• Here’s why the ANZ (ASX:ANZ) share price underperformed today

    A man scratches his head in confusion., indicating mixed share price movement on the ASX

    It certainly was a great start to the week for the Australian share market. The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) has just closed the day with a gain of 1.3% to 7,172.8 points.

    Doing some of the heavy lifting today were the banks. They all pushed notably higher, except for the Australia and New Zealand Banking GrpLtd (ASX: ANZ) share price.

    Its shares actually ended the day with a 1.3% decline to $27.38. This compares to gains of 1.1% to 1.3% for the rest of the big four.

    Why was the ANZ share price underperforming today?

    The good news is that the ANZ share price wasn’t out of form on Monday due to anything operational or broker related.

    The decline in the bank’s shares was entirely attributable to them trading ex-dividend this morning for its upcoming interim dividend.

    In fact, if you were to remove the dividend from the equation, the ANZ share price would have recorded a gain of over 1% today.

    The ANZ dividend

    Last week when ANZ released its half year results, the bank declared a fully franked interim dividend of 70 cents per share.

    Based on its last close price, this dividend represents a yield of 2.5%.

    Eligible shareholders, those that owned shares prior to the market open today, can now look forward to being paid this dividend in around seven weeks on 1 July.

    Is the ANZ share price in the buy zone?

    While it is now too late to get hold of its interim dividend, it may not be too late for potential share price returns.

    According to a note out of Morgans from last week, its analysts currently have an add rating and $34.50 price target on the bank’s shares.

    Based on the current ANZ share price, this price target implies potential upside of 26% over the next 12 months.

    Given the potential return on offer, it will come as no surprise to learn that ANZ is the broker’s top pick in the sector right now.

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  • Commonwealth Bank (ASX:CBA) unveils yet another partnership

    close up of 4 digits on bank card with electronic chip

    The Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA) is looking to “build Australia’s future economy” through its new joint venture with data science firm Quantium.

    The joint venture will see data procured from Australia’s top retail bank to deliver data-driven insights to Australian businesses, governments and investors.

    The partnership is the second the banking giant has announced today. The announcement of its joint venture with Quantium followed news its partnered with e-commerce operator Bigcommerce Holdings IncB.

    At the time of writing, the Commonwealth share price has sunk from its intraday high of $95.18 – which was yet another 52-week high. Shares in the bank are currently swapping hands for $94.85, representing a 0.99% gain from its previous closing price.

    Let’s take a look at Commonwealth Bank’s newest joint venture.

    Commonwealth Bank X Quantium

    Commonwealth Bank and Quantium have teamed up to create CommBank iQ.

    CommBank iQ will use data pooled from the Commonwealth Bank’s retail transactions and Quantium’s data science capabilities to deliver insights to Australian businesses, policymakers, and investors. The bank says this will help “shape and drive the country’s future economy”.

    The Australian Financial Review (AFR) reported Quantium ditched its long-term agreement with Australia National Bank Ltd (ASX: NAB) in favour of its joint venture with CBA.

    According to the AFR, Quantium approached the Commonwealth Bank, hoping it could access CBA’s unmatched data pool of Australian retail transactions.

    According to the bank, CommBank iQ will offer various solutions, including insights reports, decision support tools, and AI decision engines that will use data to automate decision-making. This will likely prove useful to institutions looking to act on customer insights.

    Both CBA and Quantium will contribute team members to the joint venture. Quantium will also contribute its big data tech stack.

    CommBank iQ will use best practice data ethics and governance standards. All data handled by the joint venture will be aggregated and de-identified.

    CommBank iQ will begin trading in the second half of 2021.

    Commentary from management

    The Commonwealth Bank’s group executive of institutional banking and markets, Andrew Hinchliff, commented on the joint venture. Hinchliff said CommBank iQ would help Australia’s leading institutions steer the nation’s economic recovery and transition.

    As Australia’s biggest bank, we see more transactions than any other institution in the country…

    CommBank iQ will help Australian institutions become more customer centric and better able to quickly identify and respond to both complex problems and significant growth opportunities.

    Quantium’s CEO Adam Driussi said:

    Commbank iQ’s experienced consultants will also offer the commercial skills and sector experience to identify and unlock hidden value for a wide range of institutions. It’s a truly exceptional solution that promises to solve challenging problems and create better products and services for Australians.

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  • Here’s why the Adore Beauty (ASX:ABY) share price is tumbling 9% today

    Woman with surprised expression at changing asx share price in newspaper

    It was another disappointing day for the Adore Beauty Group Ltd (ASX: ABY) share price on Monday.

