The Firefinch Ltd (ASX: FFX) share price is edging higher in early trade, up 1%.

Below we take a look at the ASX lithium share’s project update and the latest on its demerger plans.

Firefinch share price lifts on lithium expansion plans

The Firefinch share price is in the green this morning after the company reported it had formed a joint venture (JV) to develop the Goulamina Lithium Project, located in Mali.

The JV with Chinese company, Jiangxi Ganfeng Lithium (Ganfeng), will see Ganfeng pitch in US$130 million (AU$173 million) in cash as well as securing up to US$64 million in debt.

The JV remains subject to various conditions precedent, but has received Chinese regulatory approvals and support from Mali’s government.

The new partners plan to start a major 2-year drilling campaign. The US$6 million program will drill some 50 kilometres, with the aim of lifting reserves and resources to “rank Goulamina even higher among the largest global lithium projects”.

The company expects the new drill campaign will support a 23-year mine life at a higher rate of production. Its Definitive Feasibility Study (DFS) update is considering a 75% increase in production capacity. That would take production from 2.3 million to 4 million tonnes per year in a phase 2 expansion.

Demerger update

The Firefinch share price could also be getting a boost following this morning’s update on its demerger plans for Leo Lithium Pty Ltd. According to the release, once the demerger is complete, Leo will be a standalone company with a 50% interest in the JV with Ganfeng.

Leo Lithium aims to be listed on the ASX by the end of the March 2022 quarter. A shareholder meeting to vote on the demerger is slated for February.

Under the existing proposal, Firefinch would hold on up to 20% of Leo shares post demerger. Eligible Firefinch shareholders will receive an in-specie distribution of Leo shares at no cost.

What did management say?

Commenting on the progress, Firefinch’s managing director, Michael Anderson said:

Considerable progress has been made advancing Goulamina over the past few months. The key takeaway is that following the proposed demerger in 2022, Goulamina will be substantially funded, with engineering and procurement well progressed and 50km of drilling already underway.

Importantly, Goulamina will be on a quick path to production, expected in 2023, and in an enviable position to take advantage of prevailing very strong lithium market conditions.

Firefinch share price snapshot

The Firefinch share price is up an eye-popping 253% year-to-date. By comparison the All Ordinaries Index (ASX: XAO) is up 11% so far in 2021.

Over the past month Firefinch shares have gained 10%.

The post Firefinch (ASX:FFX) share price lifts on lithium update appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• ASX lithium shares mixed on Tuesday as prices surge to all-time highs
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• Firefinch (ASX:FFX) share price struggles despite lithium project update

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 cannabis shares were once one of the hottest sectors with no shortage of new pot stocks hitting the market.

The Cann Group Ltd (ASX: CAN) share price, for example, skyrocketed almost 300% between September 2017 and January 2018 amid the federal government allowing medicinal cannabis exports and booming M&A deals taking place across the sector.

Unfortunately, money came out of this sector as fast as it went in.

Fast forward to today, most ASX cannabis shares sit around multi-year, if not all-time lows. It isn’t unusual to find players down 80-90% from their all-time highs.

Despite being beaten up and battered, these cannabis shares have managed to find somewhat of a floor in recent months.

While trading sideways for the past 1-2 months, this week has proven to be a small win for these beaten-up stocks.

The Cann Group share price is up 20.5% this week to a 3-month high of 34 cents.

Althea Group Holdings Ltd (ASX: AGH) is up 9.5% to a 2-month high of 29 cents.

Similarly, Ecofibre Ltd (ASX: EOF) is up 4.7% to a 4-month high of 89 cents.

Why ASX cannabis shares are bouncing higher?

ASX cannabis shares are likely taking off after a 7.1% jump in the Global X Cannabis Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) on Tuesday night.

The cannabis ETF invests in companies across the industry, involved in the legal production, growth and distribution of cannabis and industrial hemp.

Canadian and US-listed companies make up more than 90% of its allocation but the ETF does have a small allocation in Creso Pharma Ltd (ASX: CPH).

Last month, the Motley Fool US reported that a panel from the US House of Representatives is preparing for a vote to “federally legalise marijuana” outright.

