The CSL Limited (ASX: CSL) share price is backtracking 1.24% to $292.73 today following the release of the company’s full-year results.

The biotherapeutics company reported a mixed performance due to a “difficult global environment.”

Nonetheless, the result was in line with expectations, achieving the top end of its guidance.

Here’s a look at the CSL’s latest dividend that was announced to the market.

CSL maintains full-year dividend

After delivering a net profit after tax (NPAT) of $2,255 million in FY22, the CSL board declared a final dividend of US$1.18 per share.

When converted to the Australian currency, this reflects an approximate dividend of $1.68 per share, franked at 10%.

Moreover, despite CSL maintaining its full-year dividend of US$2.22 apiece, this is 6% higher due to favourable currency movements.

The full-year dividend is equivalent to 46.2% of the group’s basic earnings per share (EPS) of US$4.81.

You still have time to scoop up the latest dividend as the ex-dividend date falls on 6 September.

CSL will pay the distribution of its profits to eligible shareholders on 5 October.

What about the FY23 dividend?

While CSL didn’t give any guidance on its dividend for FY23, we take a look at what Goldman Sachs had to say.

The broker released its key takeaways on the back of CSL’s FY22 results.

It said “NPAT is guided to $2.4bn-2.5bn, excluding Vifor (constant currency terms). Consensus expectations are heavily distorted by the impact of Vifor in our view, but our best guess at ‘organic CSL’ consensus is $2.575bn.”

Upside risks included: More supportive pricing dynamic than we already expect, positive results from pipeline/pre-commercialisation products, and plasma donor fee deflation.

However, downside risks involved: Competitive product launches, challenges associated with unemployment/payer mix, and sustained challenges due to COVID-19.

Goldman Sachs has a neutral rating on CSL with a 12-month target price of $307 per share.

CSL share price snapshot

Over the last 12 months, the CSL share price experienced volatility on the back of an uncertain global economic outlook.

After touching a 52-week low of $240.10 on 15 February, its shares hit resistance at around the $270 mark.

Since then, that barrier has been breached with CSL shares trading around 4% under the psychological $300 level.

Based on today’s price, CSL commands a market capitalisation of $141 billion and has a trailing dividend yield of 1.03%.

The post Everything you need to know about the latest CSL dividend appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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More reading

• An ASX 200 market darling in the past, but don’t expect fireworks from the CSL share price going forward
• CSL share price drops despite expectations of growth in FY23
• CSL share price on watch following FY22 results
• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Wednesday
• Looking to buy CSL shares? Here’s what to watch when the biotech company reports this week

Motley Fool contributor Aaron Teboneras has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has positions in and has recommended CSL 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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The Fletcher Building Limited (ASX: FBU) share price is well into the green after the company revealed a 42% lift in profit in its FY22 full-year results.

The Fletcher Building share price opened today’s session at $5.14, up 4.26% on yesterday’s close of $4.93.

Shares in the ASX-listed New Zealand company are currently swapping hands for $5.11, up 3.65% for the day so far.

Let’s take a look at the numbers.

Fletcher Building share price up on positive FY22 report

Fletcher Building said it achieved its forecasts for FY22. Here are the key metrics:

• Revenue NZ$8,498 million, up 5% from the prior corresponding period (pcp)
• Net profit after tax (NPAT) of NZ$432 million, up 42% from pcp
• EBIT before significant items of NZ$756 million, up 13% from pcp
• Return on Funds Employed (ROFE) before significant items of 19.3%, compared to 18.8% pcp
• Cash flows from operations of NZ$592 million, compared to NZ$879 million pcp
• Fully imputed final dividend of 22 NZ cents per share to be paid on 6 October. ASX shareholders will receive a dividend of 25.882353 NZ cents.

Fletcher Building says it has a strong balance sheet with “solid cash flows partly offset by some inventory rebuild and housing investment”.

The profit increase will result in a 33% bump in total annual dividends to 40 cents per share.

What else happened in FY22?

Over the year, Fletcher Building also completed an NZ$274 million share buyback program.

The buyback was announced on 26 May 2021.

What did management say?

Fletcher Building CEO Ross Taylor said:

Fletcher Building delivered strong results in FY22 across all key metrics. Our performance highlighted our ability to deal with a dynamic operating environment, while remaining focused on delivering long term, sustainable growth.

Our balance sheet remains robust with $1.1 billion liquidity and net debt of $670 million at year end. This positions us well as we move into the new financial year and continue to invest in the growth of the business.

