There are a lot of S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) shares. Their share prices are changing all the time. But how are we meant to know which ones are an opportunity?

Well, we can certainly do our own evaluation and decide if the potential opportunity is good value. But, we can also get an indication from leadership if they decide to buy shares of their own businesses.

Leadership can decide to sell for a number of different reasons – diversification, paying for tax, buying a home and so on.

But, there may be one key reason for buying – the director thinks the business has a good future and they believe that it’s at a good price to buy.

Let’s have a look at which ASX 200 shares have been getting a vote of confidence from their directors.

Wesfarmers Ltd (ASX: WES)

Wesfarmers is the parent business of a number of Australia’s most recognisable retailers including Bunnings, Kmart, Officeworks, Priceline, Target and Catch. It also has a number of industrial businesses, as well as a lithium mining project.

Last week, it was announced by Wesfarmers that director Mike Roche bought 1,500 more Wesfarmers shares at a price of $44.94 per share. So, this investment has already made a small gain on the initial $67,000 purchase. It was an on-market trade.

The superannuation fund that this investment was for, now has a total holding of 4,560 shares. So, in percentage returns, it was a significant increase of the holding.

Corporate Travel Management Ltd (ASX: CTD)

Corporate Travel Management is one of the world’s largest corporate travel companies, helping business people get where they need to be as efficiently as possible.

Director Marissa Peterson is the latest leadership figure to be involved with buying shares of the ASX 200 share.

She decided to buy a total of 10,000 Corporate Travel Management shares at a price of $18.10 per share. This means the total investment cost was $181,000. This investment represents her total holding. It was an on-market trade.

Reliance Worldwide Corporation Ltd (ASX: RWC)

This business says that its portfolio of brands “transform performance and efficiency for plumbing and heating, smart homes and specialist industries around the world.”

The latest director investment was by Darlene Knight who bought 27,000 shares for a total cost of $82,620, which works out to be a price of $3.06. This was an on-market trade.

That brought the total holding to 37,000 shares.

The post 3 ASX 200 directors buying up their company shares in the past week appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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More reading

• Do Wesfarmers shares really offer 22% upside AND growing dividends?
• Morgan Stanley tips how to pick the market bottom, but should you wait to buy ASX shares?
• Experts name 2 ASX 200 dividend shares to buy next week
• Goldman Sachs says these ASX travel shares are buys
• Should you buy the dip in the Wesfarmers share price?

Motley Fool contributor Tristan Harrison has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has positions in and has recommended Reliance Worldwide Corporation Limited. The Motley Fool Australia has positions in and has recommended Wesfarmers Limited. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Corporate Travel Management Limited and Reliance Worldwide Corporation Limited. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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The Medibank Private Ltd (ASX: MPL) share price is currently down 3.2% to $2.74.

The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) health insurer is again making headlines today for the massive data breach it suffered on 12 October.

Cybercriminals managed to access the name, date of birth, address, phone number and email address of 9.7 million current and former customers. The hackers also accessed health claims data for some 480,000 customers.

Yesterday the Medibank share price closed higher after the company said it would not pay any ransom to the hackers.

Why is the Medibank share price under pressure today?

The renewed pressure on the Medibank share price looks to be coming from two fronts: its disgruntled customers and the hackers.

On the hacking front, the purportedly Russian hackers have threatened to publish the stolen data of all the customers unless their demands are met.

As The Australian reports, the hackers have urged people to sell their Medibank shares, while delivering this threat, “A man who has committed a mistake and doesn’t correct it is committing another mistake. –Confucius… Data will be publish in 24 hours.”

In separate headwinds for the Medibank share price, the health insurance giant is facing a class action suit, as The Motley Fool reported here earlier today.

Bannister Law Class Actions and Centennial Lawyers have stated that they will jointly investigate the cyber breach.

“The lawyers will also assess whether damages should be paid to Medibank customers as a result of their breaches,” Bannister said.

