Category: Stock Market

MoneyMe Ltd (ASX: MME) shares are gaining today after the company released its half-year (H1 FY21) financial results. At the time of writing, the MoneyMe share price has edged 1.3% higher to $1.61.

Let’s take a look at how the digital consumer credit business has been performing.

What did MoneyMe report?

The MoneyMe share price is gaining today after the company reported 12% revenue growth for the financial half year ending 31 December. Revenue of $24 million was up from $21 million in H1 FY20. The company said contracted revenue had increased to more than $20 million.

Net profit after tax (NPAT) of $1.3 million was down from $4.3 million in the previous corresponding half, reflecting a $1.1 million income tax benefit in H1 FY21 compared to a $4.3 million tax benefit in the corresponding half.

Statutory profit before tax (PBT) was $200,000, compared to a $1.6 million loss in H1 FY20. Underlying PBT came in at $5.3 million.

In other news boosting the MoneyMe share price, the company reported a 21% growth in originations to $114 million, up from $95 million in the prior corresponding period. Around 47% of customer originations were driven by returning customers.

Customer receivables ramped up by 32% to $168 million.

Commenting on the half-year results, Clayton Howes, MoneyMe CEO, said:

I am delighted with MoneyMe’s profitable growth for the half year ended 31 December 2020 that continues to reflect the increasing diversification of our products and their distribution. It is exciting to see the new funding warehouse facility delivering significantly lower funding costs and new business origination capacity and our core and more recently launched products resonating so well with Generation Now.

Looking ahead, Howes added:

The innovation pipeline is continuing at pace as we continue to invest for massive scale and product diversification opportunities. A fantastic first half that sets the business up well for further high and profitable balance sheet growth.

MoneyMe said it expects revenue and customer receivables growth to accelerate into the second half of the financial year, based on the originations growth reported in Q2 FY21.

MoneyMe share price snapshot

The MoneyMe share price has almost fully recovered from the 69% plunge it faced during the COVID-19-fuelled market panic last February and March. Over the past 12 months, MoneyMe shares are now down 2.4%. That compares to a 0.3% gain on the All Ordinaries Index (ASX: XAO).

So far in 2021, the MoneyMe share price is up 9.5%.

More reading

• MoneyMe (ASX:MME) share price edges higher. Here’s why
• Why the MoneyMe (ASX:MME) share price is climbing higher

Motley Fool contributor Bernd Struben 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 AdAlta Ltd (ASX:1AD) share price is rocketing today following the positive news on its drug trials. In mid-morning trade, the biotech company’s share price is soaring 31.4% higher to 23 cents.

However, at the time of writing, the AdAlta share price has retreated slightly to 20 cents, up 14.29%. Also, it’s worth noting that the AdAlta share price reached a 52-week high of 26.5 cents in the opening minutes of trade.

Quick take on AdAlta

Established in 2006, AdAlta is a clinical-stage biotechnology company. The company’s focus is on researching and developing protein-based therapies. Thus, AdAlta utilises a range of unique compounds, known as i-bodies, to create a pipeline of drugs to treat serious diseases. This includes idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) and other human fibrotic diseases.

What did AdAlta announce?

The AdAlta share price is racing higher as investors are fighting to get a parcel of its shares.

In this morning’s release, AdAlta advised it has been granted Orphan Drug Designation (ODD) from the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA). In particular, this is for its lead product candidate AD-214.

The Orphan Drug Act, created by the FDA, aims to motivate biopharmaceutical companies in developing potential medicines for rare or ‘orphan’ diseases. The ODD provides preferential treatment that enhances a company’s standing with the agency. It is estimated that rare and orphan diseases affect around 200,000 people in the United States alone.

The welcomed decision enables the company to receive special benefits of achieving incentivised targets. This includes eligibility for seven years of market exclusivity after FDA approval and discounted tax credits of 50% of drug testing costs. Benefits also include additional protocol assistance, reduced review times, and specific marketing authorisation application fees waived.

This follows the company’s previous ODD for AD-114, the predecessor molecule to AD-214.

AdAlta noted that receiving ODD will bring extra economic value for AD-214. This will flow onto its future commercial partners.