    At one stage, the online beauty retailer’s shares were down as much as 9% to a record low of $3.34.

    When the Adore Beauty share price hit that level, it meant it was down a disappointing 50% from its October IPO listing price of $6.75.

    Why is the Adore Beauty share price under pressure?

    As well as being caught up in an ecommerce selloff along with the likes of Kogan.com Ltd (ASX: KGN) and Redbubble Ltd (ASX: RBL), a disappointing trading update last week has weighed heavily on the Adore Beauty share price.

    That update revealed that Adore Beauty achieved revenue of $39.4 million. While this was a 47% increase on the prior corresponding period, it is a 22% decline on the average quarterly revenue it achieved during the first half.

    In addition to this, management’s decision to change the goal posts when reporting its active customers has confused investors.

    Instead of reporting active customers on a 12-month basis as normal, it elected to report them on a 9-month basis.

    Management revealed that active customer reached 687,000 at the end of March on a 9-month basis. This was up 69% on the prior corresponding 9-month period.

    However, it was a decline on the 12-month active customers it reported at the end of December of 777,000. 

    No explanation was given for the change in reporting. Nor did management advise whether its numbers are growing or declining on a 12-month rolling basis. In light of this, investors may be concerned that the company is cherry picking metrics.

    What else is weighing on sentiment?

    The response to its update from brokers also appears to be weighing on the Adore Beauty share price.

    For example, Shaw and Partners cut its price target by 28% to $6.00 and Morgan Stanley slashed its price target by 43% to $5.00. UBS was a little more forgiving, cutting its price target by 9.7% to $5.60. 

    It is, however, worth noting that they all have the equivalent of buy ratings on its shares. So all is not clearly lost.

    And while Morgan Stanley has warned that the next couple of quarters could be challenging, it remains positive. Due to its leadership position in a structural growth market, the broker believes it is worth sticking with the company.

    It is expecting Adore Beauty to post a decline in revenue in the first half of FY 2022, before returning to growth in the second half.

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    James Mickleboro has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. recommends Adore Beauty Group Limited. 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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  • Is the NAB (ASX:NAB) share price great value?

    man carrying large dollar sign on his back representing high P/E ratio or dividend

    The National Australia Bank Ltd (ASX: NAB) share price has been a solid performer on Monday.

    In afternoon trade, the banking giant’s shares are up 1% to $27.06.

    This latest gain means the NAB share price is now up 18% since the start of the year.

    Can the NAB share price go even higher?

    One leading broker that believes the NAB share price can still go higher from here is Morgans.

    According to a recent note, the broker has retained its add rating and $29.00 price target on the bank’s shares.

    Based on the current NAB share price, this implies potential upside of 7.2% excluding dividends.

    And if you include the $1.29 per share fully franked dividend the broker is expecting this year, this potential return stretches to approximately 12%.

    Why is Morgans positive on NAB?

    The broker has named a few reasons why it is bullish on the NAB share price.

    One of those is that it still believes its provisioning looks conservative, even after its net release.

    It commented: “The 1H21 credit impairment benefit of $128m is less than our forecast of $517m. NAB’s collective provision (CP) coverage of credit risk weighted assets (CRWA) was 155bps at Dec-2020 and we were expecting this to be reduced to 140bps at Mar-2020. However, NAB has only reduced this coverage to 150bps at Mar-2020, which we believe to be a very conservative coverage ratio given the improvement in the economic outlook.”

    “While there was an ‘underlying’ net provision release of $114m and a release of Economic Adjustment (EA) of $235m, NAB topped up its forward-looking adjustments (FLAs) by $221m primarily for aviation and high-risk mortgage exposures. We now forecast NAB’s CP coverage to be reduced to 140bps in 2H21F,” it explained.

    Another reason to be positive is the increasing potential for capital management.

    Morgans notes that NAB’s CET1 ratio of 12.4% is better than it was expecting. It also points out that it compares very favourably with APRA’s ‘unquestionably strong’ benchmark of 10.5%.

    In light of this and management’s target CET1 range of 10.75% to 11.25%, it believes NAB will be looking to conduct capital management in the form of share buybacks.

    The broker is forecasting surplus CET1 capital of $9.1 billion at the end of FY 2022, equating to $2.75 per share.

    All in all, it appears to believe that this and the improving outlook for the sector makes the NAB share price good value at the current level.

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  • Investigator (ASX:IVR) share price surges on silver in Paris

    Miner holding a silver nugget

    The Investigator Resources Ltd (ASX: IVR) share price is surging today after the company confirmed regional silver potential in Paris (South Australia).

    Investigator shares are up 9% at the time of writing, trading at 9.6 cents per share, further boosting their high 688% yearly return. 

