The Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd (ASX: ANZ) share price is down more than 1% today. That’s despite the ANZ CEO talking of expectations of an economic boom.

Australian households have collectively been amassing a large cash pile over the pandemic, with some spending categories being limited because of pandemic restrictions. The ANZ CEO Shayne Elliott thinks that there is a lot of pent-up demand as the cities of Sydney, Melbourne and Canberra exit lockdowns and enter the festive shopping season.

The Australian Financial Review quoted Mr Elliott, who said:

My view is that in the next six months we’re in for a bit of an economic boom. We know our customer base – we can see it – they’ve been saving money at a rapid rate. So people are sitting on really high savings balances and they’ve paid down debt.

We are entering into a period of freedom, travel and being able to do things and I think people psychologically feel that they’ve earnt it and they’ve earnt the right to go and do things.

The vaccination rates are so high that I think we’re exiting lockdowns into an economy that won’t really be interrupted by COVID, unless there is a new virus variant.

There is all the stimulus and savings built up during the NSW and Victoria lockdowns and limited labour supply, that I think the economy should have a cracking year in 2022.

Is the ANZ share price experiencing boom times?

As mentioned, it’s down more than 1% today and it has fallen more than 5% since the middle of August 2021.

ANZ recently reported its FY21 result, at the end of October 2021.

In that result, the big four ASX bank reported that its statutory profit after tax increased 72% to $6.16 billion, whilst continuing operations cash profit grew by 65% to $6.2 billion.

However, continuing profit before credit impairments and tax was almost flat, rising slightly to $8.4 billion. The continuing underlying profit before credit impairments, tax and large items was down 6% to $9.5 billion.

The headline numbers were boosted by the credit provision charge actually being a credit release of $567 million, compared to a charge of $2.74 billion in FY20.

ANZ explained that the Australian retail and commercial segments saw lending and deposits growth and delivered a “good margin performance” across the division. Home loan revenue growth was in the low double digits. However, second half volumes were impacted by a competitive refinancing market, customers paying down loans faster and “processing issues”.

The bank has been working on a range of improvements that are already having a “positive impact” on the processing times.

Lending indicators, such as loans that are over 90 days past due and deferrals have performed, better than the bank was expecting.

Dividends and capital

The big four ASX bank had a common equity tier 1 (CET1) capital ratio of 12.3%, which was around $6 billion above APRA’s unquestionably strong benchmark.

In August 2021, ANZ commenced a share buyback of $1.5 billion.

With the dividend, ANZ decided to more than double its annual payment, going from $0.60 per share to $1.42 per share. At the current ANZ share price, that represents a grossed-up dividend yield of 7.25%.

Do brokers think the ANZ share price is an opportunity?

Whilst there are several hold/neutral ratings on ANZ shares, a few brokers do think it’s a buy.

Morgans thinks ANZ is a buy, with a price target of $31. That implies a potential rise of around 10% over the next year, if the broker is right.

Based on the broker’s numbers, ANZ shares are valued at 12x FY22’s estimated earnings with an estimated forward grossed-up dividend yield of 7.5%.

The post ANZ (ASX:ANZ) share price struggles despite CEO predicting economic boom appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Why ANZ, Clinuvel, PolyNovo, and Vulcan shares are dropping
• Why has the ANZ (ASX:ANZ) share price dropped 2% today?
• ASX 200 (ASX:XJO) midday update: Sydney Airport agrees to takeover, Wesfarmers’ strikes API deal
• These 6 ASX shares are going ex-dividend this week
• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Monday

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 Scentre Group (ASX: SCG) share price is hovering in negative territory despite a positive trading update from the company.

At the time of writing, the shopping centre-focused property company’s shares are travelling 0.32% lower to $3.16 apiece.

Scentre rebounds from COVID-19

In a statement to the ASX, Scentre announced its centres are continuing to perform consistently year-to-date.

For the 10-month period ending 31 October, the group collected $1.8 billion in gross rent from its customers. This is an increase of $187 million over the prior corresponding period including the extensive lockdowns experienced.

Up until the end of September, 2,010 lease deals were signed, bringing in 868 new merchants and 191 new brands. The group achieved steady portfolio occupancy rates at 98.5%, highlighting resilience across its platform.

When government-mandated restrictions were lifted this year, each of the Australian states recorded a strong rebound in customer visits. Particularly, New South Wales and Victoria witnessed an uptick during late October following successful COVID-19 vaccination programs.