About the AdAlta share price

In the past year, the company’s shares have accelerated to give investors a gain of more than 180%. In March, the AdAlta share price traded for as little as 4 cents, before gradually increasing over the 11 months. However today, the biotech’s shares reached a 52-week high of 26.5 cents.

Based on the current share price, AdAlta commands a market capitalisation of roughly $51 million.

More reading

• What’s happening with ASX 200 tech shares today?
• What’s going on with the Fatfish (ASX:FFG) share price today?
• Is the Harvey Norman (ASX:HVN) share price next to do a capital return cashback?
• ASX 200 down 0.45%: Woolworths rises, Blackmores jumps, Appen sinks
• The Eagers (ASX:APE) share price is sliding today

Motley Fool contributor Aaron Teboneras 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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Yesterday, the S&P/ASX 200 Info Tech (ASX: XIJ) was the worst-performing index, slumping by more than 4% compared to the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) that surged in the afternoon to finish 0.86% higher. 

High profile ASX 200 growth shares across the board struggled to find headway amid the selloff.

At the larger end of town, big losses came from the Domino’s Pizza Enterprises Ltd (ASX: DMP) share price, which slumped 8.50% to give back all its reporting season gains, the Afterpay Ltd (ASX: APT) share price fell 7.20% and Seek Limited (ASX: SEK) is now down for the year after falling 7.10%. 

Elsewhere, big winners from last year, including Lynas Rare Earths Ltd (ASX: LYC), Temple & Webster Group Ltd (ASX: TPW) and JB Hi-Fi Limited (ASX: JBH), also gave up substantial gains. 

Trigger for yesterday’s selloff 

One thing that could be the catalyst for a tech and growth-driven selloff is rising bond yields.  

In the United States, the 10-year treasury yield is often regarded as the risk-free rate, given the US government has never defaulted on its debt obligations. The 10-year treasury yield previously took a nosedive from 1.95% to 0.40% between December 2019 to March 2020.

In more recent months, treasury yields have been on a tear, soaring from lows of 0.50% in August 2020 to 1.36% this month.

Higher yields signal higher borrowing costs and inflation, which could negatively affect businesses and share market performance. 

The shares that led the market higher when interest rates were plummeting are now the ones most vulnerable as interest rates rise. 

Conversely, value sectors, including financials, utilities, real estate and commodities, can often withstand or benefit from higher interest rates. 

This was evidenced by the 0.86% increase in the ASX 200 yesterday, with the big four banks, miners, oil and REITs doing the heavy lifting. 

US tech shares rebound before close 

The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (INDEXNASDAQ: .IXIC)  found itself down as much as 4% last night but managed to rebound in the last few hours of trade to close 0.96% higher. 

ASX 200 tech shares have struggled to follow the Nasdaq for a rebound, with the S&P/ASX Information Technology index experiencing two consecutive red days, down 1.98% at the time of writing. 

More reading

• Is the Harvey Norman (ASX:HVN) share price next to do a capital return cashback?
• ASX 200 down 0.45%: Woolworths rises, Blackmores jumps, Appen sinks
• Monash IVF (ASX:MVF) share price jumps on profit growth and dividend restart
• The Bigtincan (ASX:BTH) share price is down 6%, despite strong growth
• SEEK (ASX:SEK) share price on watch after Zhaopin sell down update

Kerry Sun has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of Temple & Webster Group Ltd. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of AFTERPAY T FPO. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Dominos Pizza Enterprises Limited, SEEK Limited, 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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It has been an eventful day for the Fatfish Group Ltd (ASX: FFG) share price on Wednesday.

This morning the tech venture builder company’s shares jumped as much as 22% to 16.5 cents following the release of an announcement.

However, shortly afterwards when the Fatfish share price had eased to 14.5 cents, its shares abruptly entered a trading halt.

What is going on with the Fatfish share price?

Investors were buying Fatfish shares this morning following the release of announcement relating to its 50.1% owned Abelco business.

According to the release, the Sweden-based investment company has reported profit after tax of A$15.1 million for FY 2020. This is up 526% from a loss of A$3.5 million in FY 2019.

However, it is worth noting that this has been driven almost entirely by asset sales. During the year, Abelco actually reported a 29% decline in revenue to $1.75 million.

