As retail investors, it’s always fascinating to see which ASX shares the professionals have put their money in.

The public had access to such an insight this week when listed investment company WAM Leaders Ltd (ASX: WLE) hosted a webinar to present its interim results.

Wilson Asset Management staff justifiably had their chests out proud after an outstanding 2021 financial year.

“The portfolio outperformed over 9%,” said Wilson Asset Management chair Geoff Wilson.

“In terms of the performance of the portfolio, it was up 37%.”

But the real interest was in how the fund is positioned now for the coming period. What does the team think are the best bets for the months after Australia defeats the delta variant of COVID-19?

Portfolio manager John Ayoub acknowledged that the mix had now pivoted.

“In the past you would have heard us talk about sectors like gold, defensives such as Coles Group Ltd (ASX: COL), Woolworths Group Ltd (ASX: WOW), some of the bond proxies like Transurban Group (ASX: TCL) and Sydney Airport Holdings Pty Ltd (ASX: SYD) as defence mechanisms in our portfolio,” he said.

“Where we find ourselves today, is we have certainly pivoted away from those stocks and we have taken more cyclical, more financial and more commodity bets, [and] more growth commodity bets for the outlook for the next 6 to 12 months.”

Let’s take a look at 3 ASX shares that WAM Leaders currently hold.

ASX share trading at 30% discount to assets

WAM Leaders is currently stocking up on an ASX stock that’s currently going for far less than what its underlying assets are worth.

According to Aoyub, shopping centre operator Scentre Group (ASX: SCG) is still trading at a 30% to 40% discount to net tangible assets. 

“People are forgetting that once we return to normal — and we will return to normal — people will visit shopping centres again,” he said.

“What we are seeing from traffic data in places like Western Australia, that not only do people return to shopping centres, they return more so than previously.”

He emphasised that WAM Leaders expects that over the next 2 to 3 years investors will witness “some serious earnings per share growth” from cyclical stocks.

Scentre shares were down 2.43% on Thursday, to trade at $2.61 late in the afternoon. The stock is down almost 6.5% for the year.

Health shares to win from elective surgeries revival

As more hospital resources are released from coronavirus duties, surgeries will ramp up to clear the pandemic-induced backlog.

Ayoub’s team likes the look of Ramsay Health Care Limited (ASX: RHC) and Sonic Healthcare Limited (ASX: SHL) to take advantage of this situation.

“As we all start to return to elective surgeries, their balance sheets are really robust and we can see good organic growth coming through over the next 3 years.”

In addition, according to Ayoub, Sonic has already benefited from the pandemic through its role as a COVID test provider.

“But equally… we see the company as a significant player in mergers and acquisitions going forward and it should grow via acquisition.”

Sonic shares were going for $38.66 on Thursday afternoon, which is 17.6% up on the year.

Ramsay stocks have been flat for the year, trading at $63.11 on Thursday.

The post 3 ASX shares to win when lockdown ends appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• WAM Leaders thinks these ASX shares might be buys
• 2 ASX shares growing their dividends
• Which ASX 200 shares helped deliver record profits and a 4.5% dividend?
• The 5 best ASX 200 healthcare shares of financial year 2021
• 2 buy-rated ASX dividend shares with generous yields

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 recommended Ramsay Health Care Limited and Sonic Healthcare 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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Has it been a great month so far for the Sydney Airport Holdings Pty Ltd (ASX: SYD) share price? It certainly has.

Sydney Airport shares were trading at $5.79 at the start of July (also the start of FY2022, incidentally). As of yesterday’s closing, the company was trading at $7.81 per share. That’s a 34.89% gain for Sydney Airport in the space of 16 days.

Not a bad performance at all. Especially considering this company is ‘only’ up 21.8% year to date in 2021 so far, and up 47.9% over the past 12 months.

As you might imagine, this company is not really running at its full potential right now. The ongoing pandemic, which has resulted in international (and more recently, domestic) border closures, has put a massive dent in the airport operator. In fact, Sydney Airport (a former dividend heavyweight) hasn’t paid a dividend distribution since December 2019.

So why did the company suddenly have such a month to remember?

Sydney Airport share price takes off on takeover offer, and is still flying high

Well, we don’t have to dig too deep to answer that question. On 5 July, the airport announced that a consortium of institutional infrastructure investors had put up a $22.6 billion offer to purchase 100% of all Sydney Airport shares at a price of $8.25 per share, all to be paid for in cash. These investors included QSuper, IFM Investors and Global Infrastructure Management.

