The BlueScope Steel Limited (ASX: BSL) share price is in the red after the company released its earnings for the first half of financial year 2022.

At the time of writing, the BlueScope share price is $18.74, 1.78% lower than its previous close.

Here are the highlights of the company’s earnings results:

BlueScope Steel share price slips despite profits surging

• Net profits after tax (NPAT) of $1.64 billion – up from $1.31 billion in the prior comparable period
• Total revenue of around $9.4 billion – up from around $5.8 billion
• Underlying earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) came to $2.2 billion – $1.67 billion higher
• Underlying pre-tax EBIT return on invested capital of 43.7% – up from 11%
• Unfranked 25 cent interim dividend announced
• Ongoing share buyback increased by up to $700 million over the next 12 months

At the period’s end, BlueScope had $696 million in net cash. It also ended the period with an operating cash flow of $688 million – up from $422 million

So far, the company’s share buyback – originally worth up to $500 million – has seen $285 million of stock purchased.

Over the first half, BlueScope’s North Star business brought in underlying EBIT of around $1.2 billion – 1,665% more than it did in the first half of financial year 2021.

Its Australian Steel Products segment saw $688 million of underlying EBIT, while its Building Products Asia and North America fetched $266 million. That represents increases of 165% and 77% respectively.

Meanwhile, the company’s New Zealand and Pacific Islands segment saw underlying EBIT of $86 million – a 50% increase.

However, its Budlings North America and Corporate and Eliminations segments’ underlying EBIT dropped 74% and 7% respectively – reaching $18 million and a loss of $82 million respectively.  

What else happened in the first half?

During the first half, BlueScope announced collaborations with Rio Tinto Limited (ASX: RIO) and Shell to work towards net zero.

Its partnership with the former sees it working to create low emissions steel. With the latter, the company is exploring renewable hydrogen at Port Kembla.

Also at Port Kembla, BlueScope began a feasibility assessment to reline and upgrade the steelwork’s No. 6 Blast Furnace last half.

The project will secure the company’s domestic ironmaking needs from 2026 and is expected to cost around $1 billion.

It also acquired MetalX – a United States-based two site ferrous scrap steel recycling business – for US$240 million. The business supplies 20% of the scrap material used at BlueScope’s North Star mini-mill.

The first half also saw the company continue its expansion of the North Star mini-mill. The project cost BlueScope $165 million over the 6 months ended 31 December.  

Finally, the company announced its Port Kembla Steelworks and its steel processing sites have been given ResponsibleSteel site certification today.

The steelworks is the first site in the Asia Pacific and the fourth site in the world to be given the certification.

What did management say?

BlueScope managing director and CEO, Mark Vassella commented on the company’s first-half results, saying:

Underlying EBIT for the half year was $2.20 billion, clearly the best half-year performance BlueScope has produced in its 20-year history as a listed company.

Demand in key segments, especially in building and construction, has been strong, coupled with particularly robust margins driven by increased steel prices in Asia and the US.

The balance sheet remains strong with $696 million net cash, which combined with our strong cash flow, gives us confidence to invest for the long-term growth and resilience of the group. BlueScope is well positioned for a low carbon future where it can continue to deliver strong returns to shareholders.

What’s next?

Interested in the BlueScope share price? Here’s what the company is expecting from its full-year results.

BlueScope expects to record between $1.2 billion and $1.35 billion of underlying EBIT for the second half of financial year 2022.

That would make the current half its second-best half-year performance.

However, that expectation is subject to spread, foreign exchange, and market conditions. There are also elevated risks brought about by the pandemic.

The company has noted COVID-19 could impact operations, supply chains, and demand.

Additionally, volatility in steel prices and spreads, as well as the current geopolitical environment could hamper its performance.

BlueScope share price snapshot

The BlueScope share price had a rough start to 2022. It has fallen 9% year to date.

However, it is still 10% higher than it was this time last year.

The post BlueScope (ASX:BSL) share price tumbles despite ‘best half-year’ ever appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• How far off is BHP (ASX:BHP) from producing ‘green steel’?
• These were the worst performing ASX 200 shares last week

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

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This article was originally published on Fool.com. All figures quoted in US dollars unless otherwise stated.