Fatfish explained: “Abelco turn-arounds from making a loss of A$3.5 million in FY2019 to a profit of A$15.1 million in FY2020. This is largely due to Abelco’s disposal of non-profitable subsidiaries, as well as the appreciation in the value of other key assets, including Abelco’s stakes iCandy Interactive Limited (ASX: ICI), that has shown strong share price performance during the financial period.”

Why is the Fatfish share price in a trading halt?

The Fatfish share price was placed into a trading halt pending the release of an announcement concerning a “material development” in Smartfunding’s Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) services.

The company’s shares will remain in a trading halt until the earlier of the release of the update or the commencement of trading on Friday.

What is Smartfunding?

Last week Fatfish revealed that Smartfunding successfully launched its BNPL service as scheduled in Singapore. The company also explained that it sees opportunities to expand outside the country into the rest of South East Asia.

It commented: “Singapore is indisputably the dorminant (sic) financial hub for the Southeast Asia region. By being regulated and headquarted (sic) out of Singapore, Smartfunding aims to attract businesses not only in Singapore, but as well as from the rest of the Southeast Asian economies.”

All eyes will be on the Fatfish share price on Friday when this “material” announcement is made.

More reading

• Why the Fatfish (ASX:FGG) share price is charging 10% higher
• Why the Cirralto (ASX:CRO) share price is in a trading halt
• What’s with the Afterpay (ASX:APT) share price fall today?
• Why the Fatfish (ASX:FFG) share price is diving 21% today
• The Fatfish (ASX:FFG) share price has exploded 155% higher today

Motley Fool contributor James Mickleboro 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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Speculation of a big capital return cash splash failed to fire up the Harvey Norman Holdings Limited (ASX: HVN) share price.

Shares in the electronics and furniture retailer tumbled 4.2% to $5.12 this morning when the S&P/ASX 200 Index (Index:^AXJO) fell 0.5%.

Other ASX retailers are also in the red, although not by quite as much. The JB Hi-Fi Limited (ASX: JBH) share price lost 2.7% to $46.60 and the Wesfarmers Ltd (ASX: WES) share price surrendered 1% to $50.41.

Capital return can’t save the Harvey Norman share price

A downgrade by UBS may be the reason for the Harvey Norman share price underperformance. The broker dopped its rating on the shares to “neutral” from “outperform” even as it highlighted the chance of a capital return.

Harvey Norman is flushed with cash after all as it is one of the COVID-19 winners. Sales across the group are soaring as consumers who can’t spend on international travel turn to buying stuff for the home.

“At its November update, profit before tax had increased 161% YoY [year-on-year],” said UBS.

“ABS preliminary data indicated 10% YoY growth in non-food retail in the month of January. We see a reasonable probability of capital management (HVN debt free at the 1H21, excess franking credits).”

Profit up but recommendation down

The broker lifted its 12-month price target on the stock to $5.36 from $5.30. But it believes the Harvey Norman share price has reached fair value after its big rally since March 2020, although a sizable capital return could see the stock shoot higher.

“We forecast 32cps dividends in FY21 on the basis of a 65% payout ratio,” added UBS.

“Net debt (excluding leases) is forecast to be zero at the 1H21 and ~A$120mn (assuming working capital normalisation) at the FY21 (0.1x EBITDA pre AASB16).

“HVN finished FY20 with A$500mn of Australian tax paid franking credits, allowing for meaningful distribution of value to shareholders during this period of above average profits.”

Big dividend supercycle

If UBS is right about the dividend, the Harvey Norman share price is sitting on a yield of 6.25%. This jumps to 8.9% if franking is included.

Harvey Norman paid a final dividend of 18 cents a share in October last year but topped this up with a 6 cents a share special dividend.

The payout in this financial year is almost certainly going to be bigger even without a capital return or special dividend.

Talk about the prospects of an ASX dividend supercycle!

More reading

• ASX 200 down 0.45%: Woolworths rises, Blackmores jumps, Appen sinks
• Monash IVF (ASX:MVF) share price jumps on profit growth and dividend restart
• The Bigtincan (ASX:BTH) share price is down 6%, despite strong growth
• These ASX retail shares are smashing sales expectations
• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Wednesday

Motley Fool contributor Brendon Lau has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of Wesfarmers 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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At lunch on Wednesday the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is giving back a good portion of yesterday’s gains. The benchmark index is currently down 0.45% to 6,809.8 points.