This news immediately sent the Sydney Airport share price rocketing. It was up 37% at one point that day, reaching a new 52-week high of $8.04. It has since hovered close to that number, albeit a little lower on yesterday’s close.

That’s despite the fact that Sydney Airport’s board signalled its distaste for this offer from the start. On the day of the announcement, it (perhaps acerbically) pointed to the fact that Sydney Airport shares were well above the offer price prior to the emergence of the pandemic.

And just yesterday, the board came out and formally rejected the offer. As my Fool colleague Marc discussed at the time, the board told the markets that the offer “undervalues Sydney Airport and is not in the best interests of Securityholders”.

Going further, the board called the offer “opportunistic”, and suggested the bidders were attempting to capitalise on the pandemic’s effects on the company.

Even so, investors have not bid the shares significantly lower since. In fact, the Sydney Airport share price is up more than 1% since last Friday.

At yesterday’s closing share price, Sydney Airport has a market capitalisation of $21.08 billion.

The post It’s been a great month for the Sydney Airport (ASX:SYD) share price appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• ASX 200 drops, Woodside down, Sezzle rises
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• ASX 200 midday update: Afterpay & Zip sink again, ARB shoots higher
• Sydney Airport (ASX:SYD) share price on watch after takeover bid rejected
• 3 ASX shares to snap up before reporting season: expert

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. 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’s been a tough week on the exchange for these S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) tech shares. They’ve each seen their share price fall by 4% or more without uttering a single word.

In fact, many ASX tech shares have had a rough time since Monday. The S&P/ASX All Technology Index (ASX: XTX) has dropped 1.54% this week.

Let’s take a look at what’s been weighing on these 3 ASX tech giants’ share prices.

3 ASX 200 tech shares that have fallen this week

Afterpay Ltd (ASX: APT)

This week’s been a shocking ride so far for the Afterpay share price.

Right now, the ASX 200 tech giant’s shares are 10.92% lower than they were when they started the week, trading for $104.38 a piece.

Afterpay’s woes kicked off on Wednesday when both Apple Inc and Paypal Holdings Ltd released news on buy now, pay later (BNPL) offerings.

Apple’s news was of a brand-new product that it’s planning on launching that would allow Apple Pay users to pay for purchases in instalments.

The US-based tech giant is reportedly partnering with Goldman Sachs, which will provide loans for the service.

Additionally, on Wednesday Paypal announced it had launched its fee-free BNPL service in Australia.

The barrage of new competition saw the Afterpay share price slide 9.74% on Wednesday. The ASX 200 BNPL giant’s shares have continued falling since.

Zip Co Ltd (ASX: Z1P)

Zip didn’t escape the BNPL onslaught on Wednesday. In fact, the Zip share price was hit hardest.

It fell 11.35% on Wednesday and has been in the red ever since.

Right now, the ASX 200 BNPL company’s shares are swapping hands for $6.91 – 16.55% less than they were at last Friday’s close.

Tyro Payments Ltd (ASX: TYR)

Finally, the share price of ASX 200 tech share Tyro Payments has had a shocking week.

Despite seemingly missing the above-mentioned carnage, its shares have fallen 4.11% over the course of the week to trade for $3.50 apiece.

Additionally, the company hasn’t released any obvious bad news. In fact, the only uttering we’ve heard from Tyro this week was its latest weekly results, which seemed positive enough.

Unfortunately, that’s just how the cookie sometimes crumbles for ASX shares.

The post These 3 ASX 200 tech shares are down more than 4% this week appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Friday
• Here are 3 of the most heavily traded ASX 200 shares today
• Why Flight Centre, PolyNovo, Vulcan, & Zip shares are sinking
• Afterpay & Zip shares: Brokers react to Apple and PayPal BNPL news
• The ASX 200 is trading near record highs – time to worry about popping bubbles?

Motley Fool contributor Brooke Cooper has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. 

The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of and has recommended AFTERPAY T FPO, Apple, PayPal Holdings, Tyro Payments, and ZIPCOLTD FPO. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has recommended the following options: long January 2022 $75 calls on PayPal Holdings, long March 2023 $120 calls on Apple, and short March 2023 $130 calls on Apple. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of and has recommended AFTERPAY T FPO. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Apple 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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The Hipages Group Holdings Ltd (ASX: HPG) share price has been on fire over the last few weeks.

The tradie-focused online lead generation platform provider’s shares were on form on Thursday, jumping 7% to a record high of $3.50.

