The South32 Ltd (ASX: S32) share price is pushing higher again on Monday.

In afternoon trade, the mining giant’s shares are up almost 1% to $3.88.

This means the South32 share price is up 54% in 2021 and trading close to its 52-week high.

Where next for the South32 share price?

The good news for investors is that the South32 share price can keep rising according to a number of brokers.

Two that are particularly positive are Goldman Sachs and Morgans.

In respect to the latter, last week Morgans upgraded the miner’s shares to an add rating with a $4.10 price target. Whereas the former has a conviction buy rating and $4.40 price target on South32’s shares.

Both brokers are also forecasting big dividends in the near term. For example, Goldman Sachs expects double digit, fully franked dividend yields for the next five financial years.

What did the brokers say?

Morgans likes South32 due to its upside potential, generous yield, and commodity diversification.

The broker explained: “We upgrade our recommendation on S32 to Add, from Hold, seeing an attractive investment proposition of upside to our target, an attractive 7.6% dividend yield FY22F [at the time], and capacity to keep pursuing new growth. S32 also boasts superior diversification compared to its fellow ASX mining peers (with BHP divestments in oil & gas and coal, RIO’s oversized iron ore exposure, and FMG’s single exposure to iron ore and ground-floor entry into renewables).”

Whereas Goldman Sachs is positive on the South32 share price partly due to its valuation and free cash flow yield.

Goldman said: “We forecast a FCF yield of c. 16-18% in FY22 & FY23 (over 20% at spot) [at the time], driven mostly by exposure to base metals (aluminium & alumina c. 50% of FY22 EBITDA, zinc/nickel c. 20%).”

All in all, the South32 share price may be up materially this year, but these brokers don’t believe it is too late to invest.

The post Where next for the South32 (ASX:S32) share price after rising 54% in 2021? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• 2 ASX 200 dividend shares to buy
• These 3 ASX 200 shares are topping the volume charts on Friday
• Brokers name 3 ASX shares to buy today
• Why Morgans upgraded South32 (ASX:S32) shares to a buy rating
• South32 (ASX:S32) share price slumps amid ‘concerning’ heavy metals levels in residents

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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ETFs Hydrogen ETF (ASX: HGEN) is an exchange-traded fund (ETF) that gives investors exposure to many of the world’s leading companies involved with hydrogen. The focus is on businesses that offer pure exposure to hydrogen, rather than a diversified business.

Investors can get this exposure to the hydrogen industry from ETF Securities for an annual management fee cost of 0.69%.

Why is hydrogen good for the environment?

There are high hopes that hydrogen can prove to be a key enabler of decarbonisation.

It reportedly has three times more energy on a ‘weight for weight’ basis than petrol, while producing no carbon dioxide emissions.

The idea is that hydrogen can be used to replace fossil fuel in areas that have been difficult to decarbonise in the past.

There are plenty of businesses in the world that are looking to provide technology, products, services or expertise in relation to hydrogen and helping the world transition to greener fuels.

What shares are in the ETFs Hydrogen ETF?

The Solactive Global Hydrogen ESG Index is made up of 30 hydrogen businesses around the world. That’s the index that ETFs Hydrogen ETF seeks to track before expenses and so on.

Looking at the country allocation, these are the biggest five weightings at the end of November 2021: the US (32.6%), the UK (23.9%), South Korea (15.7%), Canada (9.3%) and Norway (6.8%).

At the latest disclosure, these are the biggest 10 positions: Plug Power, Bloom Energy, Ballard Power, ITM Power, Doosan Fuel Cell, Ceres Power, Fuelcell Energy, Linde, Air Products & Chemicals and Doosan Corp.

What do they do?

Let’s look at what the largest five holdings do.

Plug Power – It is involved in building the ‘green hydrogen’ economy. It says it’s the leading provider of clean hydrogen and zero-emission fuel cell solutions that are both cost-effective and reliable.

Bloom Energy – This business provides an onsite energy platform. It’s based on proprietary solid oxide fuel cell technology – its servers convert fuel into electricity through an electrochemical process without combustion at high efficiency. Bloom Energy says its platform provides multiple pathways for decarbonisation – hydrogen fuel cells, electrolysers, biogas, marine and carbon capture.