    Investigator Resources is a mineral exploration company focusing on copper, gold, silver and nickel exploration. Its operations include Paris silver, Peterlumbo, Maslins IOCG and Eyre Peninsula projects.

    Investigator’s Paris of the South

    Today’s update focuses on Investigator’s 100% owned Peterlumbo tenement, which hosts the Paris Silver Project in South Australia. This is home to several drilling targets that were subject to a major drilling operation throughout 2020 and has recently returned assays.

    The strongest silver intersections were at the company’s Argos, Ares and Paris Dyke targets. The miner found the highest grade at Argos, which returned three metres at 10g/t of silver from 56 metres deep and two metres at 13g/t of silver from 69 metres deep.

    Additional results included 25 metres at 0.33% lead and 0.3% zinc from 53 metres deep.

    These are the latest in a line of silver mining results that have sent the Investigator share price climbing.

    According to the miner, its Paris project is more than just a pretty name. It’s the “highest grade undeveloped silver project in Australia”.

    A “shallow, high-grade silver deposit amenable to open-pit mining”, Paris hosts an Australasian 2012 resource estimate of 9.3 metres at 139g/t silver and 0.6% lead for 42 million ounces of contained silver and 55 kilotonnes of contained lead. 

    The company says an updated resource estimate is due to be finalised within weeks. Metallurgical test work currently targets opportunities to “maximise recoveries”, with a pre-feasibility study due in June this year.

    What did management say?

    Investigator managing director Andrew McIlwain said the results demanded further study:

    With more recent work naturally focussed on the growth and advancement of the Paris Silver Project’s resource, little work had been undertaken following up known regional opportunities. When capital was raised in August 2020, a commitment was made to pursue the thesis that similar mineralisation could feasibly exist within close proximity to Paris.

    We are encouraged by the results, particularly at Ares and Argos, where we are looking for a Paris repeat along trend from Paris. Identification of silver mineralisation in this wide spaced reconnaissance drill program supports our optimism that the region may hosts other further silver deposits and we will embark on further drilling at Argos, Ares and Helen, as well as at Paris Dyke – which delivered encouraging results close to the existing Paris silver resource – in the next few months.

    Investigator share price snapshot

    The Investigator share price has made impressive yearly returns, led by constant high-grade silver results from its Paris mine. Trading at one cent in June last year, the gains have been consistent, with few significant drops in between.

    Still, the Investigator share price has a long way to climb to reach its decade high of 33 cents, set all the way back in 2012.

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  • Leading brokers name 3 ASX shares to buy today

    ASX shares Business man marking buy on board and underlining it

    With so many shares to choose from on the ASX, it can be hard to decide which ones to buy. The good news is that brokers across the country are doing a lot of the hard work for you.

    Three top ASX shares that leading brokers have named as buys this week are listed below. Here’s why they are bullish on them:

    Goodman Group (ASX: GMG)

    According to a note out of Citi, its analysts have retained their buy rating and lifted their price target on this integrated commercial property company’s shares to $22.10. This follows the release of Goodman’s third quarter update last week. Citi believes the update highlights improving operating conditions, particularly given how its work in progress has increased ahead of expectations. In addition to this, it notes stronger rental growth and a sky high occupancy rate. Overall, it suspects that Goodman could be positioned to outperform the market’s growth expectations over the medium term. The Goodman share price is fetching $19.45 today.

    Nearmap Ltd (ASX: NEA)

    A note out of Morgan Stanley reveals that its analysts have retained their overweight rating and $3.30 price target on this embattled aerial imagery technology and location data company’s shares. According to the note, the broker doesn’t see legal threats as a risk to its earnings power, only to short term liquidity. Overall, it still feels that the company, and particularly its US business, is being undervalued by the market. As a result, it is happy to hold firm with its overweight rating. The Nearmap share price is trading at $1.80 today.

    ResMed Inc. (ASX: RMD)

    Analysts at Credit Suisse have retained their outperform rating and $29.00 price target on this sleep treatment focused medical device company’s shares. According to the note, the broker believes ResMed’s new AirSense 11 CPAP device could be a key driver of growth in the coming years. It suspects that around a fifth of machines bought between FY 2015 and FY 2019 are likely to upgrade to the new technology. In light of this, it has increased its estimates accordingly. The ResMed share price is fetching $25.15 on Monday afternoon.

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    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 Nearmap Ltd. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Nearmap 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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  • Galilee (ASX:GLL) share price jumps on ‘encouraging’ gas results

    Natural gas plant engineers using laptop

    The Galilee Energy Ltd. (ASX: GLL) share price is rising today after the company reported its Glenaras Gas Pilot Operations Update.