How has Medibank been tracking?

The Medibank share price has yet to recover from the sharp sell-off the company faced following the hacking attack in October.

With today’s intraday losses factored in, shares are down 20% year to date. For some context, the ASX 200 is down 8% in 2022.

The post Medibank share price slides following latest blows from hackers and customers appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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More reading

• Medibank share price on watch amid class action and new data threat
• Medibank share price lifts on cyberattack ransom update
• Here are the top 10 ASX 200 shares today
• ‘Close to bottom’: Expert names 3 bargain ASX shares to buy right now
• Here are the 3 most traded ASX 200 shares on Wednesday

Motley Fool contributor Bernd Struben has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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The Vanguard Australian Shares Index ETF (ASX: VAS) is the most popular exchange-traded fund (ETF) on the ASX. And by a mile too. Investors seem to love the whole-market exposure that this fund from Vanguard provides.

Covering the whole ASX (well, the top 300 companies on the ASX) gives investors in this ETF many advantages. You have massive diversification, with capital spread across 300 individual companies).

There’s also the comfort of knowing that you’ll get the market’s rate of return, no more, no less. And the Vanguard Australian Shares ETF’s management fee of 0.1% is relatively low for an exchange-traded fund by ASX standards.

But what of dividend income? Can investors in this ETF expect some healthy cash flow as well from this investment?

How often does the Vanguard Australian Shares ETF pay dividends?

Well, the answer is yes. The Vanguard Australian Shares ETF does indeed pay out dividend distributions to its investors. And regularly so.

Any ETF that owns a dividend-paying share has to pass on the income received to its investors. So Vanguard’s massive portfolio of dividend payers is a big advantage here.

On the ASX, it is the norm to pay out dividends bi-annually, or every six months. But this fund takes this a step further. Investors in this ETF typically enjoy a dividend distribution every three months. Paying out income quarterly is obviously an advantage for lovers of dividend income, so no doubt this is appreciated by investors.

Let’s see what this looks like in practice.

So the Vanguard Australian Shares ETF has indeed paid out four dividend distribution payments over the past 12 months. The latest of these came just last month, a payment of $1.45 per unit, covering the three months to 30 September 2022.

Before that, we had a $2.16 per unit distribution, a $2 per unit distribution and a 6965 cents per unit payment.

That all adds up to a trailing annual total of approximately $6.30 per unit.

On today’s Vanguard Australian Shares ETF pricing of $86.43 (at the time of writing), this gives the fund a trailing distribution yield of 7.29%.

The post How regularly does the Vanguard Australian Shares ETF (VAS) pay dividends? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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More reading

• Is the Vanguard Australian Shares ETF fighting off inflation?
• Why did the Vanguard Australian Shares Index ETF perform strongly in October?
• 2 excellent ETFs for ASX investors in November
• Here’s how the Vanguard Australian Shares ETF (VAS) stacks up against the BetaShares Australia 200 ETF (A200)
• 5 things I look at when buying an ASX ETF

Motley Fool contributor Sebastian Bowen has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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The Westpac Banking Corp (ASX: WBC) share price is bouncing back on Tuesday.

At the time of writing, the banking giant’s shares are up 2% to $23.65.

Why is the Westpac share price rebounding?

The Westpac share price is rising today after a number of brokers retained their buy ratings on the bank’s shares.

For example, after running the rule over the bank’s full year results, the team at Citi has retained its buy rating and $30.00 price target and analysts at Morgans have retained their add rating with a trimmed price target of $25.80.

Elsewhere, over at Goldman Sachs, its team has reiterated its conviction buy rating with an improved price target of $27.60. Based on the current Westpac share price, this implies potential upside of almost 17% for investors.

Goldman has also lifted its dividends per share forecast for FY 2023 to 148 cents. This represents a fully franked 6.25% dividend yield at current levels.

What did Goldman say?