This move will look to “decriminalise marijuana federally” in the US by removing it from the Controlled Substances Act.

The post Beaten up ASX cannabis shares showing signs of life appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Creso Pharma (ASX:CPH) share price struggles despite study update
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Motley Fool contributor Kerry Sun 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 Super Retail Group Ltd (ASX: SUL) share price is rallying higher after the company released a trading update for the first 16 weeks of FY22.

At the time of writing, the Super Retail share price is up 3.34% trading at $13.46.

How did Super Retail fare during this trading period?

COVID-19 lockdowns across key markets of New South Wales, Victoria, ACT and New Zealand have severely impacted trading, more so than the previous corresponding period.

Super Retail reported year to date like-for-like sales declines across the board for the first 16 weeks for FY22, with Supercheap Auto sales sinking 13%, Rebel Sports falling 10%, BCF down 12% and Macpac down 10%.

Overall group sales declined 12%.

The company advised that excluding the major impacted markets of New South Wales and Victoria, group like-for-like sales in the first 16 weeks of FY22 was 6% lower than FY21 and 27% higher than FY20.

Online sales channel performance was encouraging, increasing 96% and representing 30% of overall group sales, year-to-date.

Click and collect sales also grew by 163%, outpacing home delivery and representing 59% of overall online sales.

So far in FY22, the company has maintained gross margin improvements achieved in FY21.

However, the trading update warned that ongoing freight and logistics costs associated with elevated levels of inventory could weigh on future gross margins.

Looking ahead, management said it was confident about the key cyber and Christmas trading period, with a “fortified inventory position across all four of its core brands”.

Management reiterated that the group was undertaking significant investment in its customer loyalty and data and analytics capability. The multi-year program is expected to have an impact on operating expenses in the first half and beyond.

Management commentary

Super Retail Group managing director and CEO Anthony Heraghty commented on the results, saying:

In FY22 year to date, we have maintained steady trading momentum in non-COVID impacted regions and we are confident that we will see a rebound in sales as lockdowns end and stores re-open.

As COVID-19 restrictions ease, we are looking forward to helping our customers celebrate by providing them with all of the products they need to resume travelling, playing sport and enjoying the great outdoors.

The group has a strong inventory position and is well placed to take advantage of the expected uplift in consumer demand in the auto, leisure and outdoor categories over the summer holiday period.

Super Retail share price snapshot

The Super Retail share price has been a solid performer so far in 2021, up 27.8% year-to-date.

Today’s lift puts it within arm’s reach of August all-time highs of $13.73.

The post Super Retail (ASX:SUL) share price climbs 3% on trading update appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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• Here are 2 ASX dividend shares analysts rate highly
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• Why Collins Foods, Pilbara Minerals, Sezzle, & Super Retail are pushing higher

Motley Fool contributor Kerry Sun 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 Super Retail Group Limited. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of and has recommended Super Retail 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 Australian Ethical Investment Ltd (ASX: AEF) share price is gaining some serious field position this week, having closed at its record high three consecutive days in a row now.

The Australian fund manager has benefitted immensely from a backdrop of positive retail investing trends and record inflows to its investment vehicles this quarter.

Read on for more details.

Australian Ethical charges higher on record fund inflows

As investing trends continue towards the inclusion of the retail crowd in the foreseeable future, capital continues pouring into Australian equity funds.

In fact, 2021 has been a record year for global equity markets as investors spill their hard-earned capital – or the government monies provided to them in response to COVID-19 lockdowns – into financial markets at a pace never seen before.

For instance, global equity fund inflows for the first half of 2021 were the highest on record. Just shy of $600 billion of investor capital moved into equity market funds around the world.

Australia was no different and the bulk of ASX listed funds and products gained in assets and market capitalisation during September as well.

The culmination of this enormous build-up in assets such as shares and derivatives in 2021 appears to have certainly carried over to Australian Ethical’s books.

It announced in its quarterly update that it had recorded an 8% increase in its funds under management (FUM) to an all-time high of $6.54 billion.

This growth was underscored by $160 million of cash inflows into Australian Ethical’s products. The company partially attributes this to its high net worth clients rolling over their positions. (It’s worth noting here that some investment products, like derivatives contracts, for instance, have expiry dates and need to be reinstated; or different positions require asset managers to adapt depending on market trends.)

