of total return is then hindered by poor performance from the underlying share price.

Such is the case with AGL shares given the rapid decline in share price over the previous 12 months, which has propped up the dividend yield.

Since it announced it would slash its dividend, AGL shares have sunk firmly into the red by 17%.

Foolish takeaway

The AGL share price has underperformed the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) by a considerable amount this month. The broad index has posted a return of 1.16% over the last month versus AGL’s loss of ~17%.

It stands to reason the demerger proposal has been a major catalyst for AGL’s share price depreciation over the past month.

This, coupled with the dividend, has seen AGL shareholders continue to realise record low share prices, which offset the attractiveness of the dividend yield.

The demerger narrative certainly isn’t over for AGL, with shareholders yet to fully vote on a resolution on the matter.

The post It hasn’t been a great month for the AGL (ASX:AGL) share price appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Should you buy AGL (ASX:AGL) shares in July 2021 for the dividend yield?
• AGL Energy (ASX:AGL) share price one to watch during transition – expert
• AGL (ASX:AGL) share price checks in at new 52-week low
• The AGL share price is now trading on a 10% dividend yield
• Top brokers name 3 ASX shares to sell today

The author Zach Bristow has no positions 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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Can you hear that?

That’s the sigh of relief being issued by millions of Victorians and a lesser number of South Australians exiting lockdowns.

Also receiving some relief are shareholders in S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) real estate shares.

On the down side, ASX 200 real estate shares will continue to be hampered as lockdowns were extended by 4 weeks in the Greater Sydney area as well as some outlying regions in New South Wales. This after the state recorded 177 new locally acquired COVID-19 cases.

However, South Australia recorded no new COVID-19 cases after its snap 7-day lockdown, while the 8 cases reported in Victoria were all said to be in self isolation already.

Both states maintain some restrictions, but retail outlets have been given the green light to open their doors.

This looks to be lifting investor sentiment in ASX 200 real estate shares including Vicinity Centres (ASX: VCX) and Scentre Group (ASX: SCG).

How have these ASX 200 real estate shares been performing?

Vicinity Centres is primarily focused on owning and managing Australian shopping centres.

As you’d expect then, the ASX 200 real estate share was smashed during the February and March 2020 pandemic-fuelled market selloff, with shares crashing 59%. While shares have rebounded strongly since then, Vicinity Centres is still trading 38% below its pre-COVID levels.

At time of writing the share price is up 2.16% in intraday trading, while the ASX 200 is down 0.70%. Vicinity has a market cap of $6.8 billion and pays a dividend yield of 6.60%, unfranked.

Also gaining today is ASX 200 real estate heavyweight Scentre Group. Scentre owns and operates Westfield properties across Australia and New Zealand.

Scentre also saw its share price crushed during the 2020 COVID market panic, falling 60% from 21 February through to 27 March 2020. Over the past 12 months the share price has gained 21%.

Scentre’s share price is also bucking the falling ASX 200 today, up 1.40%. Scentre has a market cap of $13 billion. It pays a dividend yield of 2.73%, unfranked.

The post ASX 200 real estate shares are lifting today – here’s why appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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• These 3 ASX 200 shares were the most heavily traded today
• ASX 200 real estate shares sink 8% in a month as lockdown woes persist
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• 3 ASX shares to win when lockdown ends
• 2 buy-rated ASX dividend shares with generous yields

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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The past month has actually been a pretty decent one for ASX shares. The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) has spent the last 30 days or so hitting a series of all-time highs, and the ASX 200 remains up around 1% from where it was a month ago. But the Afterpay Ltd (ASX: APT) share price hasn’t been so lucky.

Yes, Afterpay has had a month to forget. Even just today, the buy now, pay later (BNPL) pioneer is down a nasty 3.39% to under $99.31 a share at the time of writing. That’s the first time Afterpay has gone under $100 a share since early June. Over the past month, Afterpay shares have now lost a whopping 16.6% on current pricing.

So what’s gone so wrong for BNPL?

Well, the primary catalyst for this downward slide was a double whammy that came earlier this month. On 14 July Afterpay shares fell almost 10% in one day, followed by its BNPL competitors in Zip Co Ltd (ASX: Z1P), Sezzle Inc (ASX: SZL) and Laybuy Holdings Ltd (ASX: LBY).

Why this panicked sell-off? Well, that was the day ASX investors got the news that none other than Apple Inc (NASDAQ: AAPL) would possibly be expanding into the BNPL space with ‘Apple Pay Later’. 