While Goldman wasn’t blown away by Westpac’s margin leverage in FY 2022 and notes that its cost base target has been increased, it remains very positive. This is largely due to the valuation of the Westpac share price and its margin outlook. It explained:

We remain Buy (on CL) rated on WBC given: i) while on the surface, the FY22 result suggested WBC’s NIM leverage was underwhelming relative to some peers, we think 2H22 was adversely impacted by late-in-the-half liquidity build, and management’s guidance on its FY23 NIM trajectory was better than we had previously anticipated, ii) despite WBC revising its FY24E cost target to A$8.6 bn (from A$8.0 bn), the bank’s performance on cost management remains strong in this inflationary environment with a 9% step down in costs expected over the next two years, and iii) the stock is trading at a 22% 12-month forward PER discount to peers (ex-dividend adjusted; historically has traded at a 2% discount), and our revised TP of A$27.60 offers 25% [now 23%] TSR.

The post Is the Westpac share price in the buy zone post-results? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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More reading

• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Tuesday
• Are ASX 200 bank shares a no-brainer buy in an inflationary environment?
• Why ANZ, Coronado Global, Eclipx, and Westpac shares are dropping
• Why is the Westpac share price dropping 4% today?
• Everything you need to know about the latest Westpac dividend

Motley Fool contributor James Mickleboro has positions in Westpac Banking Corporation. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Westpac Banking Corporation. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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Appen Ltd (ASX: APX) shares are up 2% in morning trade, having opened 2.5% higher.

This will come as welcome news to shareholders in the beleaguered artificial intelligence data services company.

Appen shares have come under heavy selling pressure this year alongside some of its biggest customers and revenue earners, like Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOGL) and Meta Platforms Inc (NASDAQ: META).

Or Google and Facebook, to you and me.

The Meta share price is down a whopping 71% this calendar year, while Alphabet’s shares have plunged 39%.

Little wonder then that the Appen share price has also been in freefall.

But there may be a light at the end of the tunnel for the ASX tech stock’s shareholders.

Why the picture could be getting brighter

With Appen’s share performance significantly impacted by the outlook for the big US tech stocks, Julian Emanuel, senior managing director at Evercore ISI, offers a fairly bullish forecast.

Emanuel said investors shouldn’t conflate this year’s tech woes with the dotcom-bubble burst in 2000, indicating the tech sector will rise again.

According to Emanuel (quoted by Bloomberg), “This is not like 2000. Over the last 10 years we have gotten to this point where the returns were driven by a handful of stocks.”

The handful of stocks in question include Meta and Alphabet, part of the so-called giant tech FAANG stocks. (Though with the Facebook and Google name changes, the proper acronym would now be MAANA, not quite as catchy.)

Emanuel said the FAANG (or MAANA) stocks are likely to trade in a tight range from here until “earnings catch up to valuations”.

“Long-term, those are still secular growers; they’re just not going to prop up the market to the extent that they have,” he said, in what could prove to be good news for Appen shares down the road.

How have Appen shares been tracking?

Appen shares are down a painful 77% in 2022. For some context, the All Ordinaries Index (ASX: XAO) is down 10% year to date.

The post Could this imply light at the end of the tunnel for Appen shares? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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More reading

• Better big tech stock: Apple vs. Alphabet
• Appen share price sinks to another multi-year low despite new recruits
• Leading fund manager names the 3 ASX stocks that drove its returns higher in October
• Why Meta Platforms stock (finally) gained ground Tuesday
• Does the Vanguard International Shares ETF contain ‘good’ quality companies?

Randi Zuckerberg, a former director of market development and spokeswoman for Facebook and sister to Meta Platforms CEO Mark Zuckerberg, is a member of The Motley Fool’s board of directors. Suzanne Frey, an executive at Alphabet, is a member of The Motley Fool’s board of directors. Motley Fool contributor Bernd Struben has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has positions in and has recommended Alphabet (A shares), Alphabet (C shares), Appen Ltd, and Meta Platforms, Inc. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Alphabet (A shares), Alphabet (C shares), and Meta Platforms, Inc. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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The Weebit Nano Ltd (ASX: WBT) share price is soaring on news the first silicon wafers integrating Weebit’s embedded Resistive Random-Access Memory (ReRAM) module have been delivered.