With these underlying factors in place, it appears investors have rewarded the company this quarter.

Consequently, the Australian Ethical share price has rallied from $10.65 to $12.51 in the last week of trade after its Q3 fund flows update. At the time of writing, the company’s shares are trading at $12.56, up 0.4% on yesterday’s close.

The trading volume of Australian Ethical’s shares yesterday was also 37% higher than its 4-week average volume, indicating the demand to get a piece of the fund manager.

Australian Ethical share price snapshot

The Australian Ethical share price has climbed 151% this year to date, adding to its 173% in gains over the last 12 months.

Without question, this comes in ahead of the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO)’s return of around 19% in that time.

The post Why has the Australian Ethical (ASX:AEF) share price rallied 17% in a week? 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. owns shares of and has recommended Australian Ethical Investment Ltd. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Australian Ethical Investment 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 Kogan.com Ltd (ASX: KGN) share price has been a very strong performer on Wednesday.

In early trade, the ecommerce company’s shares are up 8% to $11.85.

Kogan share price jumps after Q1 update

The catalyst for the rise in the Kogan share price today has been the release of a trading update. Here are a few highlights:

• Gross sales grew 21.1% year on year and 23.2% quarter on quarter to $330.5 million
• Gross profit fell 1.7% year on year but grew 31.6% quarter on quarter to $52.5 million
• Kogan.com Active Customers grew 30.7% year on year and 4.5% quarter on quarter to 3,351,000
• Mighty Ape Active Customers fell 2.1% quarter on quarter to 748,000
• Kogan First members grew 171.1% year on year and 64.4% quarter on quarter to 197,000

What happened during the quarter?

During the quarter, Kogan advised that it focused on further scaling the Kogan Marketplace and Kogan First loyalty program, improving logistics and customer service, and driving synergies through the successful integration of Mighty Ape.

It notes that these initiatives underpinned growth in Kogan.com’s active customer base, cementing its position as one of the largest online shopping communities in Australia.

Kogan also revealed that it resolved previous inventory pressures and closed a number of inefficient overflow warehouses. This reduction in inventory levels led to the company significantly reducing its warehousing costs, delivering an average variable cost saving of $0.8 million per month during the quarter compared to the fourth quarter of FY 2021.

At the end of the period, the company’s inventory had reduced by 14.7% to $194.3 million. This comprises $154.2 million in its warehouse (down 20%) and $40.1 million in transit. Given how inventory concerns have been weighing heavily on the Kogan share price, this news will no doubt be welcomed by the market.

Management commentary

Kogan.com’s Founder & CEO, Ruslan Kogan, was very pleased with the quarter.

He commented: “When it comes to delighting our customers, we set a very high standard for ourselves, and I am proud of the way the Kogan.com team has continued to deliver on our mission of making the most in-demand products and services more affordable and accessible. While overcoming many challenges, the Kogan.com team has continued to deliver strong growth while investing in the future of the business and incubating new ways to deliver more value to our customers over the long term.”

The post Kogan (ASX:KGN) share price surges 8% higher amid strong Q1 sales growth 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 shares of and has recommended Kogan.com ltd. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of and has recommended Kogan.com 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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Income investors are always on the hunt for high-yielding shares. However, high yields don’t necessarily mean high overall returns. For example, sometimes high-dividend stocks can be misleading because of their high yield but depressed share price; this is known as a ‘fallen angel’. Regardless of how you look at them, we have put together a list of the 5 highest-yielding ASX 200 stocks based on dividend yield.

Perhaps to no one’s surprise, iron ore producers feature heavily in the highest yielding stocks in the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO). This is a product of mainly two predominant factors that have played out over the past year. Firstly, the soaring price of the steelmaking commodity in the first half of the year. Secondly — ironically — is the tumbling price of the same commodity since July.

We’ll cover this in more detail shortly, but now, let’s dive into the highest yielding stocks in the ASX 200.

High yielding ASX dividend stocks

Cromwell Property Group (ASX: CMW)

The first cab off the ranks is diversified real estate investor and manager, Cromwell Property Group. Some background on Cromwell — it holds nearly $12 billion in assets under management, with over 2,700 tenant customers. These property assets are spread across 15 countries with the majority of the spaces leased as office spaces.

