The Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd (ASX: ANZ) share price underperformed the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) last financial year.

The ANZ share price closed financial year 2022 (FY22) trading at $22.03. That marked a 21.7% fall over the 12 months prior. In comparison, the ASX 200 slipped around 10% over FY22.

So, what dragged on the ASX 200 banking giant last financial year? Let’s take a look.

What weighed on the ANZ share price in FY22?

The ANZ share price suffered amid rising inflation and interest rates in FY22. But it wasn’t all dire for the big four bank.

The good

ANZ announced plenty of exciting news last financial year.

First up, was a $1.5 billion on-market buyback announced as part of its capital management plan. The bank announced the buyback in July and completed the activity in March.

It also stepped into the buy now, pay later (BNPL) space with a new offering available to its credit card customers courtesy of a partnership with Visa.

Finally, the bank underwent a $1 billion capital raise through a capital notes offering in February.

The bad

But, perhaps unsurprisingly, FY22 wasn’t all sunshine for ANZ.

The bank was hit with legal action by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) in May.

The watchdog alleged system errors at the bank saw customers’ bank balances misrepresented. The bank also purportedly charged fees based on the incorrect balances.

Additionally, broader macroeconomic events seemingly weighed on the institution.

The ANZ share price plunged 19.3% over May and June as the Reserve Bank of Australia implemented consecutive rate hikes in an effort to control inflation.

Rising rates generally allow banks the reprice loans, thereby increasing their net interest margins. But it also ups the risk of foreclosures and can weigh on house prices, both of which spell bad news for banks’ home loan books.

And the earnings

Finally, the ANZ share price lifted on the back of the bank’s most recent full and half year results.

ANZ dropped its results for FY21 in October 2021. It posted a 72% increase in statutory after-tax profit and a 65% increase in cash earnings.

Then, in May, the bank released its earnings for the first half of FY22, posting yet another strong result. Its statutory after-tax profits rose 10% over the six months ended 31 March on those of the prior comparable period. It also boasted a 4% increase in cash earnings.

On top of that, ANZ offered shareholders $1.44 in fully franked dividends last financial year – representing a 27% increase on those of FY21.

The post Why did the ANZ share price plunge 22% in FY22? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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More reading

• Here are 2 ASX 200 dividend shares analysts rate as buys
• What’s the outlook for ASX 200 dividend shares in FY23?
• Could rising rates hurt ASX 200 bank shares in the longer run?
• ASX 200 midday update: Chalice Mining jumps, Zip sinks on bearish broker note
• Bendigo Bank shares rise after going long on leverage with ANZ lending acquisition

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 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 Scott Phillips.

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There were mixed fortunes for ASX cannabis shares in FY22. Among the bunch there were winners and losers, all while investors navigated broad-market volatility.

However, the sector wasn’t immune to selling pressure. Like most pockets of the market, cannabis stocks, on the whole, finished down last financial year despite the industry’s achievements.

Let’s take a look at three selected shares from the bunch to see how they went in FY22.

Emyria Ltd (ASX: EMD)

Shares of Emyria finished FY22 around 5% higher.

The share raced to its 52-week high of 49.5 cents in November 2021, only to gyrate downwards for the remainder of the year.

Back in February, Eymyria announced it had broadened its MDMA analogue library. This was in collaboration with the University of Western Australia.

Then in May, it provided an update on this partnership, noting the pair had agreed to “substantially expand their collaboration” to develop novel MDMA-like medicines.

“To date, 85 compounds have been successfully screened with several compounds being prepared for preclinical testing to determine their therapeutic potential,” Emyria said.

This year to date, the Emyria share price is down around 43%.

Incannex Healthcare Ltd (ASX: IHL)

At the other end of the spectrum is Incannex Healthcare, which lost 16% in FY22. The share rallied from lows of 24 cents in August 2021 and surged to highs of 70 cents by January.