They were shipped from technology realisation partner SkyWater Technology (NASDAQ: SKYT)’s United States production fab.

Weebit Nano CEO Coby Hanoch said their arrival represents “a huge milestone towards commercialisation”.

The Weebit Nano share price is up 5.37% at the time of writing, trading at $3.14.

Let’s take a closer look at today’s news from the All Ordinaries Index (ASX: XAO) computer memory technology developer.

‘A huge milestone towards commercialisation’

The Weebit Nano share price is taking off today as the company takes a major step towards the commercialisation of its next-generation memory technology.

The manufacturing of Weebit ReRAM has been proven with standard tools and mature process flow.

The silicon wafers will now be sliced into chips and packaged before being tested and qualified.

The chips were manufactured in SkyWater’s 130nm CMOS process – already employed for billions of devices for automotive, industrial, and consumer applications.

They’ll be used in customer demonstrations, testing, and prototyping ahead of commercial orders and volume production. That will allow customers to begin designing system-on-chips using the modules.

Commenting on the news driving the Weebit Nano share price higher today, Hanoch said:

This increases the confidence of potential customers in our IP, pushing forward companies interested in engaging with us, and we’re seeing discussions with potential customers ramping up as we get closer to production.

The demo chips produced by SkyWater integrating Weebit’s ReRAM module are enabling these companies to see the true advantages our technology can provide.

SkyWater chief revenue officer Mark Litecky also commented:

We already see strong interest for the technology for applications including internet of things, power management, and mixed-signal integrated circuits.

Full qualification of the demo chips in SkyWater’s production fab is expected to be completed in the first half of 2023.

Weebit Nano share price snapshot

The Weebit Nano share price has been outperforming lately.

Today’s gains included, it’s 9% higher than it was at the start of 2022. Though, it has fallen around 2% since this time last year.

Meanwhile, the All Ordinaries Index has fallen 10% year to date and 8% over the last 12 months.

The post Weebit Nano share price leaps 5% on ‘huge milestone’ appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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More reading

• It’s not all bad news for ASX All Ords shares today. Here are some big winners
• 3 ASX tech shares totally crushing the All Ords following big announcements
• Why is the Weebit Nano share price whizzing 18% higher today?
• Why Aroa Biosurgery, Cettire, Estia Health, and Weebit Nano shares are rising
• It wasn’t all bad news for ASX All Ords shares on Monday. Here are some big winners

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 Scott Phillips.

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The Sims Ltd (ASX: SGM) share price is having a day to forget on Tuesday and is one of the worst performers on the ASX 200 index.

In morning trade, the scrap metal company’s shares are down over 11% to $11.33.

At one stage, the Sims share price was down as much as 14% to a 52-week low of $10.97.

Why is this ASX 200 share crashing?

Investors have been hitting the sell button in a panic after the company released a dismal trading update ahead of its annual general meeting.

According to the release, the tough trading environment that the company highlighted in August has persisted throughout the first quarter of FY 2023.

The update reveals that lower scrap volumes resulting from significantly reduced economic activity, coupled with increased competition for available infeed, has tightened trading margins in both percentage and dollar per tonne terms.

In light of this, the company expects its first half underlying earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) to be in the range of $65 million to $75 million. This is a significant decline on the underlying EBIT of $361.7 million that it reported during the first half of FY 2022.

Furthermore, management has warned that there are shipments scheduled to occur close to the half-year end. In accordance with its revenue recognition policies, this has the potential to impact whether EBIT is attributed to the first half or second half.