This means the Hipages share price is up 34% since this time last month and 44% since I suggested investors look at it in the middle of May.

Why is the Hipages share price on fire?

Interestingly, the Hipages share price has been rising strongly over the last month despite there being no news out of the company. Though, it was the subject of another bullish broker note out of Goldman Sachs on 17 June.

That note revealed that the broker had retained its buy rating and lifted its price target on the company’s shares to $3.40.

At that point, Goldman said: “In our view the strength and quality of the HPG marketplace is not reflected in the current share price. Our 12m TP of A$3.40 offers 36% upside; we maintain our Buy recommendation.”

Why is Goldman positive on the company?

Hipages is a leading Australian-based online platform and software as a service (SaaS) provider that connects tradies with residential and commercial consumers. Its platform not only helps tradies grow their businesses by providing job leads, it also allows them to communicate with customers and run general admin duties.

Goldman notes that Hipages “is building a compelling marketplace, with a healthy balance between consumers and tradies. App download data and website visits shows HPG is executing on its tradie marketing strategy.”

This is a big positive as the broker believes Hipages has a huge long term growth opportunity and has likened it to Carsales.Com Ltd (ASX: CAR) and REA Group Limited (ASX: REA) in the early days. And given how these ASX shares have performed over the last decade, this could be good news for the Hipages share price.

Commenting on the long term, Goldman said: “Over the long term, the company has clearly articulated its strategy is to further evolve the ecosystem to increase the value it can provide to a tradie. This includes development of payment solutions, insurance and materials procurement. In our view the road-map to build out the ecosystem provides a notable adjacency for HPG to grow its market share and TAM and provides a strong long-term growth driver.”

“For context, HPG captures c.5% of total industry advertising spend. We see scope for this to grow at a meaningful rate as HPG’s service offering addresses a greater proportion of a tradie’s needs, noting that REA/CAR now capture c.40-60% of spending in their respective categories,” it added.

This certainly makes Hipages one to watch closely over the coming years.

The post Here’s why the Hipages (ASX:HPG) share price is up 34% in a month appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• 3 ASX growth shares that could be excellent buy and hold options
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• 2 buy-rated small cap ASX shares

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 Hipages Group Holdings Ltd. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended REA Group Limited and carsales.com 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 some dividend shares to boost your income portfolio? If you are, then you might want to look at the ones listed below.

Here’s why these ASX dividend shares could be in the buy zone:

Adairs Ltd (ASX: ADH)

Adairs is a leading retailer of homewares and home furnishings in Australia and New Zealand through both retail stores and online channels.

It has been in fine form in FY 2021 thanks to heightened sales during the pandemic. As a result, it looks set to deliver bumper full year profit growth next month. And while it will be very hard for Adairs to build on this in FY 2022, it has been tipped by Goldman Sachs to resume its growth again in FY 2023.

This is thanks to its strong market position and omni-channel footprint, which gives it exposure to both online and in-store growth. The broker also sees upside in average order value compared with peers in the home category.

Goldman currently has a buy rating and $4.80 price target on its shares. It is also forecasting fully franked dividends per share of 26 cents in FY 2021, 25.1 cents in FY 2022, and then 26.8 cents in FY 2023.

Based on the current Adairs share price of $3.75, this will mean yields of 6.9%, 6.7%, and 7.15%, respectively.

Aurizon Holdings Ltd (ASX: AZJ)

Another ASX dividend share to look at is Aurizon. It is Australia’s largest rail freight operator, transporting more than 250 million tonnes of Australian commodities each year.

It has been tipped as a share to buy by the analysts at Macquarie. They currently have an outperform rating and $4.32 price target on its shares. This compares to the latest Aurizon share price of $3.84.

Macquarie believes the company is well-placed with almost $1 billion in balance sheet capacity to drive its growth through acquisitions. It has suggested that grain companies with port and logistics assets could be good additions.

In the meantime, Macquarie is forecasting partially franked dividends of 27.8 cents per share in FY 2021 and then 28.6 cents per share in FY 2022. This represents very attractive yields of 7.2% and 7.45%, respectively.

The post 2 buy-rated ASX dividend shares with massive yields appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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• These 2 ASX dividend shares could be buys in July 2021
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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 recommended ADAIRS FPO. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of and has recommended ADAIRS FPO. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Aurizon Holdings 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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If you’re wanting to boost your portfolio with a couple of growth shares, then you may want to consider the ones listed below.