This article was originally published on Fool.com. All figures quoted in US dollars unless otherwise stated.

What happened

At this point in their evolution, cryptocurrencies aren’t turning into the hedge against market negativity that some investors thought they might. While the price of gold hit $1,900 per ounce for the first time since June 2021, cryptocurrencies are falling as geopolitical tensions rise. Leading the way among the bigger names today is Shiba Inu (CRYPTO: SHIB), which dropped almost 10% early Sunday. The meme coin was still trading down 8.2% as of noon ET Sunday.

So what

With the prospects of a Russian invasion into Ukraine seemingly increasing, Shiba Inu wasn’t the only cryptocurrency dropping. The price of Bitcoin also hit $38,000 for the first time in two weeks today. It is starting to look like gold and other precious metals may hold on to their place as leading market hedges against uncertainty and inflation. 

Now what

There was also another recent sign that cryptocurrencies are being treated more like equities. Federal Reserve officials have been under increased scrutiny over the last year concerning personal investments in stocks and bonds that may appear to have a conflict with central bank decisions. On Friday, new regulations were formally announced where Fed officials won’t be able to trade assets that include stocks and bonds, as well as cryptocurrencies. 

Those rules will take effect May 1, and some investors may view it as another sign that cryptocurrency coins like Shiba Inu won’t provide the balancing force in their portfolios that they intended. 

Some early investors have been wildly successful with bets on Shiba Inu. But for the values of cryptocurrencies in general to have staying power, there will need to be use-cases for them that might range from alternative currencies to stores of value against inflation and other things that tend to negatively affect markets. Recent events aren’t supporting the latter, and Shiba Inu dropped accordingly today. 

This article was originally published on Fool.com. All figures quoted in US dollars unless otherwise stated.

The post Why Shiba Inu was down 10% today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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• 2 reasons Shiba Inu and Dogecoin are soaring this weekend
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• Here’s what’s driving stability with Shiba Inu today

Howard Smith has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns and recommends Bitcoin. The Motley Fool Australia owns and recommends Bitcoin. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

This article was originally published on Fool.com. All figures quoted in US dollars unless otherwise stated.

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The Altium Limited (ASX: ALU) share price is on the slide on Monday morning following the release of its half year results.

At the time of writing, the electronic design software provider’s shares are down 9% to $31.36.

Altium share price lower despite solid growth

• Revenue up 28% over the prior corresponding period to US$102 million
• EBITDA margin improved by 3.5 basis points to 34.1%
• Operating cash flow up 33% to US$33 million
• Net profit after tax up 38% to US$23 million
• Interim dividend up 11% to 21 Australian cents per share
• Cash and cash equivalents of US$195 million

What happened during the first half?

For the six months ended 31 December, Altium delivered a 28% increase in revenue over the prior corresponding period to US$102 million.

The core Board and Systems business performed very well, reporting a 16% increase in revenue to US$79.17 million. This was driven by double digit growth across all regions (except for China) and the NEXUS platform. Management revealed that it experienced strong adoption of Altium 365 during the period. This means there are now over 19,700 monthly active users, which is up 54% since August.

But arguably the highlight of the period was the company’s Octopart search engine, which doubled its revenue to US$22.2 million. This was driven by tailwinds from the global electronic parts shortage.

Management commentary

Altium’s CEO, Aram Mirkazemi, was pleased with the half.

He said: “Altium delivered a strong performance for the first half of fiscal 2022. Momentum has returned to our core PCB business and our business model transition is going smoother than expected with minimal headwinds. Our Octopart business is performing at its all-time best and the adoption of our cloud platform Altium 365 exceeds our expectations.”

“The overwhelming response to Altium 365 from our customers and the broader engineering software industry is most heartening. We are picking up pace toward market dominance and accelerating our transformative vision to digitally connect electronic design and manufacturing to the broader engineering ecosystem.”