What’s next?

Fletcher Building said it was “well positioned to deliver strong growth in FY23 at present market levels”.

It is targeting a more than $100 million improvement on its FY22 EBIT in the next financial year.

Fletcher Building share price snapshot

The Fletcher Building share price is down 27% over the year to date.

This compares to a 6% dip in the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO).

The post Fletcher Building share price lifts on 40% profit boost appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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More reading

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• Redbubble share price tumbles 40% as profit turns to loss
• Why is the CBA share price sliding today?
• Magellan share price in freefall despite 44% rise in profits
• Super Retail Group share price jumps 8% on soft FY22 results

Motley Fool contributor Bronwyn Allen 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 Steadfast Group Ltd (ASX: SDF) share price is in a trading halt today.

It comes after the insurance broker announced its acquisition of Insurance Brand Australia and a solid set of results for FY22 this morning.

There’s a lot to unpack here, so let’s dive into the latest developments on Steadfast.

What did the company report?

Steadfast reported a string of highlights for FY22. Here are the key results:

• Revenue rose 21.3% to $911.4 million compared to FY21
• Underlying earnings before interest, taxation and amortisation (EBITA) increased 29.5% to $340.4 million
• Net profit after tax (NPAT) lifted 20% to $171.6 million
• Declared a fully franked final dividend of 7.8 cents per share, up 11.4% from FY21
• Total full-year dividend of 13 cents per share, up 14% from FY21

Steadfast said EBITA growth was driven by a 16.2% contribution from acquisitions and organic growth of 13.1%. Organic growth was primarily due to increases in premiums and some volume uplift.

Across FY22, Steadfast completed $552 million of earnings per share (EPS) accretive acquisitions, based on its latest annual report.

The company’s increased dividend for FY22 represents a dividend payout ratio of 75% of underlying NPAT. It will be paid on 9 September.

Acquisition of Insurance Brands Australia

Steadfast has also announced it will acquire Insurance Brands Australia (IBA) and its subsidiary companies.

IBA is one of Australia’s largest privately owned insurance distribution businesses with a strong focus on the small to medium enterprises segment.

The total consideration for the acquisition is $301 million. This is comprised of an initial payment of $276 million and an earn-out payment of $25 million.

The initial payment is made up of both cash and scrip dividends.

The cash will be sourced from Steadfast’s corporate debt facilities. Certain IBA management and employee shareholders will have the choice of opting for shares instead of cash dividends (scrip dividends). However, this is limited to a value of $56.1 million.

The earn-out payment is subject to achieving performance criteria in FY23 and any additional payment will be made in the first half of FY24.

Management expects this acquisition to be EPS accretive in the first full year.

The acquisition is expected to be completed by 23 August.

Further acquisitions ahead

Steadfast management continues to flex its roll-up strategy, identifying further Trapped Capital acquisition opportunities worth around $400 million.

The average EBITA multiple for these purchases is estimated at around 10 times.

Management expects to complete around $220 million of these acquisitions in FY23.

What did management say?

Steadfast Managing Director and CEO Robert Kelly said:

Our enduring business model, the skills and stability of our executive team, our prudent approach to acquisitions and the strong performance of our equity owned businesses resulted in a 26.2% increase in commission and fee revenue for FY22, improved margins and a 29.3% increase in underlying NPAT to $169.0 million for FY22.

More growth ahead for Steadfast

Management is guiding the following key financial targets for FY23.

• Underlying EBITA of between $400 million and $420 million
• Underlying NPAT of between $190 million and $202 million
• Underlying diluted EPS growth of 5% to 11%

Steadfast foresees price increases by strategic partners across the market to continue in FY3.

Steadfast share price snapshot

The Steadfast share price has performed quite well compared to the broader market recently.

In the last year, the Steadfast share price has risen 10% and 13% across the last six months.

The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) has fallen by 5.6% in the past year and dropped 2.80% across the last half year.

Steadfast shares will remain in a trading halt at $5.39 apiece until market open on Friday 19 August or when the company’s announcement is released to the market, whichever is earlier.

Foolish takeaway

I’d like to highlight Kelly’s comment about management’s prudent approach to acquisitions.

Future growth lies in Steadfast’s ability to become a dominant player in the insurance broking industry. Steadfast is looking to devour its smaller competitors.

However, Steadfast appears to remain disciplined and selective in what it acquires. In such roll-up strategies, I believe an investor needs to focus on management’s acquisition track record.