From there, it was a series of peaks and troughs with the ASX cannabis share trading as low as 42 cents and as high as 73 cents and everywhere in between from January to April.

After a rollercoaster of volatility, investors finally unloaded their positions en masse in April and the trend continued until the financial year’s end.

Around the time of its rapid decline, news the company executed a term sheet to acquire APIRx Pharmaceutical USA, LLC was received poorly by investors.

Alas, the downtrend has continued and Incannex hit its 52-week lows last week at 21 cents. It now trades at 24.5 cents apiece.

Cronos Australia Ltd (ASX: CAU)

Another ASX cannabis share worth mentioning is Cronos. Out of the three names mentioned here, it was the top performer, and managed to secure a 127% gain in FY22.

It has since slipped from those levels and trades at 20 cents apiece, having dipped 20% this week. Zooming out, however, the share has continued its upward trajectory over the past year or so.

Investors rewarded Cronos throughout the year after it provided a series of positive updates including a solid first half of FY22.

It realised cash flow from operations of $9 million for the half, after producing around $28 million in cash receipts for the six months.

Perhaps the larger news however was the merger with CDA Health Pty Ltd.

That was in December 2021 and made CDA the owner of Cronos. CDA is an importer, exporter and wholesaler of cannabis products in Australia. It’s been around since 2017.

Investors must have seen the upside in the transaction, judging from the share’s performance on the chart in FY22.

The post How did ASX cannabis shares perform in FY22? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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More reading

• Here’s how ASX 200 healthcare shares performed in June
• 5 worst ASX All Ordinaries shares in June

Motley Fool contributor Zach Bristow 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 had a tough time in June.

During the month, the banking giant’s shares lost 18% of their value.

Investors were selling down the Westpac share price last month in response to market volatility and the Reserve Bank’s cash rate hike.

Will July be better for the Westpac share price?

The good news is that July has started well for the Westpac share price. Since the start of the month, Australia’s oldest bank has seen its shares rise 2.3%.

But that could be just the beginning of greater gains if the team at Morgan Stanley are on the money with their recommendation.

Last week the broker retained its overweight rating and $22.30 price target on the bank’s shares. Based on where its shares are trading currently, this suggests that there’s potential upside of 12% for investors.

In addition, Morgan Stanley is expecting a $1.25 per share fully franked dividend in FY 2022. This represents a 6.25% dividend yield at current prices.

Is anyone else bullish?

Elsewhere, analysts at Citi still have a buy rating and lofty $29.00 price target on the company’s shares.

While that price target might prove a touch ambitious given the potential threat of a recession, if the Westpac share price were to reach that level it would mean a staggering return of approximately 45% for investors.

Even Goldman Sachs, which has a neutral rating, sees plenty of upside in the company’s shares with its $27.29 price target.

All in all, it does appear that all is not lost for Westpac’s shares after last month’s disappointment. This could make it a bank share to consider in July.

The post Where’s the Westpac share price heading in July? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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More reading

• What’s the outlook for ASX 200 dividend shares in FY23?
• Could rising rates hurt ASX 200 bank shares in the longer run?
• Here’s a look at the Westpac share price’s dismal 2022 financial year
• What’s going on with ASX 200 bank shares on Tuesday?
• How did the Vanguard Australian Shares Index ETF perform in June?

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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If you’ve been considering investing in the travel sector, then I have good news for you. The team at Morgans believes that now could be the time to pounce after the recent derating of ASX travel shares.

What did the broker say about travel shares?

While Morgans acknowledges that the travel market recovery is taking longer than expected and has reduced its earnings estimates to reflect this, it believes a lot of value has emerged and investors should act before a potential rerating happens.

The broker commented:

Despite travel demand recovering strongly, in recent months the travel sector globally has derated due to concerns about a weak macro outlook. We think share price weakness represents a buying opportunity and see the quarterly reporting season in the US and Europe during July and then the Australian reporting season in August as a catalyst for a rerating.

Which shares is the broker recommending?