Here’s why these ASX growth shares have been rated as buys:

REA Group Limited (ASX: REA)

The first ASX growth share to look at is REA Group. It is of course the market leader in real estate listings in the Australian market. At the last count, the company’s ANZ websites were commanding more than triple the visits of its nearest rival.

This certainly is a big positive given the current housing market boom, which is driving growth in listing volumes again. Combined with price increases, new revenue streams, and acquisitions, this bodes well for the REA Group’s performance in the second half of FY 2021 and the next financial year.

The latter includes the recent acquisitions of Mortgage Choice and Simpology, which are expected to allow REA Group to capture a growing slice of the mortgage broking market in the coming years.

Goldman Sachs is very bullish on REA Group. It recent retained its buy rating and lifted its price target to a lofty $198.00.

Xero Limited (ASX: XRO)

Another ASX growth share to look at is Xero. It provides small and medium sized businesses with a cloud-based business and accounting solution.

Over the last few years, Xero has been growing very strongly thanks to a combination of its international expansion, acquisitions, and the transition to the cloud. The good news is that these drivers remain in place, which bodes well for its future.

In fact, although the company recently finished FY 2021 with a sizeable 2.74 million subscribers, this is still only a fraction of its market opportunity. Management estimates that the cloud accounting subscriber total addressable market is 45 million at present.

Goldman Sachs is bullish on the company and has a buy rating and $165.00 price target on its shares. The broker believes Xero has a multi-decade growth runway. This thanks to its significant addressable market and opportunities to monetise its app ecosystem.

The post 2 excellent ASX growth shares analysts love appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

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• How did the S&P/ASX All Technologies Index (XTX) perform in FY21?

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 Xero. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of and has recommended Xero. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended REA 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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Respected fund manager Wilson Asset Management (WAM) has recently identified two ASX shares that it owns in its portfolio.

WAM operates several listed investment companies (LICs). Two of those LICs are WAM Capital Limited (ASX: WAM) and WAM Research Limited (ASX: WAX).

There’s also one called WAM Leaders Ltd (ASX: WLE) which looks at the larger businesses on the ASX.

WAM says WAM Leaders actively invests in the highest quality Australian companies.

The WAM Leaders portfolio has delivered gross returns (that’s before fees, expenses and taxes) of 14.9% per annum since inception in May 2016, which is superior to the S&P/ASX 200 Accumulation Index average return of 10.4%.

These are the ASX shares that WAM outlined in its most recent monthly update:

ResMed Inc (ASX: RMD)

WAM Leaders says that ResMed is a respiratory device manufacturer and medical software as a service (SaaS) provider.

The fund manager noted that the company experienced a significant rise during June largely as a result of Philips, a key competitor in the obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) industry, announcing a recall of 3 million to 4 million CPAP (continuous positive airway pressure) devices manufactured between 2009 and 2021 due to foam degradation issues.

WAM expects the ASX share to experience an increase in demand for devices as a result of this, which should aid in offsetting the channel destocking event that would usually occur ahead of the launch of a new device. Despite the recent share price momentum, the fund manager continues to be positive about the long-term outlook for ResMed as it expects performance market share gains to arise from Philips’ reputational damage and the upcoming ‘AirSense 11’ launch later this calendar year to drive revenue higher.

The fund manager believes the ASX share’s valuation compared to the growth outlook of ResMed is more attractive than its large healthcare peers.

According to Commsec, the ResMed share price is valued at 38x FY23’s estimated earnings.

Cochlear Limited (ASX: COH)

WAM Leaders described Cochlear as a business that manufactures cochlear implant devices to hearing impaired children and adults.

The fund manager pointed that that Cochlear is benefiting from a situation of a similar nature to ResMed. Recent data points suggest Cochlear continues to benefit from market share gains as a result of competitor Advanced Bionics, which is part of Sonova, announcing a recall of some of its cochlear implant devices in February 2020.

The reputational damage of a recall is significant, as the faulty devices require surgical explanting, and in paediatrics can significantly impede speech development, according to WAM.

On top of that, WAM Leaders also said that the ASX share remains a clear winner of the reopening trade and recent feedback from US audiologists suggest cochlear implant patient numbers are strongly above pre-COVID levels. It also said that patient numbers in the quarter ending 30 June 2021 was well above the 2020 calendar year.

