The Flight Centre Travel Group Ltd (ASX: FLT) share price has been gaining momentum this week, as has its business according to the company’s investor presentation.

Flight Centre’s co-founder and managing director Graham Turner presented Bell Potter with a positive picture of the world’s return to travel and towards the travel agency’s services this week.

He also noted the complexities that will be involved with travelling internationally post-COVID-19. However, he said such complexities will “play to [Flight Centre’s] strengths”.

Right now, the Flight Centre share price is $18.34, 0.7% higher than its previous close.

Let’s take a closer look at the travel agency’s outlook for financial year 2022 (FY22).

“Light at the end of the lockdown tunnel”

The Flight Centre share price is in the ASX green so far this week, during which it released its investor presentation.

Turner gave the investor presentation to Bell Potter on Tuesday. He told the financial advisory firm the company’s looking forward to recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic and international travel’s resumption.

International flights from Australia are expected to take off in November and land in Fiji. Flight Centre expects that even more international travel to and from Australia will begin ramping up late in the first half of FY22.

That’s in line with Qantas Airways Limited‘s (ASX: QAN) plan to restart international flights in December.

The ASX 200 company also noted that the complexity that will come from navigating governmental policies, vaccine requirements, and additional paperwork will likely reinforce the value of Flight Centre’s travel agents.

Further, according to Flight Centre, if South Australia’s trial of at-home quarantine is rolled out across the country, it will remove one of the major impediments Australians face when travelling: Hotel quarantine.

However, the company is predicting sporadic lockdowns will continue to affect domestic travel over the current financial year.

Australia is on track to have 80% of those aged 16 and over fully vaccinated against COVID-19 by mid-late November.

On top of Australia’s growing vaccination rate, more than 60% of people in Flight Centre’s key markets are fully vaccinated.

Staying overseas, various travel bubbles between the US, UK, Canada, Europe, Singapore, and Brunei are opening this month. The company also experienced a rapid recovery in travel within the US towards the end of FY21.

All-in-all, Flight Centre believes it has found the “light at the end of the lockdown tunnel”. Like many Australians, the company’s looking forward to getting back to normal.

Flight Centre share price snapshot

The Flight Centre share price has been performing well on the ASX this year.

It is currently 14% higher than it was at the start of 2021. It has also gained 38% since this time last year.

The post Recovery gaining momentum: Flight Centre (ASX:FLT) boss appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Why the Flight Centre (ASX:FLT) share price is up 20% in a month
• These are the 10 most shorted ASX shares
• It’s been a great week so far for the Flight Centre (ASX:FLT) share price
• How have ASX travel shares performed during the August 2021 earnings season?
• Why A2 Milk, Flight Centre, Medibank, & St Barbara shares are dropping

Motley Fool contributor Brooke Cooper has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has 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.

from The Motley Fool Australia https://ift.tt/3zjzXbI

While the Australian tech sector is home to some high quality companies, as I highlighted here earlier, it still pales in comparison to the US tech sector.

So, if you are wanting to gain exposure to the US tech sector, then exchange traded funds (ETFs) could be an easy way to achieve this. These allow you to invest in groups of shares through just a single investment.

But which ETFs would be top options right now? Two ETFs that provide investors with access to some of the highest quality tech shares on Wall Street are listed below.

Here’s what you need to know about them:

BetaShares Global Cybersecurity ETF (ASX: HACK)

The first ETF to consider is the BetaShares Global Cybersecurity ETF. This fund gives investors exposure to a total of 39 cybersecurity companies. This includes industry giants and emerging players in the rapidly growing sector.

Among the companies you’ll be owning a slice of are Accenture, Cisco, Cloudflare, Crowdstrike, Fortinet, Okta, Proofpoint, Splunk, and Zscaler.

These companies look well-positioned for growth over the next decade. This is thanks to the increasing demand for cybersecurity services due to the shift to the cloud and the growing threat of cyberattacks.

Betashares Nasdaq 100 ETF (ASX: NDQ)

Another ETF for tech investors to consider buying is the Betashares Nasdaq 100 ETF. This popular ETF gives investors access to the 100 largest non-financial companies on Wall Street’s famous Nasdaq stock exchange.

Among the companies you’ll be owning a slice of are tech giants such as Amazon, Apple, Facebook, Microsoft, Netflix, Nvidia, and Google parent Alphabet.