Morgans’ number one pick in the sector at the moment is Corporate Travel Management Ltd (ASX: CTD). It has an add rating and $25.85 price target on the corporate travel specialist’s shares. This compares to the latest Corporate Travel Management share price of $19.67.

In second place is online travel agent Webjet Limited (ASX: WEB). It has an add rating and $6.55 price target on its shares. This compares to the current Webjet share price of $5.50.

Another ASX travel share that the broker is positive on is Helloworld Travel Ltd (ASX: HLO). It has an add rating and $2.72 price target on its shares. This is notably higher than the current Helloworld share price of $1.67.

But what about Flight Centre Travel Group Ltd (ASX: FLT)? Unfortunately, the broker only has a neutral rating and $19.60 price target on its shares. It is expecting Flight Centre’s earnings to come in below consensus estimates in FY 2023 due to “limited ANZ international airline capacity, China’s strict travel restrictions and the need to rehire and train staff.”

The post Top broker names the ASX travel shares to buy before it’s too late appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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More reading

• Brokers name 3 ASX shares to buy today
• Flight Centre share price fails to lift-off amid recovering aircraft engine demand
• Flight Centre completes turbulent journey in FY22
• The Corporate Travel share price hit major turbulence in June
• Why did the Webjet share price fall 11% in June?

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 positions in and has recommended Helloworld Limited. The Motley Fool Australia has positions in and has recommended Helloworld Limited. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Corporate Travel Management Limited, Flight Centre Travel Group Limited, and Webjet Ltd. 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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Looking for dividends shares to buy for your income portfolio? Then take a look at the two listed below which are rated as buys.

Here’s what you need to know about them:

Dicker Data Ltd (ASX: DDR)

The first ASX dividend share to look at is Dicker Data. It is a leading technology hardware, software, and cloud distributor.

Dicker Data has been a real star of the Australian share market over the last decade, delivering solid earnings and dividend growth on a consistent basis whatever happens in the economy. This has been the case again in FY 2022, with the company reporting a 50.5% increase in revenue to $673.6 million and a 22.7% lift in profit before tax to $23.8 million during the first quarter.

The team at Morgan Stanley expect this positive form to continue. As such, the broker has retained its overweight rating and $16.00 price target on the company’s shares.

In addition, the broker is forecasting fully franked dividends per share of 41.4 cents in FY 2022 and 48.5 cents in FY 2023. Based on the current Dicker Data share price of $11.95, this will mean yields of 3.5% and 4.1%, respectively.

Telstra Corporation Ltd (ASX: TLS)

Another ASX dividend share that has been rated as a buy is telco giant Telstra.

It has started to gain favour in the broker community this year after returning to underlying growth following years of earnings declines. And while it may be too soon to start thinking about dividend increases, the market appears confident that the cuts are long gone.

This is thanks to the success of its T22 strategy, optimism over its impending T25 strategy, its leadership position in 5G, and rational competition in the mobile market.

Morgans is very positive on Telstra and has an add rating and $4.56 price target on its shares.

As for dividends, it is forecasting 16 cents per share dividends through to FY 2023. Based on the current Telstra share price of $3.86, this will mean a 4.15% yield.

The post Here’s why brokers rate these ASX dividend shares as buys appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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• Telstra share price in the red despite taking out green crown
• What’s the outlook for ASX 200 dividend shares in FY23?
• Why did the Telstra share price beat the market in FY22?
• Telstra share price rises as Optus folds to inflation
• 2 ASX dividend shares that analysts are tipping as buys in July

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 positions in and has recommended Dicker Data Limited. The Motley Fool Australia has positions in and has recommended Dicker Data Limited. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Treasury Wine Estates Limited. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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The Mineral Resources Limited (ASX: MIN) share price endured some serious volatility in the 2022 financial year.

Shares in the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) mining services company and resource producer dipped as low as $37.05 on 10 November, only to rocket to new all-time highs of $65.97 by 20 January.