“While I am very pleased with our first half performance, we must maintain intensity and focus in the second half, as our first half performance should be compared to a low-base last year that was impacted by COVID and the business and organizational model changes that we made as we pivoted to the cloud,” Mr Mirkazemi added.

Outlook

The company’s outlook was a bit of a mixed bag, which may explain the weakness in the Altium share price today. Although it is guiding to the top end of its previous revenue guidance range, it is expecting to achieve the low end of its margin guidance range.

Altium’s guidance stands at:

• Revenue between US$213 million to US$217 million (18-20% growth).
• Underlying EBITDA margin of 34-36%.
• ARR growth of 23-27%.

It explained: “Altium is upgrading its revenue guidance for fiscal 2022 to the high-end of the range. The margin is likely to be at the low end of the guided range or thereabouts, as Altium plans to scale up its leadership recruitment including new cloud and enterprise sales roles in an increasingly competitive talent market.”

The post Altium (ASX:ALU) share price sinks 9% on half year results appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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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. owns and has recommended Altium. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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The AGL Energy Limited (ASX: AGL) share price is pushing higher on Monday morning.

At the time of writing, the energy company’s shares are up 9% to $7.82.

Why is the AGL share price rising today?

Investors have been bidding the AGL share price higher today after it received and rejected a takeover approach. Buyers appear optimistic that an improved offer may be tabled down the line.

According to the release, AGL received an unsolicited, preliminary, non-binding indication of interest from a consortium led by Brookfield Asset Management and Atlassian co-founder Mike Cannon-Brookes’ private investment firm, Grok Ventures.

The parties, collectively known as the Brookfield Consortium, are wanting to acquire 100% of the shares in AGL Energy for $7.50 per share by way of a scheme of arrangement. This represents a premium of just 4.7% to the AGL share price at the close of play on Friday.

The AGL Energy Board advised that it believes the proposal materially undervalues the company on a change of control basis and is not in the best interests of shareholders. As a result, it has rejected it and advised shareholders that they do not need to take any action.

What now?

The AGL Energy Board has stated that it remains committed to progressing the proposed demerger of AGL Energy to establish two separately listed businesses, AGL Australia and Accel Energy.

It believes the proposed demerger will deliver better value for AGL Energy shareholders than this takeover proposal.

AGL Energy’s Chairman, Peter Botten, commented: “The proposal does not offer an adequate premium for a change of control and is not in the best interests of AGL Energy shareholders. Under the Unsolicited Proposal the Board believes AGL Energy shareholders would be forgoing the opportunity to realise potential future value via AGL Energy’s proposed demerger as both proposed organisations pursue decisive action on decarbonisation.”

The post AGL (ASX:AGL) share price up 9% amid takeover approach from Atlassian co-founder and Brookfield appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Monday
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• AGL (ASX:AGL) blasted for ignoring shareholders and committing to ‘crumbling assets’
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• Why AGL, Magellan, Xero, and Zip shares are sinking

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

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Last Tuesday, BHP Group Ltd (ASX: BHP) dropped its first-half result for the 2022 financial year, delivering a better-than-expected scorecard.

The mining giant’s shares pushed 3% higher during morning trade, though they ended the day slightly in the red. Geopolitical tensions between Russia and Ukraine dragged down the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) that day by 0.51% to 7,206 points.

Nonetheless, the BHP board opted to declare a record interim dividend of US$1.50 for shareholders.

In the H1 FY22 results call between management and investors, a number of questions were asked regarding BHP’s capital initiatives.

As reported by Livewire, Montgomery Investment Management’s Joseph Kim discussed if the miner should pay dividends or conduct a buyback.

The rundown of BHP’s mammoth interim dividend

Following the company’s half-year results, management highlighted sales and profit growth on the back of favourable commodity prices.

In particular, the group’s main commodity, iron ore, surged above US$200 in July 2021. For every US$1 per tonne the price increased, BHP made $US119 million on underlying earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA).

The board declared a record interim dividend, totalling US$7.6 billion or a payout ratio of 78% for the first half. This is much higher than the company’s minimum policy of a 50% payout ratio.