This requires a lot of groundwork as it involves understanding the value contributed by past acquired companies.

The post Steadfast share price halted following FY22 results and acquisition appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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More reading

• Redbubble share price tumbles 40% as profit turns to loss
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• Super Retail Group share price jumps 8% on soft FY22 results
• Why these 2 ASX shares rocketed 40% last month

Motley Fool contributor Raymond Jang 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 Steadfast Group Ltd. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Steadfast Group 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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The Downer EDI Limited (ASX: DOW) share price is falling after the integrated services company reported its FY22 full-year earnings. 

The Downer share price closed yesterday at $5.61. Downer shares opened at $5.25 this morning, down 6.4% on yesterday’s close and are currently sitting at $5.20, a 7.31% decline.

Downer provides integrated services to customers in Australia and New Zealand to design, build, and maintain infrastructure, facilities, and other assets.

Let’s examine the company’s results.

Downer share price in the red as profit falls

• Underlying net profit after tax and amortisation (NPATA) of $225.3 million, down 13.7% on the prior corresponding period (pcp)
• Underlying earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortisation (EBITDA) of $399.2 million, down 14.6% pcp
• Profit from ordinary activities after tax of $151.6 million, down 16.5% pcp
• Total group revenue of $12 billion, down 2% pcp
• Underlying cash conversion of 88.9%
• Final dividend of 12 cents per share (unfranked) payable on 28 September
• The dividend reinvestment plan (DRP) remains suspended (since 2014)

What else happened in FY22?

Downer completed the divestment of its non-core businesses in mining and hospitality in FY22. This means the company can now focus solely on its core urban services business comprising transport, utilities, and facilities.

In its statement, Downer said “demand remained strong” in this segment and revenue constituted $11.5 billion of the company’s total group revenue of $12 billion in FY22.

It noted that revenue in the core urban services business segment increased by 10.8% on the pcp.

A highlight for Downer in FY22 was the announcement of a $200 million contract win on 8 October.

ASX investors pushed the Downer share price to a 52-week high of $6.87 on the day.

What did management say?

Downer said its operations were negatively impacted by COVID-19 and severe wet weather in FY22.

Downer CEO Grant Fenn said the company’s performance demonstrated “resilience”:

Despite the challenging conditions, particularly relating to COVID-19 and severe wet weather, our
Urban Services businesses have continued to deliver solid earnings and strong cash conversion.

Completing the divestment of the non-core businesses is a major milestone for Downer, enabling the
delivery of a transformed business and a strong balance sheet.

Gearing has reduced to 17.7% and Net Debt to EBITDA of 1.6x remains well below our 2-2.5x target with available liquidity of $1.9 billion.

What’s next?

Fenn said Downer had a strong end to FY22 with a number of contract wins providing “solid
momentum into FY23″.

Fenn said:

We have announced material contract wins across each of our Transport, Utilities and Facilities
segments in Q4. We are winning work in our key markets, our brand and relationships are very strong, and we are seeing a growing pipeline of work ahead of us.

Demand for decarbonisation solutions across the Group’s customer base has accelerated dramatically
in the past 12 months, which will create a strong pipeline of work. Our customers know they need to start acting on their decarbonisation targets and that it will require enormous effort.

Downer’s suite of technical skills means we are in a prime position to grow our business in what will be a significant economy-wide transformation journey to net zero.

For FY23, Downer expects 10% to 20% underlying NPATA growth. This assumes no material disruptions caused by COVID-19, poor weather, or labour shortages.

Downer share price snapshot

The Downer share price is down 13.9% in the year to date.

This compares to a dip of 6.3% for the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO).

The post Downer share price drops on 17% profit slide appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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More reading

• Redbubble share price tumbles 40% as profit turns to loss
• What’s creating tailwinds for the Qantas share price today?
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Motley Fool contributor Bronwyn Allen 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 Redbubble Ltd (ASX: RBL) share price is plummeting today after the company announced a severe FY22 loss in its latest annual report.

Shares in the artists’ e-commerce marketplace are currently trading for 90 cents apiece, a drop of 39.8% at the time of writing. They closed yesterday’s session at $1.495 each.

Let’s go over the key metrics of the report.

What did Redbubble report?