Scentre Group CEO Peter Allen commented:

All Westfield Living Centres have remained open during the period, operating with COVID Safe protocols. Our QLD, WA and SA centres continued to trade well during this quarter, consistent with the first half of the year.

Customers are again rapidly returning to our Westfield Living Centres in NSW, VIC and ACT now that restrictions have eased. We are also looking forward to welcoming back more businesses and customers to our Auckland centres from tomorrow.

As we move into the new COVID-19 normal, Scentre expects to distribute at least 14 cents per security in 2021. This is the original distribution guidance provided in February of this year.

About the Scentre share price

It has been an outstanding 12 months for Scentre shares, posting a gain of 30% for the period. Yesterday, its shares leapt to a new fresh 52-week high of $3.17 before some slight profit-taking took hold.

Based on today’s price, Scentre commands a market capitalisation of roughly $16.34 billion and has approximately 5.19 billion shares outstanding.

The post Scentre (ASX:SCG) share price struggles as trading update fails to excite investors appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• 2 excellent ASX dividend named as buys
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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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Shares in Australian biotech Actinogen Medical Ltd (ASX: ACW) are crawling lower today, currently trading down 15.79% at 16 cents apiece.

Investors are selling Actinogen shares today despite the company receiving clearance from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to commence a phase 2 trial on its Xanamem label.

Here are the details.

But first – what even is Actinogen Medical?

Actinogen is a biotechnology and research company. It is working on a medical breakthrough in neurological disorders that cause cognitive impairment.

Its lead drug candidate, Xanamem, is being investigated for potential breakthroughs in Alzheimer’s disease, Fragile X syndrome and other neurological diseases.

Many kinds of neurological conditions are either genetic, irreversible or have no known effective treatments – and unfortunately, no cure.

The compound works by modulating the ‘stress hormone’ cortisol, which has been shown to impair brain function and has been associated with several neurodegenerative conditions.

At the time of writing, Actinogen Medical has a market capitalisation of $317 million.

Why is the Actinogen share price sinking lower?

Actinogen advised it has received approval from the FDA to commence a Phase 2 trial on its Xanamem candidate, under an Investigational New Drug (IND) designation.

Being a Phase 2 trial, it is investigating the efficacy and safety of the Xanamem compound in treating male adolescents and young adults with Fragile X syndrome.

Fragile X syndrome is a hereditary disorder that causes mild to moderate intellectual disability, alongside behavioural and learning challenges.

It is thought to affect 1 in 4,000 males and 1 in 5,000–8,000 females worldwide. As observed, it primarily affects males, as it relates to genetics and the passing down of genes from parent to child.

Actinogen’s trial will enrol around 50 patients. The cohort will receive treatment over 12 weeks to observe the effects of Xanamem on Fragile X syndrome.

Investors can expect readouts from the study’s results sometime in 2023, per the announcement.

Aside from this, Actinogen also advised it had signed a letter of intent with Worldwide Clinical Trials Limited (WWC) to ‘operationalise’ the trial.

The move appears to be strategic from Actinogen, given that WWC is a research organisation that specialises in neurological, paediatric and rare diseases.

The letter of intent was signed for an amount of $944,724 and funds will be used “for start-up activities to enable prompt activation of [trial] sites”.

It has a duration of 60 days whilst a full contract is negotiated but can be cancelled with a full refund of any unused monies.

Actinogen Medical share price snapshot

It’s been a year of outsized returns for the Actinogen Medical share price, having posted a gain of 673% in the last 12 months after rallying 710% this year to date.

Each of these results has shot past the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index (ASX: XJO)’s climb of around 20% in that time.

The post Why the Actinogen (ASX:ACW) share price is sinking 16% on Tuesday appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• ASX 200 (ASX:XJO) midday update: NAB result disappoints, PointsBet surges
• Zip (ASX:Z1P) CEO: ‘We’d be very, very profitable, but we’re reinvesting for growth’
• Why is the Bendigo Bank (ASX:BEN) share price having such a tough time of late?
• Brokers name 3 ASX dividend shares to buy now
• Why the Chalice Mining (ASX:CHN) share price is rocketing 19% today

The author Zach Bristow 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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At lunch on Tuesday, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is on course to record another small decline. The benchmark index is currently down 0.2% to 7,439.4 points.