    Galilee shares are trading close to 5% higher at 85 cents per share, up 124% this past year.

    Galilee is a Brisbane-based energy company engaged in exploring and developing coal seam gas in the Galilee Basin near Longreach in Queensland. It also has gas exploration activities in the USA and Chile.

    Galilee’s gas operation results

    The gas producer reported positive pilot water production results, pumping out 19,000 barrels of water per day at its 100% owned Glenaras multi-well pilot project.

    Galilee is utilising a pump enhancement workover programme (PEP) to increase water production. Although it’s still not 100% operational, it’s already reportedly increased the water rate by 30%. The PEP works by installing larger capacity well pumps, among other improvements.

    The company says that despite the “early stage of production optimisation”, its aggregate natural gas rate from the Glenaras pilot program is increasing and is currently at over 60 thousand standard cubic feet per day. This is a 20% increase in production over the last reporting period for the program.

    Galilee pumping the gas

    Today’s report is a welcome update for investors and the Galilee share price. The company has been working ahead of schedule after its shares fell last month on news that these pump update works would shut down its well operations until mid-May.

    Galilee also noted that gas production is now underway across three different vertical wells. The company noted that these results were all “encouraging given that not all wells are fully commissioned or at maximum drawdown yet.”

    Galilee is now planning to steadily increase its pumping rates at all six vertical wells in the Glenaras project to maximise drawdown rates.

    The company says its second pivot irrigation system, “an important component of the requisite water handling capacity”, has also been successfully commissioned and is now fully operational.

    Galilee share price snapshot

    The Galilee share price boomed a whopping 50% on its last positive Glenaras gas project update on 26 March.

    The company has been a solid gainer over the past 12 months. However, despite the Coalition government’s promise of a gas-led economic recovery, the Galilee share price is still well down on its 2019 highs of over $1.25 per share.

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  • 2 high-growth, quality ETFs to buy

    green etf represented by letters E,T and F sitting on green grass

    There are a handful of high-growth, quality exchange-traded funds (ETFs) that could be worth looking into.

    ETFs that have a significant weighting to certain industries have the ability to generate stronger returns for investors.

    These two in-particular could be good options to think about:

    Betashares Nasdaq 100 ETF (ASX: NDQ)

    This ETF is about investing in 100 of the largest non-financial businesses listed on the NASDAQ in the US. Many of these businesses are the ones at the forefront of the new economy.

    What’s the benefit of this investment? BetaShares explains that with its strong focus on technology, the Betashares Nasdaq 100 ETF provides diversified exposure to a high-growth potential sector that is under-represented in the ASX share market.

    The types of major businesses you get exposure to with this ETF includes: Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, Tesla, Alphabet, Facebook, Nvidia and PayPal.

    All of the above names are global earners and are usually among the strongest in the world in their respective operating divisions.

    However, there’s more to the 100 names than just those huge tech names. These smaller businesses are also global leaders such as Adobe, Cisco Systems, Netflix, Broadcom, Costco, Texas Instruments, Qualcomm, Intuit, Intuitive Surgical and Advanced Micro Devices.

    It has an annual management fee of 0.48% and no performance fees, which is attractive for the strength of the portfolio that it provides and the net returns it has been generating. Since inception in May 2015, Betashares Nasdaq 100 ETF has made net returns of 21.6% per annum.

    VanEck Vectors Video Gaming and eSports ETF (ASX: ESPO)

    This ETF gives investors concentrated exposure to some of the world’s leading video gaming business. The gaming world has been generating long-term growth and this has sent the share prices of many of the constituents of this ETF to higher levels.

    The video gaming sector has seen an average annual growth rate of 12% since 2015, whilst e-sports revenue has grown by an average of 28% per year since 2015.

    As VenEck points out, the social ecosystem around video gaming illustrates demand for online interactive entertainment.

    The average age of e-sports enthusiasts is under 30, which suggests there’s scope for a bigger audience. E-sports has created new potential revenue streams including game publisher fees, media rights, merchandise, ticket sales and advertising.

    There’s a total of 25 businesses in this ETF’s portfolio. The biggest 10 positions account for over 60% of the portfolio, those names include: Nvidia, Tencent, Sea, Advanced Micro Devices, Nintendo, Activision Blizzard, Netease, Electronic Arts, BiliBili and Nexon.

    The US may have a fairly large allocation at 38.6% of the portfolio, but there’s also a heavy Asian influence as well. Japan (20.6%), China (18.5%), Singapore (7.2%) and South Korea (5%) are the next countries with the biggest allocations.