At the time of writing, Cromwell offers a dividend yield of 8.2% based on the dividend payments made over the last 12 months. The annual dividend per share (DPS) has been declining since 2018, while the dividend yield has stayed between the 6% to 9% range. This is due to the fall in the Cromwell Property share price in recent times, which inflates the dividend yield.

BHP Group Ltd (ASX: BHP)

Next on the list of the highest yielding dividend stocks in the ASX 200 is Australia’s third-largest listed company, BHP.

A booming period for commodities meant the diversified miner experienced a bumper year for profits. In turn, the company unleashed a dividend bonanza on its shareholders. The increase in dividends paid out to shareholders increased ~150% year on year, bringing the dividend yield to 10.5%.

However, it is worth noting that this yielding has increased with the BHP share price collapsing ~30% from its highs on the back of the falling iron ore price.

AGL Energy Limited (ASX: AGL)

Another victim of declining DPS and surging yields is one of Australia’s oldest companies, AGL Energy. It seems the $4 billion electricity and gas provider couldn’t catch a break in the last 12 months as additional costs stacked higher and higher. Provisions for out-of-the-money renewable power-purchasing contracts and restoration of generations sites pulled AGL down to a $2.06 billion loss in FY21.

Despite the catastrophe, the company paid a total of 65 cents per share in dividends over the past year. Based on the current AGL share price, that equates to a dividend yield of 10.6%. Once again, this yield is boosted by the company’s share price tumbling 54.3% during the payment of those dividends.

Rio Tinto Limited (ASX: RIO)

That brings us to the second-highest yielding dividend stock in the ASX 200, Rio Tinto. Once again, following a common thematic of the cash-heavy iron ore producers, Rio Tinto has gone on a dividend splurge over the past 12 months.

With profits ballooning to US$18.8 billion, up from US$7.2 billion in the prior year, the mining giant had plenty of ammo to distribute large payouts to shareholders over the past 12 months. As a result, the company’s DPS for the last year stands at US$9.312. This equates to a dividend yield of 13% based on the current Rio Tinto share price.

Fortescue Metals Group Limited (ASX: FMG)

Finally, the highest yielding dividend stock in the ASX 200 is the fast-growing Aussie iron ore producer, Fortescue Metals.

Benefitting from the soaring iron ore prices in the first half of the year, the company chaired by Andrew ‘Twiggy’ Forrest grew its earnings by more than double the previous year. As a result, the company decided to increase dividends by a similar proportion, rising from US$1.403 to US$3.035 in the space of 12 months.

Unfortunately for shareholders, the Fortescue share price was the hardest hit out of the big iron ore producers, falling by nearly 50% over the last few months. As a result, the company’s dividend yield has been inflated to an astronomical 27.9% — making it easily the highest yielding dividend stock in the ASX 200.

The post These are the 5 highest yielding dividend stocks in the ASX 200 appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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• Own BHP (ASX:BHP) shares? Here’s how Twiggy is heating up competition for battery minerals
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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 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 Whispir Ltd (ASX: WSP) share price is on form on Wednesday morning.

At the time of writing, the cloud communications software company’s shares are up 8% to $2.32.

Why is the Whispir share price jumping?

Investors have been bidding the Whispir share price higher following the release of its first quarter update. Here are a few highlights from the quarter:

• Annualised Recurring Revenue (ARR) increased 31.8% year on year to $56.8 million
• 33 net new customers onboarded taking total customers to 834, up 25.4% year on year
• 12-month customer revenue retention of 117.2%
• Quarterly cash receipts up 55.7% year on year to $16.3 million
• Cash and equivalents balance of $43.9 million

What happened during the quarter?

Whispir had a solid quarter and delivered a 31.8% year on year or 6% quarter on quarter increase in its ARR to $56.8 million.

Management advised that this reflects the global megatrends of digitisation and digital transformation which are supporting increasing demand for communications intelligence.

This led to Whispir onboarding 33 net new customers during the quarter. Management notes that these customers were diverse in both regional and industry attributes and took its total customers to 834. This represents 25.4% growth over the prior corresponding period.