Here’s what is happening on the ASX 200 today:

NAB full year results disappoint

The National Australia Bank Ltd (ASX: NAB) share price is trading lower today after its full year results fell a touch short of expectations. For the 12 months ended 30 September, NAB delivered a 76.8% increase in cash earnings to $6,558 million. This compares to Morgans’ estimate of $6,597 million. Also potentially weighing on its shares was management’s FY 2022 commentary. It warned that competitive pressures are expected to continue in FY 2022, impacting housing lending margins.

PointsBet shares jump

The PointsBet Holdings Ltd (ASX: PBH) share price is surging higher today after revealing that the New York State Gaming Commission (NYSGC) has recommended it for a licence to operate mobile sports wagering in New York when laws change. PointsBet was one of nine companies to be awarded a Platform Provider licence. Official approval procedures are still to follow, with the recommended operators to undertake independent system testing ahead of official launch. This is expected in early 2022.

Newcrest announces acquisition

The Newcrest Mining Ltd (ASX: NCM) share price is trading lower today despite announcing a major acquisition. This morning the gold mining giant announced that it has agreed to buy Canadian metals and mining company Pretium Resources for A$20.03 per share or 0.8084 Newcrest shares for each Pretium share held. On an undiluted basis, this values Pretium at around $2.8 billion. Newcrest expects the acquisition to boost production by >300Koz per annum to over 2Moz.

Best and worst ASX 200 performers

The best performer on the ASX 200 on Tuesday has been the PointsBet share price with a gain of almost 8% following its New York update. The worst performer has been the CSR Limited (ASX: CSR) share price with a 4.5% decline. A good portion of this decline is due to the building products company’s shares going ex-dividend today.

The post ASX 200 (ASX:XJO) midday update: NAB result disappoints, PointsBet surges appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Newcrest (ASX:NCM) share price slides 3% following Pretium acquisition
• NAB (ASX:NAB) share price falls despite bumper $6.56 billion cash profit
• PointsBet (ASX:PBH) share price on watch after New York update
• NAB (ASX:NAB) share price on watch after reporting 77% jump in cash earnings
• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Tuesday

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 shares of and has recommended Pointsbet Holdings Ltd. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Pointsbet Holdings 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 edging lower on Tuesday, currently down 0.12% to 7,443 points. However, it’s a better story for the Zip Co Ltd (ASX: Z1P) share price. At the time of writing, Zip shares are up by 1.79% to $6.24 apiece.

This rise comes amid some interesting developments for Zip. Earlier this year, we covered how Zip was planning to expand into the world of cryptocurrency (and potentially share) trading.

And yet the Zip share price has still been struggling lately, with this buy now, pay later (BNPL) company down roughly 4.4% over the past 12 months.

Perhaps this sluggish share price performance can be blamed on Zip’s lack of profitability. After all, even though Zip reported $403.2 million in revenue for FY2021, along with transaction volumes of $5.8 billion and a cash gross profit of $198 million, it still recorded a net earnings loss of $22.9 million for FY21. That means Zip still lacks a positive price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio.

What the Zip CEO had to say

But seeming lack of profitability isn’t bothering Zip in the slightest. According to recent reporting in The Sydney Morning Herald (SMH), Zip co-founder and CEO Larry Diamond reckons Zip could easily be profitable right now if the company wasn’t ploughing so much cash into more growth.

“If we dropped all of our growth capex, sure, we’d be very, very profitable, but we’re reinvesting for growth,” he told the SMH.

Diamond said Zip is moving in on the cryptocurrency space simply because “you always give customers what they want”.

But it might be a while until we Aussies get it. The company will reportedly be introducing its crypto product into the US markets first, and “within the next year”. This will initially focus on purely investing in digital coins, but Zip does have plans to facilitate customers using the coins to pay for purchases.

However, Zip might have some stiff competition when it does get to offering crypto services here in Australia. As the Fool covered recently, Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd (ASX: ANZ) might also be planning to move into the crypto services space. If it does, it will be joining Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA), which announced its own crypto plans earlier this month. 

But Zip should be used to some healthy competition by now, given how crowded the BNPL sector has become.

At Zip’s latest share price of $6.24, this company has a market capitalisation of $3.56 billion.

The post Zip (ASX:Z1P) CEO: ‘We’d be very, very profitable, but we’re reinvesting for growth’ 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. owns shares of and has recommended ZIPCOLTD FPO. 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 Bendigo and Adelaide Bank Ltd (ASX: BEN) share price has been falling in recent times. It has dropped more than 10% over the last three months.

It was in August that the regional bank reported a mixed set of numbers in FY21.