Is this the best course of action for BHP?

While investors won’t be complaining about being handsomely rewarded, the BHP share price will fall on the ex-dividend date.

In contrast, a share buyback takes existing shares off the market and, in turn, supports earnings-per-share (EPS) growth. Traditionally, this leads to a higher share price in the future as shareholder value strengthens.

BHP CEO Mike Henry noted that the company’s earnings are cyclical, along with the rest of the resource industry.

Even though there has been a short-term rally in commodity prices, BHP’s earnings are heavily weighted to iron ore. The steelmaking ingredient accounts for around 60% of operating EBITDA.

With record prices realised for coking coal and copper along with the surging price of iron ore, BHP opted against the share buyback. This is because the miner would have been seen to be operating in a pro-cyclical manner. That is, the behaviour and actions of a measurable product or service which moves together with the cyclical condition of the economy.

In addition, the company has the option of returning extra franking credits in the form of an off-market buyback. This would allow it to purchase its own shares much cheaper than what they are going for at the moment.

BHP management clearly believes that the current share price of $47.96 represents good value for investors.

BHP share price summary

Despite travelling 15% higher in 2022, the BHP share price is relatively flat over the last 12 months, up 1.3%.

The company’s shares saw a heavy sell-off in August after reaching an all-time high of $54.55. Since then, its shares hit a 52-week low of $35.56 in November, before rebounding almost 40% higher.

Based on valuation grounds, BHP presides a market capitalisation of roughly $242 billion, and has approximately 5.06 billion shares outstanding.

The post Is the BHP (ASX:BHP) record interim dividend the best use of the miner’s cash? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• What is a supercycle and are ASX 200 mining shares at the start of one?
• Own BHP (ASX:BHP) shares? CEO says inflation is here to stay and it’s positive for the miner
• 2 buy-rated ASX dividend shares with big yields
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• Own BHP (ASX:BHP) shares? Here’s how the ASX 200 miner is battling COVID

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

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This article was originally published on Fool.com. All figures quoted in US dollars unless otherwise stated.

This article was originally published on Fool.com. All figures quoted in US dollars unless otherwise stated.

If you want to retire as a millionaire, you’d better get started on your journey soon. At a savings rate ordinary people might be able to afford, it’s a process that’s achievable, but it can take decades. Fortunately, ETFs serve as a superb investing tool that can make it easier for you to reach that target.

Indeed, you can retire a millionaire with ETFs alone, as long as you manage your end to end financial plan appropriately. You’ll need to start early enough, invest enough money in an aggressive enough strategy, and convert some money to higher certainty choices as your retirement approaches. In many ways, in fact, ETFs can make your investing job easier as you strive to become a millionaire by retirement.

Why ETFs can help you out

Ultimately, an ETF is just a pre-designed collection of investments. The key advantage of any given ETF is that it offers a one-stop-shop to buy multiple investments within the framework of its underlying strategy, often with low overhead costs. That lets you as an investor focus on the overall strategy or strategies that you’re interested in following, and then let the ETFs handle the work of picking the specific investments within that strategy.

Do you want to invest in the S&P 500? There are several ETFs that will let you track that index. Do you want international exposure without having to become an expert in other countries’ accounting rules? There are ETFs that will help there, too. Are you ready to start converting some of your assets to bonds to give you higher-certainty cash flows for your retirement? There are even ETFs that can help out on that front.

If you want to get the long-term benefits of investing without the hassle or effort of scouring financial statements to try to separate winners from losers, ETFs can be a very powerful tool in your arsenal.

Are there any trade-offs?

All that said, there is still no such thing as a free lunch in investing, and ETFs are no exception to that rule. ETFs generally come with ongoing management fees that you’ll pay every year for owning them. Still, those fees could be a bargain compared to the hassle of managing a diversified portfolio.

In addition to the fees, since ETFs are frequently passively managed to match a strategy, chances are you’ll perform somewhere in line with the average of following that strategy. You’ll be less likely to wildly outperform, but at the same time, you’ll be less likely to wildly trail it, too.