Ballard Power – The company says that it’s the leading global provider of innovative clean energy fuel cell solutions. Its products are aimed at different uses including buses, trucks, trains, propulsion for the marine industry and so on.

ITM Power – Next in the ETFs Hydrogen ETF is ITM Power, which manufactures integrated hydrogen energy solutions to enhance the utilisation of renewable energy that would otherwise be wasted.

Doosan Fuel Cell – It provides green, reliable and robust energy solutions. It says its technology is best suited for power plants, cold storages, large buildings or spas as it generates 440KW electricity and heat together.

The post Own ETFs Hydrogen ETF (ASX:HGEN)? Here’s what you’re invested in appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Why is the ETFS Hydrogen ETF (ASX:HGEN) share price climbing today?
• Why has the ETFs Hydrogen ETF (ASX:HGEN) leapt almost 20% in a month?

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 Bruce Jackson.

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The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) has shaken off last week’s bad mood so far this Monday, and is on track for a solid gain. At the time of writing, the ASX 200 is up 0.59% at 7,397 points thus far today.

But let’s dive deeper and check out the ASX 200 shares currently topping the ASX’s share volume charts, according to investing.com.

3 most active ASX 200 shares by volume on Monday

Telstra Corporation Ltd (ASX: TLS)

ASX 200 telco Telstra is the first high volume ASX share for today. Telstra has seen a healthy 10.9 million of its shares find new owners so far this Monday. Despite this, there is not much in the way of news or announcements out of the telco so far, aside from the revelation that it is now one of the largest contributors of corporate tax in the country.

Saying that, the Telstra share price has had a bit of an interesting day. It’s currently flat at $4.06, but rose as high as $4.10 this morning after market open, a new 52-week high for the company. This is probably what is behind this elevated trading volume we are seeing.

Sydney Airport (ASX: SYD)

Sydney Airport is next up today. This ASX 200 infrastructure company has seen a hefty 15.68 million shares bought and sold so far this Monday. Again, there is not a lot going on with Sydney Airport today. Its shares are currently flat at $8.59 after a brief rise this morning.

However, this company has been experiencing elevated trading volumes for a while now, ever since the green light was announced for its pending acquisition by the Sydney Aviation Alliance. This might still be in play this Monday.

Pilbara Minerals Ltd (ASX: PLS)

ASX 200 lithium producer Pilbara is topping the ASX 200 thus far today in terms of trading volume. Pilbara has seen a sizeable 19.72 million of its shares traded on the share market at the time of writing. This is almost certainly the result of the pleasing share price jump we have seen Pilbara make today.

Pilbara shares are currently trading at $2.72 each, up a robust 4.42% today and touching an all-time high.

The post These 3 ASX 200 shares are topping the volume charts this Monday appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• This ASX shares fund is closing. Manager reveals why
• Buying ASX shares? Why the ‘when’ is just as crucial as the ‘which’: expert
• What might trading volume tell us about the potential of an ASX share?
• ASX 200 (ASX:XJO) midday update: CSL acquisition talks, Charter Hall guidance upgrade
• Telstra (ASX:TLS) just rejoined this exclusive, top-10 club

Motley Fool contributor Sebastian Bowen owns Telstra Corporation Limited. 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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Flight Centre Travel Group Ltd (ASX: FLT) shares are no stranger to topping lists.

The company’s stock is often the ASX’s most shorted share, but it seems not everyone is bearish on its future.

Trading platform, Superhero has looked back at its users’ activity in 2021 and found that Flight Centre was among their most traded Australian shares.   

Superhero founder and CEO, John Winters told The Motley Fool Australia that some of the platform’s Aussie customers might have turned to investing in travel stocks to ease their notorious wanderlust through the pandemic.

At the time of writing, the Flight Centre share price is $17.72, 0.34% lower than its previous close.

Flight Centre shares traded like hot cakes this year

While Superhero users were locked in Australia – and often into their state or city – for much of 2021, many kept busy by swapping Flight Centre shares.