Here’s what is happening on the market today:

Woolworths half year results

The Woolworths Group Ltd (ASX: WOW) share price is pushing higher following the release of its half year results. The retail giant reported a 10.5% increase in revenue to $35.8 billion and 15.9% increase in net profit after tax to $1,135 million. This compares favourably to what analysts at Goldman Sachs were forecasting. They expected revenue of $35,789.7 million and a first half net profit of $1,030.2 million.

Blackmores jumps on improved performance

The Blackmores Limited (ASX: BKL) share price is jumping higher today after reporting a much-improved half year result. For the six months ended 31 December, Blackmores reported a 3% increase in revenue of $302.6 million. On the bottom line, the health supplements company posted an 8% increase in underlying net profit after tax to $19.4 million. This allowed the Blackmores Board to reinstate its dividend after a one-year hiatus. It declared a fully franked interim dividend of 29 cents per share.

Appen share price sinks

It has been a disappointing day for the Appen Ltd (ASX: APX) share price. The artificial intelligence services company’s shares are sinking following the release of its full year results. For the 12 months ended 31 December, Appen posted a 12% increase in revenue to $599.9 million and an 8% lift in EBITDA to $108.6 million. In FY 2021, Appen is guiding to EBITDA growth of 18% to 28%. It appears as though the market was expecting stronger guidance.

Best and worst ASX 200 performers

The best performer on the ASX 200 today has been the IDP Education Ltd (ASX: IEL) share price with a 13% gain. This follows the release of a better than expected half year result. Going the other way, the worst performer has been the Nanosonics Ltd (ASX: NAN) share price with a 9.5% decline. Investors appear disappointed with the infection control specialist’s half year results today.

More reading

• Monash IVF (ASX:MVF) share price jumps on profit growth and dividend restart
• Why the IDP Education (ASX:IEL) share price is rocketing 17% higher
• The Bigtincan (ASX:BTH) share price is down 6%, despite strong growth
• Nanosonics (ASX:NAN) share price nosedives 12% on weak earnings
• Appen (ASX:APX) share price sinks 7% on full year results

James Mickleboro has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of Appen Ltd, Idp Education Pty Ltd, and Nanosonics Limited. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of and has recommended Blackmores Limited. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of Woolworths Limited. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Nanosonics 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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ASX shares in the automotive sector including Bapcor Ltd (ASX: BAP) and Carsales.Com Ltd (ASX: CAR) have been big winners amidst COVID-19. Current market conditions have seen a reallocation of consumer spending driven by travel restrictions, a change in personal transport choices and an increase in flexible work arrangements. 

Despite the tailwinds, the Eagers Automotive Ltd (ASX: APE) share price plummeted 10% in early trade today, following the company’s release of its FY20 results and CEO succession. 

CEO succession 

After 16 years as CEO, Martin Ward will transition from his current position to a new role as advisor to the board and CEO.

Current chief operating officer Keith Thornton has been appointed chief executive officer, effective today. Mr Thornton has been with the company for 18 years, including his role as COO since 2017. 

The company has described the transition as “natural” and “many years in the making”. 

FY20 highlights 

In today’s results, Eagers reported an increase in statutory revenue to $8,749.7 million compared to $5,817 million in FY19. This reflects the first full year trading for the enlarged company following the merger with Automotive Holdings Group Ltd. 

Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, amortisation and impairment (EBITAI) from continuing operations increased 82.7% to $625.5 million. While underlying profit after tax increased by 102% to $140.4 million. 

The company pointed to the strong growth in new vehicle market share and stronger truck retailing performance, demonstrating its significant national footprint. 

Elsewhere, pre-owned vehicle strategy delivered strong year-on-year growth with the last 7 months delivering profit together with enhanced customer offerings including click and collect and online finance. 

Vehicle sales also rebounded strongly from historical lows experienced during April and May 2020 when COVID-19 restrictions were nationwide. The company cites that customer orders have continued to their strong trajectory, and supply constraints caused by global manufacturer closures and reduced production capacity have started to ease.  