Given how these companies are at the forefront of the new economy, they appear well-placed to continue growing for a long time to come. This could potentially mean the Betashares Nasdaq 100 ETF continues to generate market-beating returns long into the future.

The post 2 top ASX ETFs that give investors access to Wall Street’s best tech shares appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• 3 highly rated ETFs for ASX investors in September
• 2 popular ETFs for ASX investors to buy
• 3 top quality ETFs for ASX investors
• 3 ASX tech shares to buy
• 2 excellent tech ETFs for ASX investors

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 BETA CYBER ETF UNITS and BETANASDAQ ETF UNITS. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of and has recommended BETA CYBER ETF UNITS and BETANASDAQ ETF UNITS. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

from The Motley Fool Australia https://ift.tt/399g10H

The Atomo Diagnostics Ltd (ASX: AT1) share price has soared into the green during afternoon trade on Thursday.

Atomo shares are now changing hands at 33 cents apiece, a 15.79% jump from the open. This comes despite no market-sensitive news today.

Let’s dive in to see what’s fuelling the Atomo Diagnostics share price.

A quick refresher on Atomo Diagnostics’ position

Atomo is a medical devices company that supplies rapid antigen tests (RATs) to the clinical diagnostics market.

Atomo has been supplying its own RAT for COVID-19 to Australian businesses in order to gain traction. However, it has received little support from the Australian government, which prefers the PCR pathology test.

Just a side note – Atomo’s RAT isn’t trying to replace laboratory tests, like the PCR version. But experts say RATs lend a better speed and rate of testing the masses than the current state-backed testing regime.

This is especially true as the Delta outbreak has quashed Australia’s dreams of reaching a zero-COVID utopia. Instead, the complexity of lockdowns, lengthy pathology test result times, and vaccine rollouts have plugged the speed of Australia’s COVID-19 recovery.

In comes the demand for rapid antigen testing

Various sources have voiced their concern about the turnaround times of pathology testing for COVID-19.

However, the federal government is concerned about the accuracy of RATs, versus the conventional PCR test regime that can take several days to turn around results. For comparison, Atomo’s RATs can deliver results in 10 minutes.

Considering where Australia now stands with its “road to recovery” plan from COVID-19, it starts to make sense why Atomo’s rapid testing protocol is an attractive proposition for businesses.

And given it is one of the only ASX-listed companies with a track record of producing rapid antigen testing for COVID-19, it starts to make sense why the Atomo Diagnostics share price could benefit from a surge in testing demand.

One roadblock to the full adoption of rapid testing is that the government fully subsidises PCR testing, but not rapid testing. Some say this creates a cost issue.

Although, Atomo has already supplied its CareStart EZ COVID-19 test to a number of agencies, such as the Olympic team and aged care facilities, and even for free in some instances.

What next for Atomo Diagnostics?

Currently, the company is manufacturing inventory in the US, after its COVID-19 rapid tests received regulatory approval there.

In fact, Atomo can “bring in up to a million tests a week” to Australia if the demand is there, the company’s CEO John Kelly told The Australian yesterday.

“It depends on how extensive the rollout is and what government policies now start to appear on deployments outside corporates,” Kelly said.

“We are about to roll out a program to offer testing to smaller businesses that want to reopen…They can register and get trained onsite and then set up their own staff testing protocols under telehealth supervision.”

The Atomo Diagnostics share price has climbed 47% over the last week. This coincides with the NSW Government’s pandemic rollback and “freedoms” announcements.

Logically, demand for COVID-19 tests will no doubt be high over the entire “reopening” as risk mitigation.

Atomo Diagnostics share price snapshot

The Atomo Diagnostics share price has posted a return of around 6% since January 1. Aside from this, Atomo Diagnostics’ shares are down 11% over the past 12 months.

Both of these results have lagged the S&P/ASX 200 index (ASX: XJO)’s gain of around 25% over the past year.

The post Why the Atomo Diagnostics (ASX:AT1) share price has rallied 15% today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Why the Atomo Diagnostics (ASX:AT1) share price has soared 30% in a week
• Atomo Diagnostics (ASX:AT1) share price sinks 8% on FY21 results

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.

from The Motley Fool Australia https://ift.tt/2Z1lwN8

The Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA) will be brought before the Federal Court to face criminal charges of misleading customers.

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) revealed Thursday that 30 charges have been filed against the big bank after an investigation.