Additionally, on the same day, we heard the news that fellow US tech company PayPal Holdings Inc (NASDAQ: PYPL) would be removing late fees from its own ‘Pay in 4’ BNPL product.

PayPal and Apple are obviously global behemoths in their respective spaces, and hardly the ideal choice to have as a competitor. As such, investors punished Afterpay and the ASX BNPL shares on this news, and they have been under pressure ever since. It’s not the first sign of intense competitive pressure in this space.

We have seen companies like Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA), National Australia Bank Ltd. (ASX: NAB), Mastercard Inc (NYSE: MA) and American Express Company (NYSE: AXP) all launch BNPL or ‘interest-free credit’ products over the past few years. But perhaps PayPal and Apple were two straws too many on the camel’s back.

Where to now for the Afterpay share price?

As we covered yesterday, there are still some investors who think Afterpay shares are a buy. Morgan Stanley is one. This broker currently has Afterpay shares rated as a buy, with a 12-month share price target of $145 a share.

At the current Afterpay share price, the company has a market capitalisation of $28.76 billion.

The post The Afterpay (ASX:APT) share price is down 16% in a month. Here’s why appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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• Could it be time to consider buying Afterpay (ASX:APT) shares?
• ASX 200 Weekly Wrap: Just like that… ASX back to record highs
• These ASX 200 CEOs have the most wealth tied up in their companies
• The Afterpay (ASX:APT) share price is gaining 3% today

American Express is an advertising partner of The Ascent, a Motley Fool company. Motley Fool contributor Sebastian Bowen owns shares of American Express and Mastercard. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of and has recommended AFTERPAY T FPO, Apple, Mastercard, PayPal Holdings, and ZIPCOLTD FPO. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has recommended the following options: long January 2022 $75 calls on PayPal Holdings, long March 2023 $120 calls on Apple, and short March 2023 $130 calls on Apple. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of and has recommended AFTERPAY T FPO. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Apple, Mastercard, and PayPal Holdings. 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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Small-cap ASX shares have treated investors very well in the past year.

Yes, the big boys of the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) gained more than 23% over the last 12 months. But the little guys have actually outperformed them, with the S&P/ASX Small Ordinaries (ASX: XSO) returning almost 26%.

Eley Griffiths Group managing director Ben Griffiths reckons small-cap ASX shares are in “the midst of a bull-drive”.

“Reassuring to see 66% of small cap names are trading above their 100-day moving average,” he posted on Livewire.

“Witness the solid outperformance small caps have had over large caps this past 12 months.”

Griffiths’ team is “confidently” betting that the Small Ordinaries will hit 4,177, which is a 23% premium to now.

And he picked out 5 small-cap ASX shares that might lead the charge.

Real estate and finance

Griffiths’ team likes Pepper Money Ltd (ASX: PPM) because they see it as “more entrepreneurial and opportunistic than other operators” in the lending sector.

“For example, in the mortgage broking channel, where customer service and approval times are critical, Pepper’s investment in technology, particularly in its distribution capability, has positioned it well for further market share gains.”

The company listed on the ASX in late May after an initial public offer priced at $2.89 per share. The stock closed Tuesday at $2.40.

“The company was priced on a [price-to-earnings ratio] P/E of 10.5x,” said Griffiths.

“Whilst its debut has been soft, we are optimistic about the company’s future, particularly as credit growth in Australia continues to recover post The Royal Commission.”

Related to this is another recent ASX debutant, PEXA Group Ltd (ASX: PXA).

The real estate transaction settlements system holds a practical monopoly in Australia currently.

“As various state governments have embraced [or] mandated digitisation over the last few years, electronic settlement now makes up over 70% of all transactions, of which Pexa has a circa 95% share.”

While wary of IPOs, Griffiths’ team managed to follow Pexa’s fortunes since 2018 via 42%-owner Link Administration Holdings Ltd (ASX: LNK).

“The business has excelled over that time frame, growing from ~$40 million revenue then to in excess of $200 million today.”

Gamblers going from TAB to this ASX share

Bluebet Holdings Ltd (ASX: BBT) is taking advantage of the recent trend away from traditional provider TAB to online bookmakers.

“Bluebet has been well-positioned to pick up market share, particularly from regional customers looking for alternative wagering product[s] with a quality mobile and in-app experience,” said Griffiths.

“Mobile-first with innovative wagering products, Bluebet has grown to over 90,000 registered customers, with significant growth in betting turnover (>$340mil).”