    The index that this ETF aims to track has been performing very well – over the last three years it has returned an average of 32.4% per annum.

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    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 BETANASDAQ ETF UNITS. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended BETANASDAQ ETF UNITS and VanEck Vectors ETF Trust – VanEck Vectors Video Gaming and eSports ETF. 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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  • Why a2 Milk, American Pacific Borate, Appen, & Incitec Pivot are tumbling lower

    A stressed man with his hands on head trying to work out a major systems failure

    The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is on course to start the week with a strong gain. At the time of writing, the benchmark index is up 0.95% to 7,148.8 points.

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

    A2 Milk Company Ltd (ASX: A2M)

    The A2 Milk share price has crashed 12% to $6.14. Investors have been selling the fresh milk and infant formula company’s shares after it downgraded its FY 2021 guidance for the fourth time. The company now expects revenue of NZ$1.2 billion to NZ$1.25 billion with EBITDA of NZ$132 million to NZ$150 million. The latter will be down 73% to 76% year on year. This was driven by sustained weakness in the daigou channel and a massive NZ$103 million to NZ$113 million inventory provision.

    American Pacific Borates Ltd (ASX: ABR)

    The American Pacific Borates share price is down 32% to $1.58. This morning the mineral exploration company announced that a decision has been made to defer construction of Phase 1A of the Fort Cady Borate Mine. Instead, the company intends to focus on a larger borate operation and production of borate specialties in combination with sales of boric acid.

    Appen Ltd (ASX: APX)

    The Appen share price has continued its slide and is down a further 6% to $11.56. Investors have been selling the artificial intelligence (AI) data services company’s shares following the release of a presentation last week. While management spoke positively about its position in the industry, it also revealed that its customers are changing the ways in which they develop projects. The failure of management to comment on its guidance for FY 2021 also hit investor sentiment.

    Incitec Pivot Ltd (ASX IPL)

    The Incitec Pivot share price has sunk over 9% to $2.44. Investors have been selling the industrial chemicals company’s shares following a further update on the Waggaman ammonia plant. According to the release, the plant restarted again in April as expected. However, after operating successfully at nameplate capacity for two weeks, the plant unexpectedly tripped upon the failure of a vibration probe. This was then followed by a coupling failure on the refrigeration compressor. The additional impact to FY 2021 EBIT is estimated to be between $33 million and $42 million.

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  • Up 9%, the Matsa (ASX:MAT) share price is booming today. Here’s why

    Monadelphous share price rio tintoA happy miner in front of a massive drilling rig, indicating a share price lift for ASX mining companies

    The Matsa Resources Limited (ASX: MAT) share price is surging today after the company started drilling at its Devon and Lake Carey gold projects.

    Matsa shares are trading 9.2% higher at 8.3 cents at the time of writing, recovering on losses since late April.

    Matsa engages in mineral exploration, focused on gold, nickel, iron, and copper ore assets across Australia and Thailand. Lake Carey is in Western Australia’s Goldfields-Esperance region.

    Matsa’s new drilling project at Lake Carey

    Matsa has started reverse circulation drilling at its Devon and Lake Carey projects, boring holes down to 4,000 metres on the first of six overall drilling targets. The company is looking for additional gold mineralisation to “grow its resource base” in the Devon area.

    The Matsa share price has been struggling with no recent impressive gold assays at Lake Carey.

    These are additional drilling targets in the Devon project after what the company deemed “highly successful” 2020 drilling programs. The company noted three days ago that soil sampling defined new targets at Devon.

    The company said this drilling program was designed to “test the mineralised structures” as interpreted from Matsa’s recent surveys and sampling projects. The targets were defined from soil and rock chip geochemistry and geological mapping. 

    About Matsa’s Lake Carey project

    The Devon region is just one part of the overall Lake Carey Gold Project, comprising Matsa’s Red October, Fortitude and Devon mines. The area contains a “significant number of historic gold workings”, according to the company.

    Matsa has focused recent surface drilling on the Devon Pit, Olympic and Hill East prospects. In 2020, the company announced high-grade drilling results from its exploration at the underground Red October gold mine, which saw the Matsa share price rise above 16 cents. However, it has fallen steadily since then.

    The company is currently planning to build its own processing plant in the region to lower eventual pipeline costs.

    Matsa share price snapshot

    The Matsa share price has been on a downwards trajectory since the company recorded its high-grade gold results nearly a year ago. It hasn’t come close to recording highs near its 33 cent price back in 2013 in the past 6 years and is currently at a decade-low price point. 

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    Motley Fool contributor Lucas Radbourne-Pugh 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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