The matters relate to CBA’s promotion and sales of add-on insurance products CreditCard Plus and Loan Protection.

ASIC and the Commonwealth Director of Prosecutions will allege that over 5 years the bank made “false or misleading representations” to customers that those insurance policies had some use to them.

This is despite, they allege, part or all of the benefits not being available to those clients.

The Motley Fool has contacted Commonwealth Bank for comment.

The maximum penalty per offence is $1.7 million.

CBA’s behaviour was mentioned at the Royal Commission

A corporation facing a criminal, rather than a civil, case from an ASIC investigation is rare.

However, 2 criminal cases have been filed this year. They include this one, and charges against Bank of Queensland Limited (ASX: BOQ)-owned ME Bank back in May.

The corporate regulator also started a civil case against Westpac Banking Corp (ASX: WBC) in April.

Commonwealth Bank’s alleged behaviour was mentioned in the finance industry Royal Commission back in 2018.

ASIC noted Thursday that CBA had cooperated with its investigations so far. The date for the first mention in the Federal Court has yet to be set.

CBA shares were up 0.73% on Thursday afternoon, trading for $102.17. They have risen almost 22% this year.

The post Commonwealth Bank (ASX:CBA) faces 30 criminal charges appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• How has the CBA (ASX:CBA) share price performed since reporting results?
• Could liar loans crash the housing market?
• How these 4 ASX 200 bank shares have performed since reporting results
• CBA (ASX:CBA) share price slides amid upbeat $2b loan scheme
• CBA (ASX:CBA) share price edging higher as bank supports green loans

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.

from The Motley Fool Australia https://ift.tt/3tMtSUg

The AnteoTech Ltd (ASX: ADO) share price is accelerating to a 2-month high today. This comes after the surface chemistry company announced a distribution agreement for its EuGeni Rapid Diagnostic Platform.

At the time of writing, AnteoTech shares are swapping hands for 23 cents apiece, up 9.52%.

AnteoTech expands market presence

According to its release, AnteoTech advised it has signed an exclusive distribution agreement with Ramma Dental. This will see the EuGeni Reader platform and COVID-19 Antigen Rapid Diagnostic Test dispersed in both Greece and Cyprus.

The deal will come into effect from 1 October and be valid for an initial term of 3 years. A further 2 years can be extended by mutual agreement.

Both companies will assess large enterprise opportunities on a case-by-case basis.

Following the latest partnership, AnteoTech has secured distribution agreements across 13 countries. These include Australia, the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia, Turkey, Myanmar, Greece and Cyprus.

AnteoTech is now recruiting experienced candidates based in Australia and internationally to strengthen and support its sales and marketing activities.

Furthermore, the company is working with certain distributors to complete the regulatory requirements to register the EuGeni reader and test. It noted that once the process has been completed, the distributors can commence selling the EuGeni platform in their markets.

AnteoTech CEO, Derek Thomson said:

AnteoTech is aggressively growing the sales pipeline for the EuGeni reader by locking in distribution agreements that allow us to rapidly scale-up the platform’s roll-out. Similar agreements to the one we have announced today with Ramma Dental are pending which will further expand our geographical footprint and we look forward to reporting these.

Mr Thomson went on to add:

Concurrently, we are advancing regulatory approvals as quickly as possible in multiple markets. This is a critical pillar in establishing a sustainable business over the longer-term, and ensures that the EuGeni platform is recognised as the preferred and most dependable rapid test in these markets.

AnteoTech share price summary

Over the past 12 months, AnteoTech shares have jumped almost 280%, with year-to-date closing in on a 120% gain.

AnteoTech commands a market capitalisation of roughly $453.1 million and has approximately 2 billion shares on its registry.

The post Why the AnteoTech (ASX:ADO) share price is advancing 9% today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Why Anteotech, API, Myer, & Whitehaven Coal shares are charging higher
• Why AnteoTech, BlueBet, Flight Centre, & Mosaic Brands are racing higher
• Why AnteoTech, Appen, Aussie Broadband, & Tyro shares are charging higher

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.

from The Motley Fool Australia https://ift.tt/3nEfAnh

In afternoon trade, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) has followed Wall Street’s lead and is storming higher. At the time of writing, the benchmark index is up 0.6% to 7,460 points.