The post WAM Leaders thinks these ASX shares might be buys appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Top brokers name 3 ASX shares to buy today
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• Which ASX 200 shares helped deliver record profits and a 4.5% dividend?
• The 5 best ASX 200 healthcare shares of financial year 2021
• 3 ASX 200 shares named as buys

Motley Fool contributor Tristan Harrison has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of and has recommended Cochlear Ltd. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has recommended ResMed. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Cochlear Ltd. and ResMed Inc. 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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On Thursday the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) gave back its morning gains and tumbled lower. The benchmark index fell 0.25% to 7,335.9 points.

Will the market be able to bounce back from this on Friday? Here are five things to watch:

ASX 200 expected to open flat

The Australian share market looks set to end the week in a subdued fashion. According to the latest SPI futures, the ASX 200 is expected to open the day flat this morning. This follows a mixed night on Wall Street which saw the Dow Jones rise 0.15%, the S&P 500 drop 0.3%, and the Nasdaq tumble 0.7% lower.

Oil prices slide

Energy producers such as Santos Ltd (ASX: STO) and Woodside Petroleum Limited (ASX: WPL) could have a difficult finish to the week after oil prices dropped overnight. According to Bloomberg, the WTI crude oil price is down 2.2% to US$71.54 a barrel and the Brent crude oil price is down 2% to US$73.30 a barrel. Concerns over supply increases put pressure on prices.

Tech shares on watch

Australian tech shares such as Afterpay Ltd (ASX: APT) and Appen Ltd (ASX: APX) will be on watch today. This follows a poor night of trade on the tech-focused Nasdaq index overnight, which tumbled 0.7% despite the release of some solid quarterly results. As the local tech sector tends to follow the Nasdaq’s lead, this may not bode well for today’s session.

Xero given buy rating

The Xero Limited (ASX: XRO) share price could be good value according to analysts at Goldman Sachs. In response to prices increases and peer valuations, the broker has retained its buy rating and lifted its price target to $165.00. This compares to the latest Xero share price of $134.46.

Gold price rises

Gold miners Newcrest Mining Ltd (ASX: NCM) and St Barbara Ltd (ASX: SBM) will be on watch after the gold price pushed higher. According to CNBC, the spot gold price is up 0.3% to US$1,830.10 an ounce. The precious metal hit a one-month high following dovish comments out of the US Federal Reserve.

The post 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Friday appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• ASX 200 drops, Woodside down, Sezzle rises
• ASX 200 struggles despite lowest unemployment rate in a decade
• Here are 3 of the most heavily traded ASX 200 shares today
• Afterpay & Zip shares: Brokers react to Apple and PayPal BNPL news
• Fresh blow to ASX 200 travel shares as Victoria lockdown looms large

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 AFTERPAY T FPO, Appen Ltd, and Xero. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of and has recommended AFTERPAY T FPO, Appen Ltd, and Xero. 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) dropped around 0.25% today to 7,336 points.

Here are some of the highlights from the ASX:

Sydney Airport Holdings Pty Ltd (ASX: SYD)

The Sydney Airport share price dropped slightly today after the infrastructure business’ board rejected the takeover approach.

If you didn’t see it, a consortium of infrastructure investors offered Sydney Airport an indicative price of $8.25 per share.

After carefully considering the indicative offer, including obtaining advice from advisers, the business decided it undervalued Sydney Airport and is not in the best interests of shareholders.

The boards of Sydney Airport acknowledged that the Sydney Airport share price is likely to trade below the consortium’s proposal indicative price in the short-term, but would only accept a proposal that values the long-term potential of Sydney Airport.

Sydney Airport referenced a number of things for why it came to its conclusion. It said that the bid for the ASX 200 share was opportunistically timed given the significant impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Sydney Airport’s airport. The board pointed out that the indicative price is below where Sydney Airport’s share price was traded before the pandemic.

It also pointed out the significant value of Sydney Airport’s land assets and potential to create additional value through further development of on-airport commercial property opportunities.

Finally, Sydney Airport said:

Sydney Airport is strongly positioned to deliver growth as vaccination rates increase and we move into the post pandemic recovery period. It has rapidly adapted to the COVID-19 environment, strengthening its balance sheet, and tightly managing costs to maintain flexibility to respond to a range of recovery scenarios and pursue sensible growth opportunities as the recovery unfolds.

Woodside Petroleum Limited (ASX: WPL)

Woodside Petroleum released its second quarter report for the period ended 30 June 2021.

It said that it achieved sales revenue of almost $1.3 billion, up 15% from the first quarter of 2021.