And of course, like every other online Australian bookmaker, it’s having a go at the recently deregulated US market.

‘Significant scale’ for this small cap

Chemicals company DGL Group Ltd (ASX: DGL) also listed on the ASX in late May after raising $100 million through the IPO.

It’s no startup though — it floated with a 20-year history behind it.

“Specialist licenses and significant scale positions DGL as the leader in chemical manufacturing and logistics across the Tasman, with the top 20 customers having on average over 9 years of tenure,” said Griffiths.

“With sound financials, management alignment and large end markets, DGL is a quality industrial addition to the portfolio.”

DGL shares are up almost 39% since its listing.

This small-cap ASX share is ‘over-trading’

Agricultural services provider Elders Ltd (ASX: ELD) was sold off after a “strong interim result” in May, according to Griffiths.

“We believe Elders is presently ‘over-trading’, notwithstanding a continuing flow of self-help initiatives via acquisition integrations and 8-point plan wins,” he said. 

“The group is well leveraged to livestock prices and is presently booking outsized earnings largely from record cattle prices (via voracious re-stocker demand).”

Despite the sell-off the last few weeks, Elders shares are still up more than 15% for the year.

The post 5 small-cap ASX shares on their way up appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• ASX 200 midday update: Spark takeover, Virgin Money update
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• ASX 200 rises, Temple & Webster surges, Japara soars
• These 3 ASX 200 shares were the most heavily traded today

Motley Fool contributor Tony Yoo 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 Elders 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 Nickel Mines Ltd (ASX: NIC) share price is the worst performer on the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) on Wednesday.

In early afternoon trade, the nickel producer’s shares are down 7% to $1.09.

Why is the Nickel Mines share price sinking?

The catalyst for the weakness in the Nickel Mines share price today has been the release of its second quarter update.

According to the release, rotary kiln-electric furnace (RKEF) quarterly production came in at 10,143 tonnes of nickel metal for the period. This was up a modest 0.7% on its first quarter production.

Things were better for its sales volumes, with the company recording 10,735.7 nickel tonnes sold for the three months. This was up 4.7% from 10,257.1 nickel tonnes sold in the March quarter.

Combined with improved pricing, this underpinned an 8.7% quarter on quarter increase in sales to US$150.2 million.

However, due to an increase in its production costs, quarterly EBITDA only improved 0.2% quarter on quarter to US$50.8 million. This could be weighing on the Nickel Mines share today.

What happened?

Management notes that its increased operating cash costs were due to higher power and reductant costs as a result of rising thermal and coking coal prices. It notes that prices were up ~35% and ~70%, respectively, from the March quarter.

Nevertheless, it was pleased with the quarter and highlights that its EBITDA margin was lower than in March but ahead of historical averages. It believes this demonstrates the company’s ability to maintain strong levels of profitability in all commodity price environments.

Nickel Mines’ Managing Director, Justin Werner, said: “The June quarter was another busy quarter which again delivered consistent nickel production and strong free cash flow generation, despite some commodity cost pressures particularly regarding thermal and coking coal prices.”

Mr Werner also revealed that the third quarter has started strongly.

He concluded: “We have kicked off the September quarter with strong demand for NPI which is being reflected in a recent surge in prices and are pleased to report that our July contract NPI prices are as high as US$2,200/t above our weighted average contract pricing for the June quarter, with upside pricing momentum having continued since executing these most recent contracts.”

The post Why the Nickel Mines (ASX:NIC) share price is the worst performer on the ASX 200 today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• ASX 200 midday update: Spark takeover, Virgin Money update

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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The share price of Google-parent Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ: GOOG) climbed higher in after-hours trade following the release of its second-quarter results.

At the time of writing, shares in the US tech giant are valued at US$2,735.93 apiece. Over the past 12 months, the Google share price has gained 82%. The company now holds a market capitalisation of US$1.8 trillion.

On that note, let’s dive deeper into the company’s latest results.

YouTube is the star of the show

Reporting after the US market closed last night, Google stunned analysts with its drastic growth in the second quarter.

The tech giant’s revenue and earnings per share knocked it out of the park. On the top line, Google reported US$61.88 billion in revenue versus estimates of US$56.16 billion. Meanwhile, earnings per share decimated estimates – coming to US$27.26 per share versus US$19.34 estimates.

While Google Search remains the company’s leading source of revenue, YouTube is the fastest-growing. According to the release, search revenue increased 68% year-over-year (YoY) to US$35.85 billion, whereas YouTube ads jumped 84% YoY to US$7 billion.