Four ASX shares that are climbing more than most today are listed below. Here’s why they are charging higher:

Anteotech Ltd (ASX: ADO)

The Anteotech share price is up over 9% to 23 cents. This morning the surface chemistry company announced that it has signed a distribution agreement with Ramma Dental. This is for the distribution of the EuGeni Reader platform and SARS-CoV-2 Antigen Rapid Diagnostic Test in Greece and Cyprus. This follows a similar deal for the Turkey market last week.

Australian Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd (ASX: API)

The Australian Pharmaceutical Industries share price is up over 16% to $1.48. The catalyst for this was Wesfarmers Ltd (ASX: WES) increasing its takeover offer for the pharmacy chain operator and distributor. According to the release, the conglomerate has tabled a $1.55 per share offer. This compares to its previous offer of $1.38 per share, which was rejected by the API board in July. Wesfarmers has been granted due diligence this time.

Myer Holdings Ltd (ASX: MYR)

The Myer share price has jumped 15% to 59 cents following the release of its full year results. For the 12 months ended 31 July, the department store operator reported a 5.5% increase in sales to $2,658.3 million and a net profit of $51.7 million. The latter compares favourably to a loss of $13.4 million in FY 2020. A key driver of its strong form was its online business. It reported a 27.7% increase in online sales to $539.5 million.

Whitehaven Coal Ltd (ASX: WHC)

The Whitehaven Coal share price is up almost 3% to $3.12. This morning the coal miner announced that plans to extend open-cut operations at its Vickery metallurgical coal project in New South Wales have now been approved. This approval will allow for annual coal extraction to more than double to around 10 million tonnes at the project.

The post Why Antotech, API, Myer, & Whitehaven Coal shares are charging higher appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• API (ASX:API) share price rockets 16% as Wesfarmers boosts offer
• Here’s why the Whitehaven Coal (ASX:WHC) share price is rising today
• Wesfarmers (ASX:WES) share price edges higher on sweetened API bid
• ASX 200 (ASX:XJO) midday update: Telstra unveils T25 strategy, Wesfarmers’ API offer
• Myer (ASX:MYR) share price jumps 7% on strong FY 2021 results

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

from The Motley Fool Australia https://ift.tt/3lvyJW4

It certainly has been an eventful 12 months for the Kogan.com Ltd (ASX: KGN) share price.

After hitting a record high of $25.57 in October last year, the ecommerce company’s shares are now trading at $10.15.

That’s a decline of 60% for the Kogan share price from its high.

What happened to the Kogan share price?

The weakness in the Kogan share price has been driven by the company’s well-documented inventory issues.

This was caused by management’s failure to predict a reduction in demand from consumers after bricks and mortar stores reopened, which led to Kogan having a backlog in inventory that it couldn’t shift.

While this is bitterly disappointing, one leading broker believes it is worth sticking with the company.

According to a recent note out of Credit Suisse, its analysts have an outperform rating and $14.06 price target on the company’s shares.

Based on the current Kogan share price, this implies potential upside of 38% over the next 12 months.

What did the broker say?

Credit Suisse notes that Kogan’s decision to suspend its dividend to conserve cash in FY 2021 surprised the market and weighed on investor sentiment. And while it isn’t expecting its dividend to be reinstated this year, it doesn’t believe investors should let this stop them from investing.

This is because Credit Suisse remains very positive on the company’s long term prospects. This is due to the structural shift to online shopping and its private label product offering. The latter is expected to be a key driver of growth in the future.

And while its analysts suspect that the first half of FY 2022 could be tough, particularly given the uncertainty of how long its elevated cost base will normalise, it is expecting business as usual again in FY 2023.

This is expected to lead to earnings per share of approximately 41 cents. Which based on the current Kogan share price, means it is trading at 25x estimated FY 2023 earnings. Credit Suisse feels this makes it a good option for investors given its positive long term outlook.

Overall, the last 12 months may have been disappointing but this broker suspects the next 12 could be far better.

The post Why this broker thinks the Kogan (ASX:KGN) share price is a solid long-term buy appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• 3 exciting ASX tech shares to buy this month
• These are the 10 most shorted ASX shares
• The Kogan (ASX:KGN) share price has shed 46% this year. Is it a buy?
• 3 ASX 200 (ASX:XJO) growth shares to buy
• Fund managers are buying Kogan (ASX:KGN) and this ASX share

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.

from The Motley Fool Australia https://ift.tt/3zgcXui

S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) retail landlords were among the hardest hit when COVID-19 swept across Australia in early 2020.