• Gross transaction value down 10% year on year (YoY) to $629.6 million
• Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation (EBITDA) down 121.25% YoY to an $11.2 million loss
• Gross profit down 18% YoY to $183.1 million
• Operating cash flow down 95% YoY to a $52.3 million loss

The company cited numerous headwinds contributing to its earnings and revenue reductions. They included disruption from COVID-19, volatility from supply chain disruptions, inflationary pressures, and the war in Ukraine.

Despite the financial pain, Redbubble stated it now has 809,000 monetised artists on its platform, the largest number ever.

However, the number of selling artists was offset by a 7% reduction in the number of active members on the platform, which shrank to 14.4 million.

What else happened in FY22?

The company noted that $55 million worth of mask sales boosted its FY21 revenue. In FY22, mask sales accounted for just $10 million.

Redbubble said 68% of its marketplace revenue was recurring from existing artists. Furthermore, 46% of revenue came from users making repeat purchases, up from 42% in FY21.

Organic sales, or sales generated in the absence of paid ads, were said to account for 60% of the company’s revenue.

A new pet category was also launched on the website in June.

What did management say?

Redbubble CEO Michael J. Ilczynski gave the following comments on the company’s performance.

Actions taken by Redbubble during FY22 remain focussed on continued investment in our technology platforms, experiences for artists and their customers, and more recently our brand. This reflects our disciplined approach to investing to drive sustainable growth for the medium and long term. Overall, the Group’s outcomes demonstrate continued resilience across all three sides of the marketplaces, and importantly, financial performance and operating momentum improved in Q4FY22.

What’s next?

The company said it expects revenue growth in FY23, supported by a 6% increase in the average price of products on the platform.

Redbubble also intends to significantly slash its employee growth, down to 4% this financial year from 30% in FY22.

An investment in the company’s brand will also run to a total of $8 million to $12 million.

Over the medium term, Redbubble intends to grow its gross transaction value to more than $1.5 billion, with the majority coming from marketplace revenue at $1.25 billion.

Redbubble share price snapshot

The Redbubble share price is down 70% over the last 12 months and 72% year to date.

That’s signifantly below the performance of the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO), which has dropped 5.4% in a year and 4.5% in 2022 so far.

Redbubble’s market capitalisation currently stands at around $251 million.

The post Redbubble share price tumbles 40% as profit turns to loss appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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More reading

• Why is the CBA share price sliding today?
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• Super Retail Group share price jumps 8% on soft FY22 results
• Why these 2 ASX shares rocketed 40% last month
• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Wednesday

Motley Fool contributor Matthew Farley 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 Qantas Airways Limited (ASX: QAN) share price is currently up by 0.63%. It’s outperforming the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO), which is currently down by around 0.07%.

Reporting season is in full swing right now. Qantas is expecting to report its full year result on 25 August 2022, which is when investors will get an insight into the ASX airline share’s performance in FY22 and Qantas could also provide guidance for FY23.

Some ASX travel shares have already reported, including Corporate Travel Management Ltd (ASX: CTD) which outlined a recovery of demand in its FY22 result.

Qantas has recently said it’s seeing strong travel demand across all categories, helping net debt improve to around $4 billion by the end of FY22. It’s expecting underlying earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) of between $450 million to $550 million for the second half of FY22.

What’s going on with the Qantas share price?

One of the main things to keep in mind with airlines is that one of the key variable expenses, fuel, can have a significant impact on profitability and demand in the shorter term.

If the oil price goes higher, airlines need to decide how much to increase ticket prices by and what that might do to demand. If they don’t pass on the higher fuel cost, the profit would be impacted. There’s more to Qantas’ profit generation than just oil prices, but it can have an important influence.

Overnight, as noted by CommSec, the oil price fell by around 3% as it continues to decline from the previous highs seen after the Russian invasion of Ukraine when energy markets were disrupted.

New flight training centre

Qantas did make an announcement to the media today, though it’s not necessarily important to the Qantas share price.

The airline announced it will train pilots at a new, purpose-built centre in Sydney for its current and future fleet, including the aircraft that will operate non-stop flights from the east coast of Australia to London and New York.

It’s a new multi-million-dollar facility for St Peters near Sydney Airport. It will provide training for up to 4,500 new and current Qantas and Jetstar pilots and cabin crew each year from early 2024.

This centre will have up to eight full motion flight simulators, including for the Airbus A350 and A320 family of aircraft that were recently ordered.

It will have fixed flight training devices, emergency procedures equipment with aircraft cabin mock-up, and classroom and training facilities. Qantas said that senior Qantas and Jetstar training captains will train pilots from the two airlines while global training provider CAE will maintain the simulators and manage the day-to-day operations of the centre.