As for the full 12-month period, the Mineral Resource share price ended FY21 at $53.73 and finished the last financial year at $48.27, down 10.2%. That compares to a 9% loss posted by the ASX 200.

Here’s what happened…

Iron ore and lithium

Mineral Resources is highly exposed to the prices of, and sentiment surrounding, iron ore and lithium.

The company’s Wodgina Project, located in Western Australia, is among the largest hard rock lithium deposits in the world, with a production life of more than 30 years. There’s also the Mt Marion Lithium Project along with producing iron ore mines, including its 50% interest in WA’s Marillana and Ophthalmia iron ore projects.

In its half-year report, released in February, the miner reported it exported 9.9 million wet metric tonnes (wmt) of iron ore and 207,000 dry metric tonnes (dmt) of spodumene over the six-month reporting period.

The half-year report also showed the Mineral Resources share price had come under pressure from plummeting iron ore prices. The industrial metal traded above US$219 per tonne in July then tumbled to US$92 by November. (Iron ore is currently trading for US$115 per tonne.)

Mineral Resources reported a 12% year-on-year decline in revenue, to $1.4 billion, and did not pay an interim dividend.

To give you some further idea of the big price swings impacting the ASX 200 resource producer, on 31 May, 11 months into the FY22 financial year, shares closed at $63.85, up 19%.

Then June rolled around.

The last month of FY22 not only saw another big dip in iron ore prices, it also saw investor sentiment turn skittish around ASX lithium shares. That came after analysts, including those at Goldman Sachs, reported that an overabundance of investment was likely to lead to an oversupply of the battery metal in the medium term.

Most lithium shares fell hard in June, though they’ve been rebounding strongly so far in FY23.

Mineral Resources share price snapshot

After hitting all-time highs in January, 2022 has been tough for the Mineral Resources share price, down 19% since the opening bell on 4 January. By comparison, the ASX 200 is down 12% year-to-date.

Longer-term, shares are up 293% over the past five years.

The post Why did the Mineral Resources share price fall 10% in the 2022 financial year? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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More reading

• The Mineral Resources share price is leaping higher again today. Here’s why
• Here are the top 10 ASX shares today
• Is now the time to be buying beaten down ASX 200 mining shares?
• These ASX 200 mining shares are bouncing back on Thursday
• Here’s what led the Mineral Resources share price to sink 25% in June?

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 Goldman Sachs. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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Kermit once sang that it’s not easy being green.

If you hold shares in artificial intelligence service provider Appen Ltd (ASX: APX) you may well similarly cry it’s not easy being an investor.

That’s because the once darling tech share plummeted from $13.65 to $5.61 over the 2022 financial year.

That’s a 59% drop in valuation. 

Appen shares sank 13% just in the last month alone.

Yikes.

It was the continuation of a cliff the stock fell from its August 2020 peak, when it hit $43.66.

Those days must seem like another lifetime ago for its shareholders.

The longest day in Appen shareholders’ lives

There was a glimmer of hope on a memorable day in May though.

On the morning of 26 May, Appen management disclosed to the market that it was in discussions with Canadian giant Telus International Cda Inc (TSE: TIXT) about a takeover.

There was much excitement as the acquisition proposal was for $9.50 per share, which was a 46% premium on the price at the time.

The share price shot up 35% within minutes of the market opening.

On that same eventful day, the company released a trading update.

“That update reveals that Appen’s year-to-date revenue was lower than it was at this time last year at the end of April,” reported The Motley Fool at the time.

“In light of this, the company expects its first-half earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) to be ‘materially lower than the prior corresponding period’.”

Apparently, Telus also saw that not-so-flattering projection. Because hours later the company completely withdrew its acquisition proposal and all ongoing due diligence around it.

It was a remarkable nine hours for Appen and its shareholders.

What would the experts do with Appen shares?

Datt Capital principal Emanuel Datt told The Motley Fool that he would stay away from Appen shares now on the assumption that there are no other buyers sniffing around.