The company was Superhero’s second most traded ASX stock between 1 January 2021 and 30 November 2021. It was only bested by buy now, pay later (BNPL) prodigy, Zip Co Ltd (ASX: Z1P).

Fellow ASX travel share, Qantas Airways Limited (ASX: QAN) was also one of the platform’s most traded shares. It came in at fourth place.  

Winters told The Motley Fool Australia that the platform has noticed its users “invest in what they’re invested in personally”:

We know that Aussies love to travel and the last two years has really put a spanner in the works.

According to Winters, users’ interest in getting on board with travel shares may have increased alongside certainty in Australia’s reopening:

Particularly towards the end of the year, there was a lot more confidence in Australia opening up to the rest of the world – and also states opening up to each other – which could be a reason for our customers backing travel stocks this year.

Since the start of 2021, the Flight Centre share price has gained 10.69%. Its stock hit a high of $25.28 in October and a low of $13.59 in February.

Meanwhile, since December 2020, the number of people using Superhero has grown from 22,000 to a whopping 150,000. That represents a 581% increase.

The post Love ’em or hate ’em, Flight Centre (ASX:FLT) shares were the second most traded on Superhero this year. Here’s why appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• These are the 10 most shorted ASX shares
• Is the Flight Centre (ASX:FLT) share price good value after falling 16% in a month?
• ASX 200 retail shares lift as Aussies head into Christmas with $240bn in savings
• Why is the Flight Centre (ASX: FLT) share price soaring 6% higher today?
• Here’s why ASX 200 travel shares are taking off 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. owns and has recommended ZIPCOLTD FPO. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Flight Centre Travel 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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Ask A Fund Manager

The Motley Fool chats with fund managers so that you can get an insight into how the professionals think. In this edition, Eley Griffiths portfolio manager Nick Guidera announced his fund is closing, and explains why.

Investment style

The Motley Fool: How would you describe your fund to a potential client?

Nick Guidera: We recently announced the soft close date for our ASX 200 Emerging Companies Fund. That fund is a product that predominantly invests in ASX listed securities outside the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) and typically targets companies earlier in their growth phase or trajectory. We also have the ability to invest directly in the NZX market as well. The fund has a weighted average market cap of $550 million. 

As a result of that, the fund has been deployed to investors as a solution for those seeking both small-cap exposure or micro-cap exposure. The strategies delivered micro-cap style returns — 25% per after fees with small-cap or lower volatility since inception. 

The reason why we’ve announced the soft closing of the fund at $300 million in capacity is to allow plenty of runway for our investors to grow over time. And our style-agnostic approach means that we are able to construct all-weather portfolios that can kind of traverse market cycles.

This product is almost 5 years old. We’ve had a whole variety of market conditions during that time from global coordinated growth when we launched the product to a rising rate environment in the US.

We saw a December ’18 drawdown, we saw the COVID impacts through ’20, the COVID rallies, a cyclical rotation again, and now some question marks over how that will run with the outlook for rising interest rates globally again. 

It’s been a great time to be managing money in that period because our investment style’s been certainly tested. 

MF: Congratulations that you’ve reached a point where you can soft-close it now. You can go on a long holiday.

NG: I wish we could go on a long holiday. I mean, in reality, soft close means that our existing investors can come and go. But we want to make sure that that capacity is preserved because I think in this area of the market, you need to be nimble. You need to be able to focus highly on liquidity and having too large a fund just means you can’t necessarily navigate some of these earlier opportunities or take advantage of them as early as you would like.

MF: With those smaller companies, you have to be very active don’t you? It is a lot of work.

NG: It is a lot more work. You do have to be more active and it’s typically because you don’t have the analyst coverage, the history of financial results or annual reports are not as lengthy as perhaps more established companies. 

You need to spend the time understanding the industry, understanding the management track record, understanding what the strategic plan is, speak to competitors, [then] try and form your own views, which is just par for the course at this end of the market.

MF: That’s a good reason for an investor to seek a professionally operated fund rather than try to do it themselves? That all takes a lot of time.

NG: It does. 

I think there are plenty of good investors that have picked 1 or 2 or 3 stocks. It’s just hard to pick 20 plus. We try to give a portfolio return rather than just focusing our attention on 2 or 3 winners.