This earnings decline comes despite the company implementing cost mitigation initiatives during the first quarter. The company notes that these have only partially offset inflationary pressures and costs are therefore expected to remain elevated in the second quarter. Further cost reduction measures are targeted for the second half.

Management commentary

Sims CEO, Alistair Field, remains confident on the company’s medium term outlook. He commented:

We believe these are short-term headwinds driven by macro-economic factors which do not alter our belief in, and our focus on, the medium-term outlook for the business.”

Having delivered strong earnings in the previous three financial halves, successfully transitioned from a regional to a functional organisation, added new and innovative acquisitions, and built significant growth in SA Recycling’s footprint, provides a solid platform to work towards the 2025 business goals.

I have every confidence that the fundamentals for metal recycling remain positive for the medium-term, with the decarbonisation of steel making, growth of EAFs, and the energy transition expected to continue driving demand.

The post Here’s why this ASX 200 share is crashing 14% on Tuesday appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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More reading

• Here are the top 10 ASX 200 shares today

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 Scott Phillips.

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The Magellan Financial Group Ltd (ASX: MFG) share price sank deep into the red in early trade before recovering.

At the time of writing, the fund manager’s shares are flat at $9.63.

What’s going on with the Magellan share price?

Investors were hitting the sell button again at the open after Magellan announced that its co-founder, Hamish Douglass, had made a major share sale.

According to the release, Douglass informed Magellan that an entity associated with his family has sold approximately 13 million ordinary shares.

This was undertaken yesterday evening via an after-market block trade at a price of $9.10 per share. This represents a 5.5% decline to the Magellan share price at yesterday’s close and values the parcel of shares at approximately $118.3 million.

The release also highlights that the Douglass family entity has entered into an undertaking with a Barrenjoey Group entity that undertook the block trade, not to sell any additional shares in Magellan for 12 months.

Based on recent disclosures, this sale will have taken Douglass’ holding from 21.45 million shares to approximately 8.45 million shares.

Why did Douglass sell $118 million worth of shares?

The release notes that Douglass has further advised that the reason for the share sale was for family diversification purposes. He explained:

I have full confidence in the Magellan investment team including the global equities team led by Nikki and Arvid. Consistent with my confidence in the team I have not sold any of our investments in any Magellan funds.

It’s a shame he didn’t sell those shares earlier. At the start of 2022, the Magellan share price was fetching $19.00. This means that those 13 million shares would have had a market value of almost $250 million at that point.

The post Magellan share price flat after Douglass sells $118m of shares appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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• Why A2 Milk, Bravura, Magellan, and Pendal shares are dropping
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• Magellan share price hits multi-year low following $2.4b horror month for outflows
• Could something big be going down at Magellan?
• How to find wealth compounders inside the ASX 200 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 Scott Phillips.

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Insider buying is generally considered an indication that those working behind the scenes at a company believe in its future growth. Conversely, insider selling – such as that that took place at one S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) tech share last week ­– is often seen as a warning.

Though, there’s been no hint as to why WiseTech Global Ltd (ASX: WTC) founder, CEO, and executive director Richard White has been selling down his holding of the ASX 200 company’s shares.

The insider offloaded a near $6.5 million parcel on-market last week. That was just the latest in a string of sales.

Let’s take a closer look at the latest insider selling going down at WiseTech.

This ASX 200 insider is on a multi-year selling streak

The boss of ASX 200 tech share WiseTech continued selling his holding of the company’s register last week, offloading 111,994 shares between 28 October and 3 November.

The insider sold the stake on-market, garnering an average price of $57.67 per share – a total of $6.46 million.

That sees White, through his company RealWise Holdings, with a total of 121.9 million shares in the tech giant – around 37.3% of its register.

The WiseTech boss also sold a 113,796-strong parcel of the company’s stock between 21 October and 27 October for another $6.45 million.