Woodside delivered production of 22.7 million barrels of oil equivalent (MMboe), down 4%

It also delivered sales volume of 28.1 MMboe, up 9% from the first quarter of 2021.

The Woodside acting CEO Meg O’Neill said:

Revenue from oil sales during the period was higher than the first quarter supported by an above-market average realised price of $75 per barrel, while revenue from LNG sales climbed 14%.

Lower oil production due to scheduled maintenance activities and adverse weather impacts was partly offset by a strong quarterly performance at Pluto, which achieved 97% reliability.

The ASX 200 resources company also signed a heads of agreement (HOA) with IHI Corporation and Marubeni Corporation to investigate the production and export of green ammonia renewable from renewable hydroelectric power in Tasmania.

Sezzle Inc (ASX: SZL)

The Sezzle share price went up 5% today after announcing that Discover is investing US$30 million into Sezzle shares at a price of AU$8.83.

In addition to the investment and, subject to finalising a definitive commercial agreement, the two businesses propose to enter into an expanded partnership, including plans for a buy now, pay later network solution on the Discover Global Network, as well as a dedicated referral program introducing Discover credit and debit products to Sezzle’s consumer base.

The executive chair and CEO of Sezzle, Charlie Youakin, said:

We are excited about our relationship with Discover, as we believe our mission, vision and values align. Discover’s capabilities via their network and financial products will enhance our own offerings and provide more paths to financially empower our consumers.

The post ASX 200 drops, Woodside down, Sezzle rises appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• ASX 200 struggles despite lowest unemployment rate in a decade
• Here are 3 of the most heavily traded ASX 200 shares today
• Fresh blow to ASX 200 travel shares as Victoria lockdown looms large
• Why ARB, Rhythm Biosciences, Sezzle, & Spark shares are storming higher
• ASX 200 midday update: Afterpay & Zip sink again, ARB shoots higher

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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Telstra Corporation Ltd (ASX: TLS) shares finished Thursday’s trading session flat.

By the close of trade, the Telstra share price was sitting at $3.78, the same price at which it ended yesterday’s session.

This came after the company’s shares hit a new 52-week high of $3.80 during intraday trading today before partially retreating.

It was also against a backdrop of reports over a battle that’s surfacing between Telstra and rival telco Optus.

The tensions are due to a set of proposed restrictions to be placed on Telstra at an upcoming auction for low-band spectrum in November.

Let’s take a closer look at what’s unfolding between the two Australian telco giants.

Proposed limits on Telstra

Low-band spectrum enables mobile data to be carried over great distances in regional Australia, so it stands to reason it is of high importance for regional communities.

Under the restrictions, proposed by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), the amount of low-band spectrum Telstra can buy at the auction in November will be capped.

The proposal also dictates that Telstra would be forced to hand over a portion of the spectrum it already owns, for independent sale.

Telstra is nudging the ACCC to allow it to bid for up to 43% of the spectrum available in the auction.

Telstra chief executive Andrew Penn voiced opposition to the proposed restrictions on Telstra at the upcoming auction in yesterday’s Sydney Morning Herald.

Penn believes the restrictions will affect the quality of services in regional areas:

If our spectrum is reduced, our network experience and coverage will effectively be reduced for regional and rural Australia.

Optus’ battle of words

Telco rival Optus, which is owned by Singapore Telecommunications Limited, has since weighed in on the debate and is urging the ACCC to impose further restrictions on its rival.

Optus chief executive Kelly Bayer Rosmarin hit back at Penn’s comments, as today’s Sydney Morning Herald (SMH) reported.

Bayer Rosmarin stated:

The current proposed auction rules ensure that all mobile operators have the opportunity to purchase enough spectrum to meet their current and future needs.

Optus vice-president of regulatory and public affairs, Andrew Sheridan, stated (also quoted by SMH):

If we don’t have a limit in this auction, then the risk is we won’t be able to get more spectrum.

Auction limits promote competition in the bidding process. They are considered to be routine in Australia.

Telstra share price snapshot

The Telstra share price has posted a year to date return of almost 27%, extending the previous 12 months’ return of around 9%.

These returns have beaten the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO)’s return of ~11% this year.

However, Telstra shares have lagged the broad index’s 12 month return of 21%.

At the time of writing, Telstra has a market capitalisation of around $45 billion.

The post Telstra (ASX:TLS) share price struggles as Optus cries foul 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 owns shares of and has recommended Telstra Corporation Limited. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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