Google’s Chief Business Officer Philipp Schindler discussed YouTube’s performance on the earnings call.

YouTube is helping advertisers reach audiences they can’t find anywhere else. According to Nielsen’s Total Ad Ratings reach reporting, from Q4 18 to Q4 20 on average 70% of YouTube’s reach was delivered to an audience not reached by the advertisers in TV and media.

The company made no secret that its numbers have benefitted from the increased online activity, likely a result of the pandemic.

Our strong second-quarter revenues of $61.9 billion reflect elevated consumer online activity and broad-based strength in advertiser spend. Again, we benefited from excellent execution across the board by our teams.

Google Chief Financial Officer, Ruth Porat

Streaming comparison and Google share price snapshot

Investors might be interested to know that Google’s YouTube Ads revenue is hot on the tail of Netflix Inc (NASDAQ: NFLX)’s quarterly revenue. Netflix reported US$7.342 billion in revenue for the latest quarter, roughly US$300 million more than YouTube Ads.

However, Google’s “other revenues” of US$6.6 billion include YouTube’s non-ad revenue. That would include YouTube Premium — its monthly subscription service. Although, it is hard to tell how much of that revenue would be derived from the premium service itself.

Lastly, the US tech giant is valued on a price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 34.6 times. For comparison, Netflix trades on a 53.8 P/E multiple.

The post Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) share price climbs on blockbuster earnings appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Why Netflix’s Q2 earnings suggest subscriber growth for Disney+
• Are Netflix’s growth days over?
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• 5 US shares investors will be watching on earnings this week
• Now’s the time to buy up mega-cap tech shares

Suzanne Frey, an executive at Alphabet, is a member of The Motley Fool’s board of directors. Motley Fool contributor Mitchell Lawler has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of and has recommended Alphabet (A shares), Alphabet (C shares), and Netflix. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Alphabet (A shares), Alphabet (C shares), and Netflix. 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 Atomo Diagnostics Ltd (ASX: AT1) share price is soaring today amid calls for the Australian government to approve rapid COVID-19 tests for personal use.

Atomo Diagnostics has partnered with Access Bio to create a rapid COVID-19 test. The test, named CareStart EZ COVID-19 test, has been approved for emergency use in the United States.

Right now, the Atomo Diagnostic share price is up 10%. The medical device company’s shares are trading for 23 cents apiece.

Let’s take a closer look at the news making headlines today.

Push for personal rapid COVID-19 tests

The Atomo Diagnostic share price is gaining amid reports state and federal governments are being lobbied to approve rapid COVID-19 tests for personal use.

According to reporting by News.com.au, the Victorian Transport Association’s CEO Peter Anderson is pushing for personal rapid tests to be available to allow truck drivers to travel freely between states.

Anderson is also calling for more testing stations to be created on the border between NSW and Victoria.

Currently, truck drivers entering Victoria must receive a COVID-19 test every 3 days despite the results sometimes taking 3 days to be returned.

Additionally, ABC Radio reported this morning that the New South Wales government will soon announce a roadmap for Sydney’s next 4 weeks of lockdown, which may include personal rapid COVID-19 tests.

Numerous publications have reported NSW year 12 students might be among those using personal rapid COVID-19 tests.

However, the Royal College of Pathologists of Australasia has criticised the idea, saying they’re not accurate enough to be useful.

Finally, according to ABC News, Australia’s Health Department stated the tests aren’t useful when there are low rates of COVID-19 circulating.

Market watchers might be particularly excited about the Atomo Diagnostic share price today. That’s because the company’s rapid COVID-19 test has already been approved for use in Australian aged care homes.

Atomo Diagnostics share price snapshot

Despite today’s boost, the Atomo Diagnostic share price is still firmly in the red.

Right now, the Atomo Diagnostics share price is down 29% year to date.

The company has a market capitalisation of around $113 million, with approximately 586 million shares outstanding.

The post Here’s why the Atomo (ASX:AT1) share price is soaring 10% appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Why the Nickel Mines (ASX:NIC) share price is the worst performer on the ASX 200 today
• Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) share price climbs on blockbuster earnings
• The Venture Minerals (ASX:VMS) share price has slipped today. Here’s why
• Raiz (ASX:RZI) share price rallies 8% on record quarterly results
• Why this fund likes these 3 top ASX shares

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 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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The Venture Minerals Limited (ASX: VMS) share price has dropped in morning trade after starting today’s session in the green. At the time of writing, shares in the mining explorer are trading at 12.7 cents, down 2.3%.