On top of that, since ETFs are simply collections of other assets, you’ll need to dig into their holdings to have a clear understanding of what you own. If you want to pay attention to valuation or diversification, you’ll need to investigate each of your ETFs to make sure you didn’t wind up inadvertently over-invested in an asset you’re not really comfortable holding.

How long will it take to get there?

The following table shows how many years it will take to get to millionaire status starting from $0, depending on how much you can sock away each month and what rate of return you earn. As should be obvious from that table, the more you can sock away and the higher the rate of return you earn, the less time it will take for you to become a millionaire.

Monthly Investment	10% Annual Returns	8% Annual Returns	6% Annual Returns	4% Annual Returns
$2,833.33	13.8	15.2	17.0	19.5
$2,250.00	15.6	17.3	19.6	22.8
$2,208.33	15.7	17.5	19.8	23.1
$1,708.33	17.8	20.0	22.9	27.2
$1,500.00	18.9	21.3	24.5	29.4
$1,000.00	22.5	25.6	30.0	36.8
$500.00	28.9	33.4	40.1	51.1

Data source: author.

Over long periods, the stock market has delivered annualized returns somewhere between the 8% and 10% levels, though those returns are neither guaranteed nor are they smooth. That makes market tracking ETFs a wonderful tool to use over the long run to attempt to reach millionaire status.

As for the monthly investment amounts in that table, those top amounts were not pulled out of thin air. They are based on maxing out 401(k) and IRA contributions for the year. In particular:

• $2,833.33 would max out both a 401(k) and an IRA for an investor age 50 or up. The annual limits in that age bracket are $27,000 for 401(k) contributions and $7,000 for IRA contributions. 
• $2,250.00 would max out a 401(k) for an investor age 50 or up.
• $2,208.33 would max out both a 401(k) and an IRA for an investor under age 50. The annual limits in that age bracket are $20,500 for 401(k) contributions and $6,000 for IRA contributions. 
• $1,708.33 would max out a 401(k) for an investor under age 50.

Get started now

Of course, it is possible to reach millionaire status saving less than those amounts, but it will take longer to reach that target. Don’t despair if you can’t start from scratch and reach your savings goal right away. If you start with what you can and add to your investment amounts when you’re able, it beats putting off investing until later. After all, the less time you have until you retire, the more you’ll have to sock away each month to reach the same end state.

So get started now, and give your ETFs the best chance they can of helping you reach retirement as a millionaire. 

This article was originally published on Fool.com. All figures quoted in US dollars unless otherwise stated.

The post Can you retire a millionaire with ETFs alone? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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• Here’s what you need to know about the Magellan (ASX:MFG) monster dividend
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Chuck Saletta has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

This article was originally published on Fool.com. All figures quoted in US dollars unless otherwise stated.

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The Magellan Financial Group Ltd (ASX: MFG) share price rocketed on Friday.

This came on the back of the company’s impressive FY22 first-half results, declaring a monster dividend for shareholders.

The fund manager’s shares surged to an intraday high of $22.01 before settling back to $21.70, up 18.45% at market close.

Earlier this month, Magellan shares hit a multi-year low of $16.14 after the company delivered two disappointing announcements. If you were brave enough to pick up its shares during this time, you’d be sitting on a 35% gain.

Below we take a look at Magellan’s latest financial performance and its huge interim dividend for investors.

What’s the lowdown on the Magellan dividend?

In the half-year report for the 2022 financial year, Magellan reported double-digit growth across key metrics.

In summary, average funds under management (FUM) increased by 12% to $112.7 billion over the previous corresponding period. This was primarily driven by investment performance and also by client inflows, outflows and distributions to clients.

Overall, net profit after tax (NPAT) rose to $251.6 million, a lift of 24% compared to $202.3 million in the prior year.

Based on Magellan’s robust performance, its board declared a partially franked interim dividend of 110.1 cents per share. This represents a 13.4% decline from the 97.1 cents declared in the prior comparable period.

Management noted that its policy is to pay out a dividend between 90% to 95% of profit after tax of the group’s funds management business.