If you didn’t catch the result, here are some of the highlights:

Bendigo Bank’s FY21 numbers

Total income on a cash basis were up 4.5% to $1.7 billion. Statutory net profit increased by 172% to $524 million.

Cash earnings after tax grew by 51.5% to $457.2 million. On a per-share basis, earnings went up 43.4% to 85.6 cents.

The balance sheet also strengthened, with the common equity tier 1 (CET1) capital ratio improved by 32 basis points to 9.57%.

However, the net interest margin (NIM) fell by 7 basis points to 2.26%. Bendigo Bank explained that this happened due to significant growth in fixed lending and competitive new business rates. The funding mix and deposit repricing benefits provided a tailwind throughout the year, according to the bank.

Bendigo Bank pointed out that it was successful in achieving growing customer numbers and increasing market share in both lending and deposits. It has been working on a transformation which has helped its efficiency, productivity, speed to market and the customer experience. Its net promoter score (NPS) of 27.3 was “well in excess” of the industry average of 25.7 points and the average of the major banks (29.8 points).

Outlook

Investors sometimes decide that an outlook can be very important how to value a business, which could impact the Bendigo Bank share price.

The regional bank noted that the historic low interest rate environment continues to place pressure on its margins. However, it’s taking advantage of “strong” customer lending demand across its consumer, business and agribusiness divisions.

It’s expecting its lending to grow quicker than the overall loan system, whilst maintaining a focus on costs, improving productivity and preserving a “strong and resilient” balance sheet.

Annual general meeting (AGM)

Bendigo Bank is holding its AGM today. The managing director and CEO, Marnie Baker, had a few more comments about the outlook, who said:

The depth of the economic contraction through the pandemic has not been as severe as initially expected, which has improved the forward outlook…I’m encouraged by the recent rise in consumer and business confidence, the reopening of domestic and international borders and the resilience demonstrated by the Australian economy in the last financial year.

With that said, the operating environment for the banking industry has its challenges, with net interest margins experiencing continued compression and the lending environment remaining highly competitive.

We continue to manage our cost base relative to revenue expectations, delivering on our commitment to further reduce our cost to income ratio and lift shareholder returns.

Is the Bendigo Bank share price a buy today?

The brokers at Macquarie Group Ltd (ASX: MQG) think that it is worth a buy, with a price target of $11. Macquarie believes the low valuation makes up for the difficulties that the bank is currently seeing. The broker is expecting margins to remain challenged by the current environment, though it thinks revenue can keep rising.

Macquarie thinks that Bendigo Bank is valued at under 14x FY22’s estimated earnings with a forward grossed-up dividend yield of 8.5%.

The post Why is the Bendigo Bank (ASX:BEN) share price having such a tough time of late? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• These 6 ASX shares are going ex-dividend this week
• Why is the Macquarie (ASX:MQG) share price sliding lower today?
• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Monday
• Top brokers name 3 ASX shares to buy next week
• Why did the Macquarie (ASX:MQG) share price have such a great month in October?

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 shares of and has recommended Bendigo and Adelaide Bank Limited and Macquarie 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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Are you looking for dividend shares to add to your income portfolio? Then the three listed below could be top options.

Here’s why analysts rate these dividend shares highly:

Adairs Ltd (ASX: ADH)

The first dividend share to look at is Adairs. It is a leading homewares and furniture retailer with both a physical presence and growing online presence. The latter includes through both its core brand and its online only Mocka brand.

The team at UBS are positive on Adairs. A recent note reveals that its analysts have a buy rating and $5.40 price target on the company’s shares. As for dividends, UBS is forecasting fully franked dividends of 19.6 cents per share in FY 2022 and 29.9 cents per share in FY 2023. Based on the current Adairs share price of $3.53, this will mean yields of 5.5% and 8.5%, respectively.

DEXUS Property Group (ASX: DXS)

Another ASX dividend share to look at is Dexus. It is an Australian real estate company focused on office, industrial and retail properties. It has just added to its high quality portfolio through the acquisition of $1.5 billion worth of industrial assets. These assets include Jandakot Airport in Perth and a logistics centre leased to Australia Post.

Macquarie is positive on the company and has an outperform rating and $11.67 price target on its shares. The broker is also forecasting dividends per share of 52.9 cents in FY 2022 and 57.3 cents in FY 2023. Based on the current Dexus share price of $11.31, this will mean yields of 4.7% and 5.1%, respectively.