The post This ASX shares fund is closing. Manager reveals why appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Buying ASX shares? Why the ‘when’ is just as crucial as the ‘which’: expert
• What might trading volume tell us about the potential of an ASX share?
• ASX 200 (ASX:XJO) midday update: CSL acquisition talks, Charter Hall guidance upgrade
• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Monday
• Are these 2 leading ASX 200 shares worth buying?

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 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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When it comes to buying ASX shares, most investors spend most of their time agonising about which ASX shares to choose. That’s fair enough seeing as the ASX is home to hundreds of different, individual companies. But it’s worth remembering the ‘when’ of buying a share can be just as consequential to the decision of ‘which’ ASX share to buy in the first place.

To illustrate, let’s take a look at the CSL Limited (ASX: CSL) share price. CSL is often regarded as one of the best ASX 200 blue chip shares on the ASX, largely thanks to its stellar share price run over the past decade or so. But its more recent share price performance has been patchy.

If an investor had picked up CSL shares exactly a year ago, they would be looking at a gain of roughly 4%. But if that same investor had picked up shares on 8 March this year, the gain today would instead be more than 21%. The ‘when’ certainly matters.

Which, when or whatever?

So how do we get a good grip on the ‘when’ then? Switzer Daily‘s Michael Gable gave us some ideas in a recent article. Here’s some of what he had to say:

Finding a good business is straightforward. What to buy is often not the problem. The main problem that I see is that investors find it hard to know when to buy…

We need to remember that something is only worth as much as what someone else is willing to pay for it… this means that you can do all the fundamental analysis in the world, but if the rest of the market isn’t buying your stock, then the share price will not go up and your capital won’t increase…

Once you have identified the business that you want to buy, it is important to pick it up at the right time. In an uptrend, a share price will swing higher and lower while all the time making upward progress. Many investors would like to buy it on the downswing, to get it cheaper… 

All downtrends start with a down day. So it is best to look for a stock that has already had its downwards movement but is just starting to tick higher again. 

Foolish takeaway

Of course, none of us can know when exactly is the best time to buy a share. And it’s almost universal investing gospel that trying to time the market is a foolish idea (and not the good kind of Foolish). But Gable implies that it is not the worst thing to try and make an educated, data-driven guess on a good-quality company.

Remember, the investing legend Warren Buffett once said this: “It’s far better to buy a wonderful company at a fair price than a fair company at a wonderful price.”

The post Buying ASX shares? Why the ‘when’ is just as crucial as the ‘which’: expert appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• This ASX shares fund is closing. Manager reveals why
• What might trading volume tell us about the potential of an ASX share?
• What’s the outlook for ASX biotech shares in 2022?
• ASX 200 (ASX:XJO) midday update: CSL acquisition talks, Charter Hall guidance upgrade
• CSL (ASX:CSL) share price lower after responding to M&A speculation

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. owns 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 Bruce Jackson.

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The Latrobe Magnesium Limited (ASX: LMG) share price is climbing today following a mining update from the company.

After surging to an intraday high of 11.5 cents in early trade, the Latrobe Magnesium share price dropped back to its previous closing price of 10.5 cents apiece. It has since reignited and is now trading 4.76% higher at 11 cents.

The company is developing a magnesium production plant in the Latrobe Valley, Victoria.

What did Latrobe tell investors today?

Latrobe Magnesium has purchased a property that includes several buildings from DG & J Di Fabrizio Steel Fabrications Pty Ltd.

The company said the buildings would be used to house its magnesium production plant.

The deal, worth $4.5 million, will include a combination of a $2.25 million cash payment and the issue of shares to the family.

The Di Fabrizzio family will receive $2.25 million worth of shares at a price of 10 cents. This is a 0.5 cent discount on the last closing price of 10.5 cents.

Latrobe Magnesium said the timing for this share release would be “subject to LMG refreshing its issuing capacity” at its AGM in January next year.

The company is using a patented extraction process to collect magnesium from a fly ash resource.

As previously reported, the company plans to sell refined magnesium to customers based in the United States and Japan.