Eagers share price slumps despite strong results 

It appears that reporting companies across the board are struggling to impress investors this morning. Reporting companies, including Appen Ltd (ASX: APX), Humm Group Ltd (ASX: HUM) and Nanosonics Ltd (ASX: NAN), have all slumped lower following half and full-year results. 

Looking ahead, the company believes it is well-positioned to withstand any further short term and localised COVID-19 related impacts. Its current order book is strong but notes that ongoing COVID-19 uncertainty calls for some caution on outlook. 

After sinking to an intraday low of $11.70 in early trade today, the Eagers share price has gained some ground and is trading at $12.40 at the time of writing, down 6.7%.

More reading

• Eagers Automotive (ASX:APE) car sales coming to a mall near you
• ASX 200 down 0.3%: Crown CEO hasn’t resigned, Mirvac update, Nearmap remains halted
• 3 forgotten ASX stocks left behind in the car sales recovery
• Why these brokers think today’s Eagers Automotive (ASX:APE) share price is a bargain
• Brokers list the latest ASX shares to buy in this market meltdown

Motley Fool contributor Kerry Sun has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of and has recommended Bapcor. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended carsales.com 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 Novatti Group Ltd (ASX: NOV) share price is on the rise again today. Novatti shares closed at 44 cents each yesterday. However, they opened at 48 cents this morning and rose all the way to a high of 53 cents. That’s a new record for the company. It was a rise of more than 10% at the time. At the time of writing, Novatti shares are trading for 48 cents each, a rise of 6.59%.

Novatti has been in the news recently. Incredibly, the Novatti share price is now up 94% in less than a month. In fact, Novatti was a recipient of an ASX speeding ticket last week when its share price rocketed 38% in one day. At the time, the company claimed it had no idea why its shares were on fire.

But in terms of today’s moves, the picture is far clearer.

Novatti announced this morning that a new product is launching that contains Novatti’s technology.

Lifepay to launch in March

This morning before market open, Novatti announced that Lifepay, a “new, innovative fintech platform”, would be launching. Lifepay’s platform will be run by Lifepay Pty Ltd. Lifepay Pty Ltd is a private company that Novatti has a 25% stake in. According to Novatti, a recent funding round, which Novatti participated in, values Lifepay Pty Ltd at $5.125 million.

Lifepay is a platform that enables its users to manage personal finances and transactions. Customers of Lifepay can do this “simply and effectively” from their mobile device. The platform’s services include digital banking (with access to a pre-paid debit card). Additionally, the platform offers payments using services like BPay or tap and go. It also offers a social dimension, enabling easy funds transfers between friends and family.

According to Novatti, the Lifepay launch is initially being restricted to a ‘soft launch’, with around 200 customers. The full launch is expected to take place “for early March 2021”.

How will Lifepay benefit Novatti?

Novatti is set to benefit from this Lifepay platform in a number of ways. Aside from its stake in Lifepay itself, the company tells us that Novatti will, “earn fees from activity on the Lifepay platform, including compliance services, cross border payments, payment acquiring, and the issuing of Visa Prepaid cards, depending on take-up of the service”.

Novatti’s Managing Director, Peter Cook, had the following to say on the deal:

Novatti’s strategy has been to develop a digital banking and payments ecosystem that enables innovative products to leverage Novatti’s existing platforms to get to market quickly. This strategy also enables Novatti’s platform to scale quickly, providing customer acquisition and value-add channels for our existing businesses, extending our reach into the B2C market, while generating high-margin revenues. The launch of Lifepay is an example of Novatti’s ecosystem at play and highlights Novatti’s broader shift from a development to a monetisation phase for its digital banking and payments platform.

Judging by the moves in the Novatti share price today, it seems investors have given this deal their blessing.

More reading

• Payright (ASX:PYR) shares get speeding ticket after 32% surge
• The Novatti (ASX:NOV) share price rocketed 38% today

Sebastian Bowen owns shares of Visa. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of and recommends Visa. 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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Scentre Group (ASX: SCG) shares are all over the show today following the company’s release of its full-year results. The Scentre share price opened lower this morning at $2.83 before popping up to $2.92. This was followed by another stint in the red before rising to its current level (at the time of writing) of $2.88, up 0.17% for the day so far.