Transurban Group (ASX: TCL)

A final ASX dividend share to look at is Transurban. It is a toll road operator with a portfolio of important roads throughout Australia and North America. This includes the CityLink in Melbourne, Cross City Tunnel in Sydney, and the AirportlinkM7 in Brisbane. Although traffic volumes have been impacted by the pandemic and recent lockdowns, they are expected to rebound now that Australia is reopen.

Morgans expects this to be the case and is forecasting dividends per share of 39 cents in FY 2022 and then 57 cents in FY 2023. Based on the current Transurban share price of $13.83, this implies yields of 2.8% and 4.1%, respectively. Morgans has an add rating and $14.79 price target on its shares.

The post Brokers name 3 ASX dividend shares to buy now appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

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• Transurban (ASX:TCL) share price edges lower amid completion of WestConnex acquisition
• The Adairs (ASX:ADH) share price has dropped 24% since June. What’s happening?
• 2 excellent ASX dividend shares rated as buys

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 shares of and has recommended ADAIRS FPO. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of and has recommended ADAIRS FPO. 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 Chalice Mining Ltd (ASX: CHN) share price has returned from its trading halt with a bang on Tuesday.

In morning trade, the gold explorer’s shares are up 19% to $8.07.

Why is the Chalice Mining share price rocketing higher?

Investors have been bidding the Chalice Mining share price higher today after it released its maiden mineral resource estimate for the Gonneville deposit at the Julimar Project in Western Australia.

According to the release, the company has defined a tier-1 scale, pit-constrained maiden resource for Gonneville, which includes a mix of oxide, transitional and sulphide mineralisation.

The maiden indicated and inferred, pit constrained, mineral resource estimate is for 10Moz of palladium, platinum, and gold, 530kt of nickel, 330kt of copper and 53kt of cobalt.

This makes it the largest nickel sulphide discovery in over 20 years and the largest platinum-group elements (PGE) discovery in Australian history. Management believes that this establishes the foundation for a world-class green metals project.

What’s next?

Chalice advised that drilling is continuing at the ~1.9km x 0.9km deposit outside the maiden resource, with assays pending for ~160 drill holes and five rigs continuing to test for extensions of high-grade mineralisation.

Gonneville remains open at the Julimar State Forest boundary to the north, where approval to drill over a further ~10km of strike length is anticipated to be received shortly. The deposit also remains open beyond a depth of ~630m.

Also ongoing is its scoping study. That study is scoping the initial mine development options at Gonneville and is expected to be completed in the second quarter of 2022.

“Major milestone”

Chalice’s Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Alex Dorsch, commented: “This is a major milestone for Chalice, coming just 18 months after our stunning first hole discovery at Julimar. Since then, we have completed more than 175,000m of diamond and RC drilling and now defined a genuine tier-1 scale deposit of critical minerals, with exceptional growth potential.”

“The Resource confirms that Gonneville is the largest nickel sulphide discovery globally in over two decades, and the largest PGE discovery in Australia’s history – a remarkable achievement considering that this is the first discovery in what we consider to be an entirely new district, Julimar, within a new nickel-copper-PGE province, the West Yilgarn.”

“Given its sheer scale, the attractive suite of six payable metals it contains and its premier location close to world-class infrastructure and services in Perth, Chalice clearly has the potential to become a leading global player in the green metals space.”

The Chalice Mining share price is now up almost 90% in 2021.

The post Why the Chalice Mining (ASX:CHN) share price is rocketing 19% today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

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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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It was a big night last night for the PayPal Holdings Inc (NASDAQ: PYPL) share price.

The United States-based payments giant released its results for the third quarter of 2021, which produced some mixed numbers. On the other hand, the company also announced it is partnering with Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ: AMZN) to offer its Venmo payment option at the online checkout.

Despite this news, the PayPal share price is trading 4.3% lower to US$229.42 a pop in after-hours trade.

Let’s take a look at the latest announcement.

One door closes, another one opens

A multi-decade partnership between PayPal and eBay Inc (NASDAQ: EBAY) has been coming to an end since the e-commerce platform failed to renew its agreement with the payment provider in 2018. According to its latest quarterly results, eBay now represents only 3% of the total payment volume for PayPal.

As the door closes on one e-commerce partnership, another has swung open. Favourably for PayPal shareholders, the company has moved up in the world in terms of partnership size. Today, the company announced the inking of a deal with the fifth-largest listed company in the world — Amazon.