When can Magellan shareholders expect payment?

Magellan will pay the interim dividend to eligible shareholders on 8 March.

However, to be eligible you’ll need to own Magellan shares before the ex-dividend date which falls on Wednesday 23 February. This means if you want to secure the dividend, you will need to purchase Magellan shares by tomorrow at the latest.

It is worth noting that on the ex-dividend day, the share price traditionally falls in proportion to the dividend amount.

The post Here’s what you need to know about the Magellan (ASX:MFG) monster dividend appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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• These were the best performers on the ASX 200 last week
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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 no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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ASX tech shares have the ability to produce attractive profit growth over the long-term, which may help deliver good returns.

Businesses that use a lot of technology for their offering can benefit from operating leverage as they scale.

With that in mind, here are two ASX tech shares that could make compelling long-term investments:

Betashares Global Cybersecurity ETF (ASX: HACK)

This is an exchange-traded fund (ETF) that specialises in giving investors exposure to some of the world’s leading businesses in the cybersecurity space.

There is so much information and other things (like online banking) done online now that they make a tempting target and, sadly, the number of cyber-attack attempts is also increasing.

It’s up to some of the businesses in this ETF’s portfolio to keep businesses, governments and individuals safe.

At the latest disclosure, these are the 10 largest holdings of the ASX tech share: Cisco Systems, Palo Alto Networks, Accenture, Crowdstrike, Check Point Software, Juniper Networks, Cloudflare, VMware, Leidos and Mandiant.

The Betashares Global Cybersecurity ETF has an annual management fee of 0.67%.

Past performance is not a guarantee of future results. However, the Betashares Global Cybersecurity ETF has returned an average of 20.3% per annum since inception in August 2016.

Adore Beauty Group Ltd (ASX: ABY)

Adore Beauty is a leading e-commerce business that sells beauty products. It says it sells 11,700 products from more than 270 brands.

The company recently announced its FY22 half-year result which showed record revenue and customer numbers.

Half-year revenue was up 18% to $113.1 million. Active customers rose 13% to 876,000 and returning customers grew by 56%. Despite this, the Adore Beauty share price is down 41% this year.

Profitability also continues to grow at the company. The gross profit margin was 33.1%, an increase of 0.6 percentage points, underpinned by product margin expansion and brand funding according to the company.

The ASX tech share generated earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) of $3.8 million, with an EBITDA margin of 3.3%. This was in-line with guidance and reflected the re-investment.

Adore Beauty is investing heavily for growth, with areas like content engagement, brand building and growing its organic channels. Owned marketing channels are positively impacting marketing costs, which are trending significantly below industry inflation.

Investment areas for the business include its private label, mobile app, loyalty and adjacency expansion. It wants to capture as much market share as it can of the $11 billion market which is benefiting from significant structural tailwinds. The first private label skincare brand is expected to launch in the fourth quarter of FY22.

UBS is one of the brokers that currently rate Adore Beauty as a buy, with a price target of $4.70. That suggests a potential upside of almost 100% over the next year. The broker thinks that the ASX tech share will be able to deliver good compound growth of revenue over the coming years.

The post Is now the time to buy these 2 great ASX tech shares? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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• 2 more ETFs ASX investors need to know
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• You beauty! Adore Beauty (ASX:ABY) share price up 7% after record half year result

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. owns and has recommended BETA CYBER ETF UNITS. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has recommended Adore Beauty Group Limited. The Motley Fool Australia owns and has recommended BETA CYBER ETF UNITS. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Adore Beauty Group Limited. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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The good news for income investors in this low interest rate environment, is that there are plenty of ASX shares offering attractive dividend yields.

Two such dividend shares are listed below. Here’s what you need to know about them:

BWP Trust (ASX: BWP)

The first ASX dividend share to look at is BWP. It is a commercial property company with a focus on warehouses. The vast majority of these warehouses are leased to Bunnings Warehouse, which actually makes BWP the largest owner of the hardware giant’s properties.