Pleasingly, the company also reported that its customers grow stickier over time, as reflected by its 12-month revenue retention of 117.2%. Management feels this highlights strong levels of product satisfaction and expects it to underpin Whispir’s future revenue.

Operating cash outflows increased by $2.4 million quarter on quarter to $2.9 million. This was broadly in line with the execution of the company’s growth strategy as it scales globally. Despite this increase, Whispir ended the quarter with a strong cash and equivalents balance of $43.9 million.

Whispir’s CEO, Jeromy Wells, commented: “Strategic investments across our product roadmap, sales, marketing and customer service continued during the Quarter as we onboard our new customers across ANZ, Asia and North America, while delivering better value for existing customers on the platform.”

“This is a strong Quarter of growth for Whispir and we’re seeing quality sales momentum across each of our regions. As COVID-related restrictions continue to ease, we’re anticipating a return of demand from customers in suppressed industries including transport and aviation. We are ramping up investment in the capability of our global team – which increased by more than 30 people over the quarter – to widen our competitive moat, improve speed to market, and over time, reduce the cost of customer acquisition,” he added.

What’s next?

Positively, Whispir has reaffirmed its FY 2022 guidance. It continues to expect ARR of $65.4 million to $70 million. This represents year on year growth of 22% to 31%.

Mr Wells concluded: “As our customer growth continues, delivering stronger recurring revenues for Whispir, we’re pleased to reaffirm our outlook for FY22. ANZ continues to deliver impressive results and we’re building momentum in North America and Asia. We anticipate continued growth in our pipeline across all markets where Whispir is well placed to support businesses with their digitisation and digital transformation agendas.”

The post Whispir (ASX:WSP) share price jumps 8% on solid Q1 growth appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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• This ASX share has doubled this year but it’s still ‘early days’

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 Whispir Ltd. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Whispir 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 Flight Centre Travel Group Ltd (ASX: FLT) share price is falling on Wednesday.

In morning trade, the travel agent giant’s shares are down over 1% to $22.44.

Why is the Flight Centre share price falling?

Investors have been selling down the Flight Centre share price today following the release of a trading update at its annual general meeting.

According to the release, during the month of September, Flight Centre’s sales reached 27% of pre-COVID levels globally.

As per previous updates, the corporate side of the business is improving at a much quicker rate. Its sales were at 41% of pre-COVID levels during the month, with leisure sales tracking at 14% of pre-COVID levels.

However, this wasn’t enough to make the company cash flow positive during the month. Flight Centre needs to achieve 50% and 40%, respectively, to reach breakeven within each of these divisions. In light of this, Flight Centre recorded a net operating cash outflow of $41 million for the period.

Management commented: “Cash outflows impacted by decreased revenue during ANZ lockdowns, seasonality (extended Northern Hemisphere summer holidays), removal of government subsidies & significant investment ramp-up ahead of anticipated surge in demand when borders reopen.”

In respect to quarterly sales, the company generated almost almost $1.6 billion in gross total transaction value (TTV) during the first quarter. This represents an 8% increase on its fourth quarter result, despite the quarter traditionally being a softer trading period.

Current trading

Not even management’s positive commentary on current trading conditions in Australia has been able to stop the Flight Centre share price from falling.

It advised that there are positive early signs in the domestic market, with a surge in enquiries and bookings growth in October.

In addition, the company advised that international leisure bookings have now surpassed domestic bookings in Australia for the first time since the start of the pandemic. They almost tripled between July and September. This is a big positive as its Australian leisure business is very heavily weighted towards international travel. In fact, international travel represented more than 80% of its pre-COVID total transaction value.

Overall, booking numbers this month have already surpassed the September total with more than a third of the month still to come.

But as promising as this is, it hasn’t been enough to keep the Flight Centre share price from falling today.

The post Flight Centre (ASX:FLT) share price falls following Q1 update 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 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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The Adairs Ltd (ASX: ADH) share price is pushing higher on Wednesday morning.

At the time of writing, the furniture and homewares retailer’s shares are up 2.5% to $4.02.

Why is the Adairs share price rising?