He has been chipping away at his holding since June 2020. Then, White sold around 2.4 million shares, leaving him with a 46.9% stake. He commented at the time:

Since WiseTech’s listing on the ASX in 2016, I have released shares only once previously, in December 2017, to facilitate liquidity when WiseTech entered the ASX 200.

I remain a proud, long-term shareholder … and, as founder and CEO, deeply committed to WiseTech and its long-term growth strategy.

I reiterate that I intend to remain a substantial shareholder for the very long-term and remain, as ever, firmly committed to WiseTech.

Over the years since, White has sold shares in the ASX 200 tech favourite for as little as $18.40 and as much as $59.54. The WiseTech share price is currently $55.40.

The post Guess which ASX 200 director sold $6.5m worth of their company shares last week appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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• Why I think Warren Buffett is right to always think a market crash is coming
• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Tuesday
• Here are the top 10 ASX 200 shares today 
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Motley Fool contributor Brooke Cooper has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has positions in and has recommended WiseTech Global. The Motley Fool Australia has positions in and has recommended WiseTech Global. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd (ASX: ANZ) wants to acquire the banking division of Suncorp Group Ltd (ASX: SUN).

The leadership of Suncorp may have already agreed to the deal. However, there are other hurdles that ANZ has to pass before the deal is complete.

For starters, ANZ needs to convince the governments involved that it wouldn’t be a negative thing for the two businesses to merge.

Government asks Suncorp and ANZ questions

According to reporting by the Australian Financial Review, the Queensland government wants ANZ to explain how Suncorp’s banking division would be allowed to run independently for several years before it allows the deal.

ANZ will also need federal and Treasurer clearance as well.

Queensland’s laws, which reportedly date back to Suncorp’s formation in 1996 as a combined insurance and banking business, requires the Suncorp managing director to reside in the state and that the company’s headquarters must be based there.

After an information request, the AFR learned that in a letter to Queensland Treasurer Cameron Dick, Suncorp CEO Steve Johnston and Chair Christine McLoughlin said they welcomed the opportunity to discuss the deal, maintained the sale was in the best interests of Queensland and the national interest, and committed that the Suncorp Group head office will remain in Queensland.

The newspaper also reported that notes from Dick regarding a meeting with ANZ leadership show the Treasurer was “not opposed to the transaction however the transaction must deliver an outcome in the best interests of Queensland” and that there were merger documents that have additional requirements including “branch presence in specific towns and certain rural lending requirements”.

The Queensland Treasury has asked a number of different questions regarding whether Suncorp’s bank will have a separate CEO and governance structure, and what sorts of decisions Suncorp Bank will be able to make independently.

Questions were also asked about the end of the transition period regarding customers, the bank licence, and branding.

Concerns about branch numbers

While ANZ has committed that it won’t close any Suncorp branches within the first three years, nor will there be net job losses, there is speculation that ANZ could decide to close ANZ branches sooner than expected.

The AFR quoted Finance Sector Union Queensland secretary Wendy Streets, who said:

There are currently around 40 suburbs [or] towns where there are both Suncorp and ANZ branches and we believe these ANZ’s will be targeted to close during the three-year moratorium.

At the conclusion of the three-year commitment, it is our view that the savings will come from back office synergies between the two which ultimately will mean a significant amount of Queensland job losses as the work transfers to ANZ Melbourne departments.

The FSU wants caveats on the sales about job security from both ANZ and Suncorp.

Benefits of the deal for ANZ shares

ANZ said that as the smallest major bank, it thinks a stronger ANZ will be able to compete more effectively in Queensland, offering better outcomes for customers.

The purchase price is $4.9 billion, representing 9.3x earnings post-acquisition, full run-rate synergies.

It’s expected to add low single digits to ANZ’s earnings per share (EPS) on a pro forma FY23 basis, including the full synergies.

Annual ‘cost synergies’ are expected at around $260 million before tax.

The post Are storm clouds gathering over ANZ’s Suncorp bid? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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Motley Fool contributor Tristan Harrison has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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