The Qantas CEO Alan Joyce said:

Qantas has trained its pilots and crew in Sydney for more than half a century and we look forward to bringing this critical function back to New South Wales with this custom-built facility.

Sydney will be the launch city for our non-stop flights to London and New York, and will now be the home of pilot training for the A350s, which will operate these flights from 2025.

As our international network recovers from the impact of COVID and we grow our fleet, this new training centre will give us the simulator capacity to train our new and current pilots.

Having flight training centres in all three eastern states, where the majority of our crew reside, will provide significant cost savings and efficiencies by training them at their home base.

Qantas share price snapshot

The Qantas share price has risen by 9% over the last month.

The post What’s creating tailwinds for the Qantas share price today? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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More reading

• What’s lifting the Qantas share price on Monday?
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• ‘Downside is less severe’: Why some brokers are still bullish on the Qantas 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 no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Corporate Travel Management 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 Liontown Resources Limited (ASX: LTR) share price is sliding lower today despite the company’s silence.

The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) lithium share is down 2% right now, trading at $1.705.

For context, the index is currently up 0.04% while the S&P/ASX 200 Materials Index (ASX: XMJ) has slipped 0.06%.

So, what might be going wrong for the Liontown share price today? Let’s take a look.

What’s going on with the Liontown share price?

The Liontown share price is tumbling on Wednesday alongside those of its ASX 200 lithium peers.

Indeed, the ASX 200 materials sector is being weighed down by stock in Lake Resources N.L. (ASX: LKE) and Core Lithium Ltd (ASX: CXO). They’ve fallen 4.5% and 3.7% right now, making them the two worst performing ASX 200 materials shares.

The Liontown share price is the sector’s fifth worst performer while those of Allkem Ltd (ASX: AKE) and Pilbara Minerals Ltd (ASX: PLS) are also struggling.

It marks the second consecutive day in which Liontown is trading in the red and leaves the stock roughly flat with where it was this time last week.

Such recent performance seemingly marks an end to its meteoric rise. The lithium share is currently trading 95% higher than its lowest point of 2022 so far – 87.5 cents – reached in late June.

Interestingly, it’s been nearly three weeks since the market heard price-sensitive news from the company.

It dropped its latest quarterly report on 28 July, detailing what the company’s CEO and managing director Tony Ottaviano dubbed “a significant period of positive activity and progress”. That saw the Liontown share price lift 6%.

Though, investors who jumped on board with the company at the start of the year haven’t quite broken even.

The stock is still trading 2.5% lower than it was at the beginning of 2022. Though, it’s gained 82% since this time last year.

The post Why is the Liontown share price limping lower on Wednesday? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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More reading

• Here are the top 10 ASX 200 shares today
• Why is the Liontown share price leaping 5% on Monday?
• Why has the Liontown share price roared 30% higher in a week?
• Here are 2 ASX lithium stocks analysts rate as buys
• Here are the top 10 ASX 200 shares today

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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BHP Group Ltd (ASX: BHP) shares have been on most investors’ radars this week. That’s as the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) mining giant reported its full FY22 results yesterday.

And those results were impressive.

The highlights included a record dividend payout. It also included a 16% increase in underlying earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) from continuing operations. EBITDA reached US$40.63 billion in FY22, also a record high.

BHP shares closed up 4.3% yesterday.

What you may not know about BHP shares and coal

While BHP shares are generally connected with iron ore, and to a lesser extent copper and nickel, some 23% of the miner’s FY22 EBITDA came from coal.

The big year-on-year leap in its coal earnings was driven by soaring prices for the other black gold, amid a broader global energy crisis spurred by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

In the financial year just past, BHP shares did take a step away from coal. The miner completed the sales of its interests in the BMC and Cerrejón energy coal assets. However, BHP opted to retain and operate its New South Wales Energy Coal business until mine closure in 2030.

And the company doesn’t appear to have any intention of exiting the coal business, stating:

Long term, we believe that higher quality metallurgical coals will still be used in blast furnace steel making for decades based on our bottom-up analysis of likely regional steel decarbonisation pathways.

However, BHP has moved its coal project plans in Queensland to the back burner.

Queensland moves the mining royalty goal posts

In June the Queensland Government surprised miners by tying the royalties it receives from them to the rising price of coal. By some estimates, this could see the miners paying as much as three times the prior tax levels.