Here’s how the Westfield operator performed for the 12 month period ended 31 December 2020 (FY20).

Summary of Scentre’s 2020 results

Scentre reported a statutory loss for FY20 totalling $3.7 billion compared to an FY19 statutory profit of $1.8 billion.

The company noted that its property valuation for FY20 dropped by $4.3 billion.

Revenue for FY20 was $2.2 billion which represented a 17.4% fall compared to FY19.

Scentre posted an operating profit of $763.4 million for the period. The business advised that, for the six months ended 31 December 2020, operating profit was 11.6% higher than that of the six months ended 30 June 2020. However, this still fell below the $1.3 billion in operating profit reported for FY19.

The group reported a gross cash inflow of $2.4 billion and collected $2.1 billion in gross rent collections. 

In further results impacting the Scentre share price, earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) was $1.4 billion for FY20 compared to $1.9 billion in FY19.

As of 31 December 2020, the company’s liquidity was $6.9 billion.

Sentre’s FY20 dividend is 7 cents per share.

CEO comments 

Reflecting on the annual results, Sentre Group CEO Peter Allen said: 

We operate a business and brand that are important to our customers and essential to the community. Our business fundamentals remain strong and our strategy, focused on the customer, positions the Group for long-term growth…

Whilst uncertainty remains in 2021, subject to no material change in conditions, the Group expects to distribute at least 14.00 cents per security for 2021. The distribution is expected to continue to grow in future years. The Group plans to retain earnings to cover operating and leasing capital expenditure, fund strategic initiatives and reduce net debt.

Scentre share price snapshot 

Scentre Group owns and operates 42 Westfield Living Centres. Of these, 37 are located in Australia and five are in New Zealand. Over the past year, the Scentre share price has fallen by nearly 22%. 

Based on the current Scentre share price, the company has a market capitalisation of around $14 billion with 5.2 billion shares outstanding.

More reading

• Why the Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield (ASX:URW) share price is slumping today
• CBA, Westpac, ANZ adopt same tech as Bitcoin
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Motley Fool contributor Gretchen Kennedy 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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Fintech RAIZ Invest Ltd (ASX: RZI) has grown its active customer base by 54% in the half-year ending 31 December.

The mobile financial services provider reported $5.2 million in revenue. This was a 17% boost compared to the same period in 2019. 

It also reduced its net loss by 33%, to be $655,000 down for the half-year.

The company also grew its Australian funds under management (FUM) to $605.6 million, which was a 33.5% increase.

Raiz allows its users to round up everyday purchases and put the cents towards an investment portfolio. The micro-investing platform now has 343,573 active users.

Comments from Raiz management

Raiz chief executive George Lucas said the boost in FUM gave him confidence about hitting the target of $1 billion by the end of this year.

“Growth [is] being driven by an increase in both active customers and revenue per customer, strong customer loyalty, the low cost of acquiring customers, and the successful rollout of new products and services.”

Raiz’s share price already saw a 16% boost in a single day earlier this month after the market approved of its January growth numbers.

This may explain why the stock was down 1.32% in early trade on Tuesday morning, going for $1.88. It was just 90 cents one year ago.

Geographic and product expansion 

Lucas said the business’ growth in Indonesia and Malaysia continued to exceed expectations.

“We remain confident that we will be able to repeat the success of the Australian business model by introducing new products to our expanding customer base and increasing revenue per customer in these geographies.”

Last May it introduced an aggressive investment portfolio called Sapphire, which even had 5% exposure to Bitcoin.

Lucas said the company has “a pipeline of new products”.

“And we are working on new target geographies for expansion. These initiatives will add to our current growth momentum over the coming 6 months.”

The company was founded in 2016 as the Australian version of the US brand Acorns. Two years later, it changed its name to Raiz after it broke away from the international relationship.

More reading

• These 3 ASX shares invested in Bitcoin before Tesla (NASDAQ:TSL)
• The Raiz (ASX:RZI) share price is rocketing 16% higher today

Motley Fool contributor Tony Yoo 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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