“We just get the sense that there’s been a lot more competition in the particular sector,” he said last month.

“It raises questions for us because, ultimately, if revenues have fallen, that increases the probability of potentially writing down assets and making a big after-tax loss, which the market will definitely not like.”

Even if there is acquisition interest from other parties, Tribeca Investment Partners portfolio manager Jun Bei Liu warned investors to not get sucked in by that prospect.

“It’s just hard to invest something for M&A to come through,” she told The Motley Fool last month.

“This company is very difficult to hold because the earnings keep disappointing — whether it’s really caused by the COVID disruption or whether it’s just large tech companies are really cutting back on some of the spends.”

The post Tech tumble: How this ASX share plunged 59% last financial year appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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• Why did the Appen share price sink 13% in June?
• What on earth happened to ASX 200 tech shares in June?
• Bargains or value traps? Expert rates 3 ASX shares that halved this year
• Why are ASX tech shares struggling today?
• Why Appen, BWX, Imugene, and Wesfarmers shares are dropping

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 positions in and has recommended Appen Ltd. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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ASX buy now, pay later (BNPL) shares were hit hard over the course of financial year 2022 (FY22), with some tumbling as much as 97%.

Here’s how the market’s favourite BNPL stocks performed last financial year:

• Zip Co Ltd (ASX: ZIP) – fell 94% to 44 cents
• Block Inc (ASX: SQ2) – fell 48.76% to $90.50
• Humm Group Ltd (ASX: HUM) – fell 58.5% to 41 cents
• Sezzle Inc (ASX: SZL) – fell 97% to 26 cents
• Splitit Ltd (ASX: SPT) – fell 75% to 13 cents

For context, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) slipped around 10% in that period.

So, what exactly sent ASX BNPL shares tumbling in FY22? Let’s take a look.

What went wrong for ASX BNPL shares in FY22?

Afterpay waves goodbye

Former ASX market darling and BNPL giant Afterpay was wiped from the books in FY22 after it was snapped up by Block. The deal – once worth $39 billion – saw Afterpay shareholders offered 0.375 Block shares for each stock owned.

Afterpay left the ASX in early February after Block’s CHESS Depository Interests (CDIs) hit the market in January.

What else went on with BNPL shares?

There was plenty more major news impacting ASX BNPL players in FY22.

Zip posed a takeover offer for fellow BNPL stock, Sezzle in February. Under the deal, shareholders would receive 0.98 Zip stocks for each Sezzle share owned.

And, of course, an abundance of new competition broke out onto the scene.

Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA) launched its StepPay offering early in the peace. National Australia Bank Ltd (ASX: NAB) revealed a similar product in May.

But it wasn’t just ASX 200 banking giants encroaching on the space. Word that tech giant Apple may soon launch its Apple Pay Later offering hit headlines in June while PayPal scrapped late fees from its BNPL service last year.

ASX turns on BNPL shares

Though, the major driver for ASX BNPL shares’ downturn appears to be a huge shift in investor sentiment.

FY22 saw Australia’s inflation spike to 5.1%, after which the Reserve Bank of Australia implemented a series of rate hikes.

That went hand in hand with a turnaround in the tech sector. Many tech stocks derive their valuations from assumed future profitability. Thus, they can represent greater risks in inflationary environments.

At least ASX BNPL shares weren’t alone in the red. The S&P/ASX 200 Information Technology Index (ASX: XIJ) and the S&P/ASX All Technology Index (ASX: XTX) have fallen more than 30% over the last 12 months.