Let’s take a look at what the company announced today and why investors appear undecided on the Venture Minerals share price.

Landholding acquisition

Earlier today, Venture Minerals updated the market on the company’s nickel-copper-platinum (Ni-Cu-PGE) landholding.

According to the update, Venture has expanded its Ni-Cu-PGE portfolio following the acquisition of a highly prospective tenure at the company’s Kulin Project.

Venture said it secured two highly prospective 20-kilometre-long Ni-Cu-PGE targets as part of the acquisition, effectively doubling the company’s Ni-Cu-PGE portfolio.

The Venture Minerals portfolio includes the South West Ni-Cu-PGE Project, currently joint-ventured with Chalice Mining Ltd (ASX: CHN).

Venture Minerals managing director Andrew Radonjic commented;

Venture has made some excellent acquisitions around the Kulin Project, which sees the company now control a highly sought-after ground position in close vicinity to the recently discovered Julimar Ni-Cu-PGE deposit.

Venture Minerals completes maiden drill program

In addition to the acquisition update, Venture Minerals also provided results from a maiden drill program at Kulin.

The results delivered a gold intersection with mineralised intervals to 18 metres @ 0.6 g/t gold (Au) from 329 metres. Higher grade zones were also found at 9 metres @ 1.2 g/t Au from 338 metres and 3 metres @ 3.4g/t Au from 341 metres.

More on Venture Minerals

Venture Minerals is a mining explorer that is looking to make the transition to producer.

The company has various operations including its Riley Iron Ore mine in northwest Tasmania and Tin-Tungsten Project at Mount Lindsay.

As noted previously, the company’s joint venture in Western Australia is the location of the South West Nickel-Copper-PGE Project. Chalice Mining has already committed up to $3.7 million to the project.  

Overall, the Venture Minerals share price has enjoyed a stellar year thus far. Since the start of 2021, shares in the mining explorer are trading more than 139% higher.

The post The Venture Minerals (ASX:VMS) share price has slipped today. Here’s why appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• The best and worst ASX gold shares to own so far in 2021
• The Chalice Mining (ASX:CHN) share price is falling 8% today
• The 5 best ASX shares of FY21 revealed
• Chalice Mining (ASX:CHN) share price flops on demerger of gold assets
• Why a2 Milk, Chalice Mining, IDP Education, & Imugene are charging higher

Motley Fool contributor Nikhil Gangaram 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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Investors are bidding up the Raiz Invest Ltd (ASX: RZI) share price on Wednesday after the company released its June quarter results.

At the time of writing, the financial technology company’s share price is up 8.33% to $1.69.

Raiz share price rallies higher on record quarterly results

In the June quarter, Raiz achieved record results for global active customers, funds under management (FUM) and revenue.

Global active customers totalled 456,927 at quarter-end, an increase of 86.7% on the prior corresponding period (pcp). The company said that the increase was “in line with expectations on organic and paid acquisitions across geographies”.

The company delivered a 76.7% increase in normalised revenue to $3.6 million, underpinned by an increase in user maintenance fees, account fees and advertising revenues.

Raiz highlighted that its Australian businesses continue to operate on a cash-flow positive basis, with normalised revenue increasing 17.4% in the June quarter. This growth was supported by a similar uplift in Australian FUM, up 15.2% quarter-on-quarter to $799.6 million.

In addition, Raiz said that growth across its Indonesia and Malaysia businesses was meeting expectations, despite the resurgence of COVID-19 cases in both countries.

In the June quarter, active customers in Indonesia and Malaysia grew 17.2% and 19.6% respectively.

The company plans to continue to invest and grow in the region, revealing plans to expand into Thailand.

Superestate acquisition completion

Back in April, Raiz announced the acquisition of Superestate, a niche integrated superannuation and Australian residential property investment platform.

The acquisition will move $70 million of FUM in superannuation, 6,000 customers and a residential property fund onto the Raiz platform.

According to today’s announcement, the acquisition is expected to be complete on 28 July.

About the Raiz share price

The Raiz share price has rallied 79% year-to-date, with most of its gains occurring between January and February.

Raiz shares have mostly been moving sideways after hitting a record high of $2.20 on 16 February.

The post Raiz (ASX:RZI) share price rallies 8% on record quarterly results appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• ‘That hurts’: Fund manager reveals his 35-bagger ‘failure’
• Up 9% to a 3-month high, the Raiz (ASX:RZI) share price is surging. Here’s why.

Motley Fool contributor Kerry Sun 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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