Thanks largely to the strength of the Bunnings business, it has been a positive performer over the last couple of years and has been able to collect rent largely as normal. This was the case again during the first half of FY 2022, with BWP recently reporting a 97.6% occupancy rate and 2.2% like for like rental income growth.

In FY 2021, BWP paid an 18.29 cents per unit distribution. It intends to pay a similar distribution in FY 2022. Based on the current BWP share price of $4.02, this will mean a 4.55% dividend yield.

National Storage REIT (ASX: NSR)

Another ASX dividend share for income investors to look at is National Storage. It is one of the ANZ region’s largest self-storage operators. National Storage currently operates over 200 storage centres and provides tailored storage solutions to almost 100,000 residential and commercial customers.

It has been a positive performer as well over the last few years. This has been underpinned by a combination of organic growth and the benefits of acquisitions. And despite the size of its network, management believes there’s still plenty more acquisition opportunities in this fragmented market to drive its future growth.

In FY 2022, management is guiding to ~10% underlying earnings per share growth. If it were to grow its distribution in line with its earnings, it would mean a distribution of 9.02 cents per share. Based on the current National Storage share price of $2.47, this would equate to a yield of 3.65%.

The post 2 ASX dividend shares with good yields appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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

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Charter Hall Long WALE REIT (ASX: CLW) share price could be one of the most compelling ASX dividend share options for income.

It’s a real estate investment trust (REIT) that owns a large portfolio of different properties.

Whilst it isn’t the biggest REIT on the ASX, it is building a reputation as being one of the most dependable for dividends. It’s rated as a buy by a few different brokers, including Citi. Here are some of the reasons why it’s attractive:

Diversification

It has a property portfolio that is now worth $7 billion, which the business describes as high-quality and diversified. There are 549 properties, with 79% of them located on the eastern seaboard of Australia.

The portfolio is diversified across different sectors including agri-logistics (4%), social infrastructure (13%), office (19%), industrial and logistics (21%), hospitality (22%), convenience retail (11%) and ‘diversified long WALE retail’ (9%).

Nearly all of the tenants are blue chip tenants – 99% are either government, ASX-listed, multinational or national. Some examples include the Australian Government, Telstra Corporation Ltd (ASX: TLS), BP and Endeavour Group Ltd (ASX: EDV).

Yield

The ASX dividend share is expecting to pay a distribution of at least 30.5 cents per security. Charter Hall Long WALE REIT typically pays a distribution of 100% of operating earnings.

Assuming a payout of 30.5 cents, that translates to a current distribution yield of 6.1% at the current Charter Hall Long WALE REIT share price.

Morgan Stanley, one of the brokers that rates the business as a buy (with a price target of $5.85), thinks that the REIT will pay a distribution of 6.4% in FY23.

Reliability and organic growth

The REIT is proud of its income security. It has a portfolio weighted average lease expiry (WALE) of 12.2 years. Management says that this provides insulation from market shocks. It also gives investors a lot of visibility and security about the rent.

Rental income growth is driven by annual rent increases in all leases. Around 46% of leases are linked to CPI with a 3.3% weighted average increase in the first half of FY22. The other 54% of leases have fixed increases, with an average fixed increase of 3.1%.

This has allowed the business to continue growing the distribution per security by an average of 3.7% per annum since it listed several years ago.

In FY22 it’s expecting to grow the distribution by at least 4.5%, adding to the ongoing growth.

Charter Hall Long WALE REIT share price valuation

At the time of writing, the REIT’s share price is at $5.01. That compared to the net tangible assets (NTA) of $5.89 at 31 December 2021. That implies a discount of around 15%.

The post 3 reasons why the Charter Hall Long WALE REIT (ASX:CLW) share price is a top buy for dividends appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• 2 ASX dividend shares that could provide steady passive income
• 2 ASX dividend shares that could provide steady income in retirement
• Charter Hall Long WALE REIT (ASX:CLW) just boosted its dividend. Here’s what you need to know
• 2 ASX dividend shares that could be buys with yields above 5%

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 owns and has recommended Telstra Corporation Limited. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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