The post Why did some ASX BNPL shares plummet more than 90% in FY22? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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More reading

• Guess which 2 ASX shares were the best and worst All Ordinaries performers of FY22
• Here are the 3 most heavily traded ASX 200 shares on Thursday
• Why Block, Bubs, Infomedia, and Zip shares are dropping
• Zip share price cops 6% slashing as analyst fears grow
• ASX 200 midday update: Chalice Mining jumps, Zip sinks on bearish broker note

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 Apple, Block, Inc., PayPal Holdings, and ZIPCOLTD FPO. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has recommended the following options: long March 2023 $120 calls on Apple and short March 2023 $130 calls on Apple. The Motley Fool Australia has positions in and has recommended Block, Inc. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Apple, Humm Group Limited, and PayPal Holdings. 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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FY 2022, the financial year that drew to a close last month, gave ASX investors a very hard time. Between 1 July 2021 and 30 June 2022, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) lost 10.19%, which set a hard act for most ASX exchange-traded funds (ETFs) to follow.

Most ASX-based index funds would have given investors a similar return to the index. But let’s take a look at some of the funds that beat out the ASX 200.

Here are the five best-performing funds of FY 2022.

The 5 best-performing ASX ETFs last financial year

BetaShares Global Agriculture Companies ETF (ASX: FOOD)

Our first fund to take a look at today tells us most of what we need to know in its title. FOOD is an agricultural-based ETF that tracks a basket of food-producing companies from around the world. Some of its holdings include tractor maker Deere & Co, Archer-Daniels-Midland Co and Tyson Foods Inc. FOOD units gave investors a 3.5% return over FY 2022, which looks pretty good against the ASX 200.

VanEck Australian Resources ETF (ASX: MVR)

This fund from VanEck holds ASX shares, but only those in the resources sector. ASX investors will recognise most of the big names in this fund, which include Woodside Energy Group Ltd (ASX: WDS), BHP Group Ltd (ASS: BHP) and Rio Tinto Limited (ASX: RIO). MVR units managed to give an overall return of 5% over FY 2022 for investors.

ETFS S&P 500 High Yield Low Volatility ETF (ASX: ZYUS)

This ETF from ETFS is an income-focused fund that tracks a select group of American companies, picked to minimise volatility and maximise income. You might know some of its current holdings like Kraft Heinz, Chevron, IBM and Philip Morris International. ZYUS managed to give its investors a 12.7% return over FY 2022.

BetaShares Global Energy Companies ETF (ASX: FUEL)

This fund from BetaShares is similar to FOOD, except it holds a basket of global energy shares rather than agricultural ones. Once again, we see Chevron here, as well as other oil giants like Exxon Mobil, Royal Dutch Shell and BP.

Rising energy prices have been kind to these companies in the past six months, so it’s perhaps no surprise that FUEL units managed to provide a return of 27.9% over FY 2022.

BetaShares Crude Oil Index ETF (ASX: OOO)

Our final and best-performing ASX ETF of FY 2022 is another fund from BetaShares. And another energy-focused one at that. OOO is nothing like FUEL though. Instead of tracking energy companies, OOO only invests in West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil futures contracts, and holds no actual shares within it.

But this has proven to be a winner over the last financial year, with OOO units giving investors a pleasing return of 60.3% over that time. Black gold indeed,

The post Here are the best-performing ASX ETFs of FY 2022 appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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Motley Fool contributor Sebastian Bowen has positions in Chevron, IBM, Kraft Heinz, and Philip Morris International. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has positions in and has recommended BetaShares Global Energy Companies ETF – Currency Hedged. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has recommended Kraft Heinz and Philip Morris International. 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 2022 financial year can essentially be broken down into two distinct periods for cryptos.

The first period ran for some five months, from July through to November.

The second period took over in December and ran straight through to 30 June.

The biggest differentiator between the two halves was the outlook for interest rates.

Heading into November, central banks were signalling investors could expect historically low rates well into 2024 to support the global economic recovery from the pandemic. But the pace of that recovery surprised to the upside, and along with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, inflation numbers rapidly exceeded central banks’ target ranges.

You know what happened next.

Interest rates across much of the world began to rise sharply, with more rate hikes flagged in future months.

This knocked the stuffing out of most cryptos and most other risk assets. Indeed, the tech-heavy NASDAQ lost 31% from mid-November through to the end of FY22. And Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) tumbled 55% over the full 12 months.