Indeed, the new partnership will likely only increase PayPal’s already established ubiquity in the payments world. At the end of the third quarter, the company’s payment method was available across 75% of the top 1,500 North American and European retailers.

PayPal plans to launch its integration on Amazon in 2022, allowing customers to make purchases on the site using their Venmo accounts. Yet, the PayPal share price is down in after-hours trade today.

Commenting on the announcement, PayPal CEO Dan Schulman said:

This is obviously a very significant effort in our Venmo monetisation efforts. It marks the beginning of an exciting journey with Amazon, now that we’re no longer constrained by the contractual obligations of the eBay operating agreement.

PayPay share price in review

The last month has been a bumpy ride for the US payments company. On 20 October, the market reacted with increased selling pressure after rumours surfaced that PayPal might have been looking to acquire social media service, Pinterest Inc (NYSE: PINS).

However, this rumour was later dispelled by PayPal, stating it was not pursuing Pinterest “at this time”.

The PayPal share price is down 10% in the last month. As a result, the company is currently trading on price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 56 times.

The post PayPal strikes a deal with Amazon, what could this mean for the share price? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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• Why PayPal stock popped On Monday
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• Why Robinhood Should Worry About PayPal’s New Payments App

John Mackey, CEO of Whole Foods Market, an Amazon subsidiary, is a member of The Motley Fool’s board of directors. Motley Fool contributor Mitchell Lawler 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 Amazon and PayPal Holdings. 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 Australian gold mining magnate Newcrest Mining Ltd (ASX: NCM) are slipping into the red this morning following a company update.

Newcrest announced it has agreed to buy Canadian metals and mining company Pretium Resources.

The deal is an optional exchange of A$20.03 per share or 0.8084 Newcrest shares for each Pretium share held.

On an undiluted basis, this values Pretium at around $2.8 billion, a 23% premium to its current enterprise value of $2.3 billion.

Newcrest buys Pretium for immediate free cash flow

The Australian based gold miner is set to pay a 23% premium to Pretium’s closing share price on Monday, valuing the deal at almost $3 billion.

Newcrest already had a 4.8% stake in its Canadian counterpart, and following the acquisition, will now lay claim to the Brucejack operation in the ‘highly prospective’ Golden Triangle region of British Columbia.

The Brucecjack site was started in 2017 and is now one of the highest grade operating gold mines in the world, according to Newcrest.

It has an estimated gold production of 311 thousand ounces (Koz) per year at an all-in sustaining cost (AISC) of $743 per ounce, and a projected mine life of 13 years.

Pretium’s board has unanimously voted its shareholders to accept the deal, however to proceed, it must receive approval from 66.66% of all its shareholders.

Not only that, the transaction must still be approved by the Supreme Court of British Columbia and pass a number of stress tests under the Canadian legislature.

Pretium shareholders can elect to receive a cash offer of C$18.50 per share (A$20.030/share) or 0.8084 Newcrest shares for each Pretium share held.

Those shareholders who do not elect any option will be defaulted a C$9.25 per share in cash and an exchange ratio of 0.4042 in Newcrest shares.

According to Newcrest’s CEO Sandeep Biswas, the deal offers “immediate production, free cash flow and earnings diversification to Newcrest” and will fit ‘seamlessly’ into its current portfolio.

For instance, Newcrest sees an additional 300Koz per annum to its gold production to ‘well over 2Moz’ with the purchase. It also reckons the deal is accretive to its EBITDA and overall cash flow.

Completion of the transaction is targeted for Q1 of CY22 according to the release.

What is management saying?

Speaking on the announcement, Biswas said:

Following due diligence, we believe that as the owner and operator of Brucejack we can build on the strong foundations established by Pretivm and deliver significant additional shareholder value by leveraging our experience in operating epithermal gold mines and applying our exploration and innovation expertise to realise potential resource and reserve growth. Resource and reserve growth and our commitment to investing in the area will underpin the success and longevity of mining in the region for the benefit of the First Nations people, host communities, British Columbia and Canada.

Newcrest Mining share price snapshot

Newcrest and its share price have been swimming in a sea of red the last 12 months, having posted a loss of 21% in that time.

This year to date has been no different, with Newcrest shares sliding around 4.5% into the red at the time of writing since January 1.

Both of these results have lagged the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index (ASX: XJO)’s return of around 20% by a considerable amount.

The post Newcrest (ASX:NCM) share price slides 3% following Pretium acquisition appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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The author Zach Bristow 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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