Shoppers were forced to remain at home. And stores in the landlords’ malls (rent-paying tenants) had no choice but to shutter their operations.

In the broader market panic-selling that ensued, ASX 200 retail landlords saw more than half their value evaporate in a matter of weeks.

The Vicinity Centres (ASX: VCX) share price, for example, crashed 62% from 31 January through to 27 March. Scentre Group (ASX: SCG) suffered an almost identical loss, falling 61% over that same period.

Granted, almost every ASX 200 share was heavily sold off during the pandemic fire sale. Yet the index ‘only’ lost 31% from 31 January through to 27 March. Half the losses suffered by Scentre and Vicinity.

Enter the vaccines

Both Vicinity and Scentre Group then enjoyed some of the sharpest rebounds late last year. That came after news of effective COVID vaccines, which had ASX 200 investors positioning themselves for the reopening.

Vicinity’s share price surged 45% from 30 October through to 7 December. Scentre Group’s rebound was almost as strong, with shares gaining 40% over that same period.

The ASX 200 retail landlords suffered more during the early 2020 panic-selling but gained more in the post-vaccine reopening jubilance. Their rebound was more than triple the 13% gain of the ASX 200 from 30 October through to 7 December.

Now, with Australia on track to hit 70%-plus vaccination levels soon, the big shopping malls in locked down cities are getting ready to fully reopen to the public, non-essential services and all.

Again, this has investors pondering if shares like Scentre and Vicinity will put in a repeat performance.

Reopening rebound for ASX 200 retail landlords could be soft

While the big retail landlords are still trading well below their pre-pandemic levels, much of the pending reopening could already be priced into their shares, according to analysts from Macquarie.

Macquarie is cautious on the rebound outlook for shares like Scentre and Vicinity after analysing the performance of large-cap retail landlords in the United States and the United Kingdom. Both nations are months ahead of Australia on their reopening roadmap.

The Australian Financial Review reports:

Major mall owners abroad, including Hammerson in Britain, Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield in Europe and the Simon Property Group in the US, have surged strongly in the lead-up to reopening compared with industrial landlords, but underperformed the same stocks once reopening was under way, the analysts noted.

As the old investor adage goes, if it’s in the news, it’s in the price. And investors have been bidding up the share prices of the ASX 200 retail landlords well before many of their tenants will be able to fully reopen for business.

Macquarie’s analysts did potentially see “some upside in valuations for large-cap mall landlords”, but much of the rally has already come and gone.

The Macquarie analysts wrote:

In addition, moving from pandemic to endemic means learning to live with the virus, which may result in additional challenges for retail landlords. … We view outperformance from here will rely closer on fundamentals, which in our view, will remain challenged.

Analysts at BIS Oxford Economics also offered a muted outlook for ASX 200 retail centre shares.

Oxford was quoted in the Australian Financial Review:

A solid rebound can be expected when restrictions are lifted, but the pandemic has done lasting damage to centre incomes, and we expect it will take four to five years for pre-virus incomes to be regained in regional and subregional centres.

Neighbourhood centres are more resilient but will still suffer losses until financial year 2023. Once the pandemic effects are worked through, we’ll return to the fundamental challenges facing retail, namely the threat from the growth of online shopping and changing consumer spending patterns, [to] less on goods sold by traditional shopping centre tenants.

How have ASX 200 retail centre shares performed this year?

Vicinity Centre’s share price is up 8.4% in 2021 and up 9.1% over the past month. It is trading at $1.74 currently.

Scentre Group’s share price is up 8.1% year to date and up 17.8% over the past month. At the time of writing, Scentre is trading at $3.01.

By comparison, the ASX 200 is down 1.5% over the past month.

The post Don’t bet on a big reopening rebound for ASX 200 retail landlords: Macquarie appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• ASX 200 (ASX:XJO) midday update: Telstra unveils T25 strategy, Wesfarmers’ API offer
• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Thursday
• Here are the top 10 ASX shares today
• There are the 3 most traded ASX 200 shares so far today
• ASX 200 midday update: Pilbara Minerals jumps, bank shares fall

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.

from The Motley Fool Australia https://ift.tt/3Cbttxo

The Fortescue Metals Group Limited (ASX: FMG) is marking fresh year-to-date lows as Chinese steel cuts continue to weigh down the iron ore sector.