Hence, we end the financial year with only 14 tokens significantly in the green.

With that said, these were the five best cryptos to have bought and held during the course of the financial year.

(Note, the best performers don’t include tiny altcoins. We focused solely on the list of top 100 tokens by market cap.)

FY22’s fourth and fifth best performing digital tokens

The fifth best crypto to have held in FY22 is UNUS SED LEO (CRYPTO: LEO)

Launched in May 2019, Leo kicked off the financial year trading for US$2.43. By the time we turned the calendar over to July, it was worth US$5.91, up 143% over the 12 months.

If you’re unfamiliar with Leo, CoinMarketCap tells us it’s “a utility token that’s used across the iFinex ecosystem… The cryptocurrency allows Bitfinex users to save money on trading fees. The extent of the discount depends on how much LEO that the customer has in their account.”

Leo hit all-time highs of $8.04 on 8 February, well after most cryptos peaked in November.

At the time of writing, Leo is trading for US$5.74. That gives it a market cap of US$5.5 billion and places the crypto at number 17 in terms of size.

Moving on to the fourth best crypto performer of FY22 we have Axie Infinity (CRYPTO: AXS).

Created in 2019, Axie was worth US$5.39 on 1 July 2021 and traded for US$13.34 on 30 June 2022, a gain of 148%.

Readers with some gaming experience may already be familiar with the crypto, as Axie is a “trading and battling game that is partially owned and operated by its players… [allowing] players to collect, breed, raise, battle and trade token-based creatures known as Axies”.

Like many leading cryptos, Axie hit record highs in November, peaking at US$165 on 6 November.

Axie is currently trading for $15.34, making it the number 43 crypto with a total market valuation of US$1.4 billion.

These were the second and third best performing altcoins

The third top crypto performer for FY22 is Kadena (CRYPTO: KDA).

Founded in 2016, Kadena was worth 38.7 US cents at the commencement of FY22 and ended the 12 months trading for US$1.52 cents, up 292%.

The total supply of the crypto is limited to one billion tokens.

According to CoinMarketCap, “Kadena is a proof-of-work blockchain that combines the proof-of-work consensus mechanism from Bitcoin with directed acyclic graph (DAG) principles to offer a scalable version of Bitcoin.”

Kadena also hit its record high on 11 November, trading for US$28.25.

At the current price of $1.65, its market cap stands at US$305 million, barely sneaking onto our list as the number 98 token in virtual circulation.

Coming in as the second best crypto to have bought and held during FY22 we have The Sandbox (CRYPTO: SAND), another gaming based token.

Launched in 2011, Sand uses blockchain technology to provide a virtual world that enables users to “create, build, buy and sell digital assets in the form of a game”.

Sand was trading for 24.7 US cents on 1 July 2021 and was worth 97.5 US cents on 30 June, a 12-month gain of 295%.

Any guesses when Sand hit record highs?

Yep, on 25 November the token peaked at $8.44.

At the current price of $1.28, The Sandbox has a market cap of US$1.6 billion, coming in as the 34^th biggest crypto in virtual circulation.

Which brings us to…

The best performing crypto of the 2022 financial year

And the top crypto to have held in FY22 – drum roll please – is Gala (CRYPTO: GALA).

Like two of the other top FY22 crypto performers, Gala also functions in the gaming world. According to CoinMarketCap, “Players can own non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and influence the governance of games within the Gala Games ecosystem.”

Gala started FY22 trading for 0.87 US cents and closed the financial year worth 5.2 US cents for a gain of 498%.

Gala hit record highs of 83.6 US cents on, that’s right, 26 November.

At the current price of 5.7 cents, Gala comes in at number 84 on the top crypto list, with a market cap of US$396 million.

The post The top 5 performing cryptos to hold in the 2022 financial year unmasked appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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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 Bitcoin and Gala. 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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