This has seen BHP hit the pause button on its Blackwater South coal mine project, which has a 90-year mine life.

Commenting on the decision to reporters (courtesy of the Australian Financial Review), BHP CEO Mike Henry said:

There’s been a significant increase in the sovereign risk associated with Queensland. Which has caused us to say, ‘Well, we really can’t deploy further capital into that business for the time being’.

Henry added that the regulatory processes BHP has engaged in with the Queensland Government for approval of the coal mine simply offered the miner that option, not the obligation to invest:

It gives you the option to make a decision to invest. Since then, we’ve had changes to the Queensland royalty regime that were quite sudden and didn’t involve any engagement with industry. We’ll go back and reassess what the plans for the business are going forward.

How have BHP shares been tracking?

BHP shares have come off their April highs amid lower iron ore prices. Year to date the BHP share price is down 4%, compared to a 2022 loss of 6% posted by the ASX 200.

The post Can BHP shares keep cashing in on coal? 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 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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It’s been a bouncy but overall negative day so far this Wednesday for ASX shares. At the time of writing, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is sitting at around 7,110 points, up an anaemic 0.05% so far. But it’s looking a lot worse for the Core Lithium Ltd (ASX: CXO) share price today.

Core Lithium shares have had a clanger so far in today’s session. This ASX 200 lithium stock has copped a 4.7% drop at the time of writing to $1.42 a share after closing at $1.49 yesterday and opening at $1.47 this morning.

Soon after market open, Core Lithium fell all the way down to $1.36 a share, which was a drop of almost 8% at the time.

So what’s going on here?

Why has the Core Lithium share price cratered today?

Well, there’s nothing out of the company itself this Wednesday that explains this rather sizeable drop. The last major piece of news out of the company was the exploration update Core Lithium released on Monday.

This prompted enormous investor excitement at the time, with the Core Lithium share price rising more than 10%.

But Core Lithium shares have been on a tear for far longer than that. Over the past month, this ASX lithium stock has gained an impressive 50%. Year to date, Core Lithium shares are up a whopping 126% or so.

So perhaps the weakness we are seeing today is an acknowledgement that this extraordinary share price run had to end at some point. Notably, we are seeing weakness across most of the ASX lithium share space today.

Pilbara Minerals Ltd (ASX: PLS) and Liontown Resources Limited (ASX: LTR) are also both down today, although not by as much as Core Lithium shares.

At the current Core Lithium share price, this ASX 200 lithium stock has a market capitalisation of $2.46 billion.

The post Why is the Core Lithium share price careering 5% lower today? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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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 Santos Ltd (ASX: STO) share price is currently in the red by more than 2% even though the oil and gas ASX share just announced its FY22 half-year report that included huge returns.

It revealed a record result and much larger shareholder returns in the form of a dividend and share buyback.

On top of that, it also announced a final investment decision on Pikka.

HY22 result

It said that underlying profit grew by 300% to US$1.27 billion, statutory net profit jumped 230% to $1.17 billion and free cash flow went up 199% to $1.71 billion.

Santos benefited from the “significantly higher” oil and LNG prices, due to stronger global energy demand as well as a higher interest in PNG LNG after the merger with Oil Search.

It grew the interim dividend by 38% to US 7.6 cents. It also increased its previously-announced on-market share buyback from US$250 million to US$350 million. Profit and shareholder returns can have a big impact on the Santos share price.

Santos also revealed it’s in advanced discussions with a shortlist of parties for the sale of a 5% interest in the PNG LNG project. Expected proceeds are in-line with the market consensus valuation, according to management. Santos said it intends to retain a 37.5% interest in PNG LNG.

Pikka final investment decision

As operator of the Pikka phase one oil project located on the north slope of Alaska, Santos announced that the project will proceed.

The expected production is 80,000 barrels per day, with first oil anticipated in 2026. The 2P reserves are 397 million barrels gross pre-royalties. Santos’ share of capital expenditure is US$1.3 billion.

Santos is expecting an internal rate of rate (IRR) of 19% at a long-term oil price of US$60.

The ASX share is committed to the project being net-zero, in terms of scope 1 and scope 2. It has entered into memorandums of understanding with Alaska Native Corporations to deliver carbon offset projects.

Santos said this project would add further diversification to its portfolio and reduce geographic concentration risk.

Santos share price snapshot

Since the beginning of 2022, Santos shares have risen by 6%. It is down 20% since 8 June 2022.

The post Santos share price slips despite record profit and dividend boost 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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