At the time of writing, the Fortescue share price is down 2.2% to $17.46.

Chinese steel cuts to widen before year’s end

Chinese policymakers are expected to continue to clamp down on steel production in order to meet energy-consumption and emissions targets.

According to S&P Global, Chinese steel cuts are expected to gather pace in September and widen even further to ensure that steel output remains flat year-on-year.

It reported that “a few mill sources expected China’s steel output cuts to widen further in late September or October, mainly as the overall cuts by mid-September have remained insufficient to keep the country’s 2021 crude steel output within 2020 levels”.

“Hebei, the largest steelmaking province in China, has so far still been the only province on track to its annual steel output target, led by strict cuts carried out in Tangshan city from March,” it reported.

“Steel mills in Jiangsu, Shandong and Liaoning — the second, third and fourth largest steelmaking provinces in China, respectively — have gradually launched steel output cuts since the start of September.”

While the Fortescue share price was able to enjoy skyrocketing iron ore prices at the start of the year, investors are now stuck between a rock and a hard place as the opposite unravels.

Fortescue share price snapshot

The Fortescue share price is down nearly 30% year-to-date and up around 1% in the past year.

The sudden plunge is consistent with iron ore spot prices. They have tumbled from approximately US$220 in late July to an 11-month low of about US$116.

Fortescue’s recent dividend might have helped cushion some of the losses. Its shares went ex-dividend for a generous fully franked $2.11 per share on Monday, 6 September.

The post Fortescue (ASX:FMG) share price down as Chinese steel cuts speed up appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• ASX 200 resources giants lift despite plummeting iron ore price
• Fortescue (ASX:FMG) share price up as miner announces largest contract ever with Aboriginal group
• Fortescue (ASX:FMG) share price at year-to-date lows, analysts slash iron ore forecasts
• The Fortescue (ASX:FMG) share price is down 31% in 7 weeks. What’s next?
• Leading brokers name 3 ASX shares to sell today

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.

from The Motley Fool Australia https://ift.tt/3EgU9yN

The Australian Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd (ASX: API) share price has had a jolt of enthusiasm on Thursday. This comes after the retail pharmacy company received a revised acquisition offer from Wesfarmers Ltd (ASX: WES).

All the excitement has propelled the API share price 16.5% higher to $1.48 at the time of writing.

Today’s offer follows previous attempts from the retail conglomerate to acquire API. However, these prior attempts have been futile, with API rejecting the unsatisfactory offers.

Let’s inspect the latest proposal more closely.

A sweetened API share price offer

It appears whatever API has got, Wesfarmers wants it badly. At least, badly enough to amp up its bid for the pharmaceutical retailer by 12.3% to $1.55 per share. After being rejected in July for its $1.38 proposal, Wesfarmers firmly has its sights set on doing a deal.

The revised offer for 100% of outstanding API shares comes to a total cash consideration of $764 million. This proposal also provides for the final fully franked dividend payment up to a maximum of 5 cents per share. However, any such cash component of dividends paid will come out of the total cash payment.

It appears the sweetened API share price offering has gained the blessings of the company’s largest shareholder, Washington H. Soul Pattinson and Co. Ltd (ASX: SOL). Recent data shows the investment conglomerate holds ownership of 18% of outstanding API shares.

Likewise, the board of Australian Pharmaceuticals intends to unanimously recommend the revised proposal. Which leaves the finalisation of acquisition down to due diligence and regulatory approvals.

What’s management’s thoughts?

Commenting on the revised bid, API CEO and managing director Richard Vincent said:

This revised offer better reflects the strength and potential of our stable of businesses that have been built by the efforts and passion of all of our people within API. Aligned with our vision of “enriching life”, we remain firmly focused on making a difference for all our customers and trading partners.

According to the release, Wesfarmers will have until 16 October to conduct its due diligence under the Process Deed.

Thanks to the surge in the API share price, the company now boasts a market capitalisation of $729 million.

The post API (ASX:API) share price rockets 16% as Wesfarmers boosts offer appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Wesfarmers (ASX:WES) share price edges higher on sweetened API bid
• ASX 200 (ASX:XJO) midday update: Telstra unveils T25 strategy, Wesfarmers’ API offer
• The Wesfarmers (ASX:WES) share price is up 28% in 2021. Here’s why

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

from The Motley Fool Australia https://ift.tt/2XuGsLZ