Management commentary

In a statement signed off by Latrobe Magnesium CEO David Paterson, the company said:

The purchase of the site allows the company to plan its future expansions, obtain appropriate business insurance, save rent through the construction phase and benefit from its own site improvements.

LMG thanks the Di Fabrizio family for their patience and support during the last nine years required to develop the Latrobe Magnesium project.

Latrobe Magnesium share price snapshot

The Latrobe Magnesium share price has gained more than 511% in the past 12 months after rallying 378% this year to date.

The share has dropped 31% in the last month of trading but is up around 26% in the last week.

The company has a market capitalisation of about $171 million, based on the current share price.

The post What’s happening to the Latrobe Magnesium (ASX:LMG) share price today? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Here’s why the Latrobe Magnesium (ASX:LMG) share price is sinking 7% today
• Why is the Latrobe Magnesium (ASX:LMG) share price down again today?

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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The DroneShield Ltd (ASX: DRO) share price is on the move today. This comes after the drone security company announced that it has received a new order for one of its products.

At the time of writing, the DroneShield share price is up 4.55% to 17.3 cents.

DroneShield secures initial contract

The DroneShield share price is surging higher after providing investors with a positive update.

According to the release, DroneShield advised that it received an initial contract for its DroneSentry system.

The company did not reveal which country placed the order. However, it said that it was from a defence agency of a ‘Five Eyes’ country. The term ‘Five Eyes’ relates to a signals alliance between the United States, Canada, Australia, the United Kingdom, and New Zealand.

The deal is expected to be worth approximately $600,000 with potentially larger future purchases if successful. The unknown customer is seeking to test the system to determine suitability for end user requirements.

DroneShield noted that it will continue to refine the software package towards the customer’s specifications.

The DroneSentry system is an autonomous fixed system that integrates DroneShield’s suite of sensors and countermeasures into a unified platform. It incorporates sensors, radars, electronic warfare, electro-optics systems, ID and tracking to respond to aerial threats such as drones.

The order is expected to be fulfilled with payment received sometime in the March 2022 quarter.

Words from the CEO

DroneShield CEO Oleg Vornik commented on the company’s benefits from securing the order:

We are pleased to add another marquee first time defence customer to our user community. It is exciting in several ways.

First, there is a significant potential for large follow up systems to this customer, both this system configuration and cross selling of our other products.

Second, this is another validation of our AI-enabled signals intelligence (SIGINT) DroneSentry platform, utilising Artificial Intelligence (AI) across multi-spectrum, including radiofrequency and computer vision to enable threat awareness and dominance to the Defence customer, who is faced with the need to collect and process enormous volumes of data from multiple domains.

DroneShield share price review

Despite today’s rise, the DroneShield share price is 1% down from 12 months ago. This is a stark contrast from when its shares were trading above 40 cents during November 2019.

Based on today’s price, DroneShield has a market capitalisation of $72.14 million, with 418.22 million shares on its books.

The post Why the DroneShield (ASX:DRO) share price is lifting 5% today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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

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The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is back on form and on course to start the week with a solid gain. In afternoon trade, the benchmark index is up 0.6% to 7,396.3 points.

Four ASX shares that have failed to follow the market higher today are listed below. Here’s why they are falling:

Audinate Group Ltd (ASX: AD8)

The Audinate share price has tumbled 7% to $9.73. Investors have been selling the media networking solution provider’s shares despite it announcing an acquisition. Audinate is acquiring the video business of Belgium-based Silex Insight for an up-front cash payment of US$6.5 million. The release notes that the Silex video business produces video networking products for manufacturers of audio-visual (AV) equipment. Investors may be concerned with the decision to eat into its cash reserves during a particularly difficult period because of chip shortages.

Firefinch Ltd (ASX: FFX)

The Firefinch share price has fallen 4% to 72.5 cents. This morning the gold and lithium explorer announced firm commitments to raise $100 million (before costs) through a placement. Firefinch raised the funds at $0.67 per share, which represents a 11.3% discount to the last close price. The proceeds will be used to support growth plans at the Morila and Goulamina operations.