Investors have been bidding the Adairs share price higher today following the release of a trading update at its annual general meeting.

That update reveals that, as was widely expected, the company’s sales have fallen year on year during the first 16 weeks of FY 2022.

According to the release, group sales were down 8.5% compared to the same period last year. This was driven largely by long and widespread mandated store closures in NSW, Victoria, the ACT, and Auckland. In fact, the company reported a ~47% reduction in the overall number of store trading days across its store network. The good news is that these store closures are now coming to an end.

Management estimates the value of total sales foregone in Adairs as a result of these mandated store closures is ~$28 million to $32 million. This is net of the estimated sales benefit captured in the Adairs online channel. The earnings before interest and tax impact of these lost sales is estimated to be in the range of $12 million to $15 million.

Management also advised that gross margins have moderated from the record levels achieved in FY 2021. However, they are expected to remain above FY 2020 levels.

What’s next?

Pleasingly, the company expects its sales to rebound now lockdowns are ending. It anticipates that pent-up demand, combined with the current online delivery delays, will encourage customers to shop in stores to secure their purchases in the lead up to Christmas.

In preparation, the company took steps earlier in the year to bring forward inventory purchases to ensure stock levels are in line with our operating requirements for the peak Christmas season.

The company has also elected to temporarily maintain the operation of one of its existing Distribution Centres in conjunction with the new DHL facility to help mitigate the risk of COVID-19 impacting its domestic supply chain.

Adairs CEO and Managing Director, Mark Ronan, commented: “While store closures in our key markets have made the start of FY22 operationally challenging, the key drivers of our growth remain and are all positively balanced. Our products are resonating well with customers, household savings remain elevated, the housing market is strong, and more than ever the home is seen as a sanctuary.”

“We are excited to be on a clear path to our stores reopening and, as NSW has shown, will benefit from pent up demand as stores re-open in Victoria, the ACT and Auckland. Our customers in these markets will undoubtedly enjoy welcoming family and friends back into their homes,” he added.

The post Adairs (ASX:ADH) share price pushes higher despite sales slump 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 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 OZ Minerals Limited (ASX: OZL) share price is on watch this morning as the gold and copper miner released its third-quarter results.

OZ Minerals shares finished in the red yesterday, around 0.7% down from the previous close at $25.99. That’s a shade off their 52-week closing high of about $27.

Read on for more details.

OZ Minerals hikes gold production forecasts

In its Q3 report, OZ explained that full-year group copper production is tracking in line to meet previously outlined guidance.

The company also detailed a number of progress points achieved throughout the quarter. The updates covered each of its Prominent Hill, West Musgrave province, Carrapateena and Brazil sites.

For instance, the company commenced a shaft mine expansion at Prominent Hill. And drilling has now started at West Musgrave’s Succoth Copper Deposit.

Aside from this, OZ Minerals left the quarter with a cash balance of $188 million. This is up from $134 million at the start of the period.

This was helped by a strong base of gold production in Q3. It produced 65,932 ounces on an all-in-sustaining cost (AISC) of US$1.067 per pound.

This appears to be backed by performance enhancements at each of its production facilities. This “continues to improve with production rates of 5.3Mtpa achieved during September.”

As a result of this uptick in capacity and strength in the underlying commodity markets, OZ Minerals has subsequently increased its full-year gold and copper production guidance.

The company now sees full-year gold production in a range of 220,000–243,000 ounces, up from 205,000 to 228,000.

Copper production guidance for the full year remains unchanged at 120,000 to 145,000 tonnes, underscored by production of 33,794 tonnes in Q3.

Importantly, OZ also forecasts its new guidance on a lower AISC base of US$1.25-US$1.40 per pound. This is around a 3%–5% decrease from previous modelling.

The OZ Minerals share price will be on watch this morning from the opening of trade as the market digests its production guidance upgrade.

OZ Minerals share price snapshot

The OZ Minerals share price has been a net winner on the ASX in 2021, having posted a return of 38% this year to date.

This extends its return over the last 12 months to 76%, well ahead of the S&P/ASX 200 Index‘s (ASX: XJO) return of ~19% in the same time.

The post OZ Minerals (ASX:OZL) share price in focus after production forecast hike 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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