Insurance Australia Group Ltd (ASX: IAG)

The IAG share price is down 3% to $4.26. This appears to have been driven by a broker note out of UBS this morning. According to the note, the broker has downgraded this insurance giant’s shares to a sell rating and cut the price target on them to $4.20. UBS believes the profitability of IAG’s Direct business could be under pressure and its financial target could be challenging to achieve due to the rise of online competition.

Ramsay Health Care Limited (ASX: RHC)

The Ramsay share price is down 1% to $68.72. This is despite the private healthcare operator announcing a key new acquisition this morning. Ramsay has signed an agreement to acquire UK based mental health services provider Elysium Healthcare for $1.4 billion. Some investors may believe the company has overpaid for the deal.

The post Why Audinate, Firefinch, IAG, and Ramsay shares are falling appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Broker says sell: IAG (ASX:IAG) share price slumps 3.5%
• Leading brokers name 3 ASX shares to buy today
• ASX 200 (ASX:XJO) midday update: CSL acquisition talks, Charter Hall guidance upgrade
• What’s the outlook for ASX healthcare shares in 2022?
• Here’s why the Firefinch (ASX:FFX) share price is plunging 10% today

Motley Fool contributor James Mickleboro has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns and has recommended AUDINATEGL FPO. The Motley Fool Australia owns and has recommended AUDINATEGL FPO and Insurance Australia Group Limited. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Ramsay Health Care 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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Shares in gaming and entertainment giant Crown Resorts Ltd (ASX: CWN) are inching higher in afternoon trade and are currently quoted at $11.49.

Crown shares have been catching bids this afternoon as investors respond to its presentation at an investor day held at Crown Sydney. Here are the details.

What did Crown present?

Crown gave a high-level overview of its “cultural transformation program” in its presentation. It includes a new leadership team driving tone from the top, implementing a comprehensive culture transformation program, and rolling new purpose and values across the organisation.

Crown described the value proposition in its equity that is “underpinned by [its] significant property portfolio”. Specifically, the portfolio is made up of plant, property and equipment (PP&E) and secure property tenures with leases into the next century. The PP&E carries a book value of $4.3 billion.

It also described investments it has made at each of its major locations over the last 10 years. The company has invested $2.1 billion in Crown Sydney, $1.3 billion at its Perth hub, and $1 billion at Crown Melbourne.

Furthermore, as part of Crown’s engagement with regulators, spurred on by a flurry of recent controversies, Crown has developed a comprehensive remediation plan.

The plan is set to tackle issues on culture, responsible gaming and risk management. This also extends to junkets and VIP players at its casinos.

According to Crown, successful implementation of the plan is intended to position Crown as a “leader in the industry in its approach to governance, compliance, responsible gaming and the management of financial crime risk, underpinned by an uplifted organisational culture.” Though the claims are not backed by any other official sources or expert opinion.

So far it has met a list of objectives in this regard. This includes restructuring its board and senior management, revising its organisational structure, and developing financial crime and compliance programs. Crown has reportedly ceased dealing with junket operators.

Aside from this, Crown also gave insights into the particulars of “Sydney’s first 6-star luxury hotel resort”, Crown Sydney.

What about Crown’s trading update?

Crown advised it has reopened all 3 domestic resorts. It says that staff shortages are a significant issue across all 3 resorts, impacting operational capacity.

From 12 July to 5 December the company has grown main floor gaming revenue by 5% since FY20. Though it has posted a loss of 8% versus FY21. Non-gaming revenue is up 11% and 31% respectively.

Occupancy has progressively improved in its hotel offering since reopening, averaging around 40% since mid-November with higher occupancy on weekends.

Betfair and DGN revenues over the period 1 July to 5 December 2021 were also down approximately 12% on the previous year.

The Crown Resorts share price is up 18% over the last 12 months, and 19% this year to date. In the past month, Crown shares have popped 17%, well ahead of all benchmarks.

The post Crown Resorts share price (ASX:CWN) lifts ahead of culture reform appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Why this top broker thinks the Crown (ASX:CWN) share price is a buy right now
• Crown (ASX:CWN) share price lifts as company opens door to Blackstone. But what about Star?
• These were the best performing ASX 200 shares last week
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The author has no positions 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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