The Telstra Corporation Ltd (ASX: TLS) share price has been a surprisingly good performer on the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) of late. As we reported last week, Telstra shares rose 11% over the month of March. That’s a pretty decent move for an old ASX blue chip like Telstra.

Further, the Telstra share price is also having a top day today. At the time of writing, Telstra is up a healthy 1.77% to $3.45 a share. That’s getting tantalisingly close to the company’s 52-week high of $3.54 a share. Year to date, Telstra shares are now up a robust 14%.

So what’s been driving investors to Telstra? A few things have gotten investors hot under the collar in that regard.

Most prominently has been the announced restructure that Telstra unveiled last month. This will result in the company being split up on paper into 4 separate divisions. These four divisions – InfraCo towers, InfraCo Fixed, ServeCo and Telstra International – will all house different aspects of Telstra’s business, all while still coming under the ‘Telstra Group’ umbrella (so no share market spinoffs). Many investors are predicting this move will unlock significant value for the company.

But perhaps the biggest underlying factor outside this restructure is Telstra’s dividend. Telstra has paid out 16 cents per share in annual dividends for a few years now. That 16 cent dividend consists of an ordinary dividend of 10 cents per share and a special dividend of 6 cents per share that is funded by nbn payments.

Despite predictions Telstra would cut this dividend last year, it has managed to hold it steady. And management committed to keeping 16 cents again this year in 2021 a few months ago.

How much is Telstra’s dividend worth today?

Now as we mentioned earlier, the Telstra share price has appreciated significantly in 2021 so far. And rising share prices mean lower starting dividend yields. Even so, Telstra is still an ASX 200 leader when it comes to its yield. On the current share price, 16 cents per share annually equates to a dividend yield of 4.65%. Including Telstra’s full franking credits, which grosses up to 6.64%. That’s a lot better than most ASX 200 shares, including the big four banks, have on offer right now. Not to mention what’s on offer from savings accounts, term deposits and other ‘safer’ cash-based investments.

More reading

• 2 high yield ASX dividend shares to buy today
• 2 high yield ASX dividend shares for income investors to buy
• Brokers name 3 ASX shares to buy right now
• Why the Telstra (ASX:TLS) share price rose 11% in March
• 2 of the best ASX shares to buy for your retirement portfolio

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

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The two ASX dividend shares in this article are rated as buys by brokers and they offer attractive potential yields.

Just because a business pays a dividend doesn’t mean that it’s automatically worth owning. Some yields can be traps if a dividend cut is incoming.

However, the below two businesses are expected to pay good dividends and potentially see good capital growth over the next 12 months:

Aurizon Holdings Ltd (ASX: AZJ)

Aurizon is Australia’s biggest rail freight operator and it’s also one of the larger companies on the ASX.

Every year, the company’s trains carry hundreds of millions of tonnes of commodities for domestic and international markets.

It’s currently rated as a buy by at least four brokers, including Morgans which has a price target of $4.56 on the ASX dividend share.

At the current Aurizon share price, Morgans thinks that the business will pay a partially franked dividend yield of 7.4%.

In the FY21 half-year result, it saw a 2% decline of revenue to $1.5 billion, a slight decline of underlying earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) and underlying net profit after tax (NPAT), but a 22% drop of statutory NPAT to $267 million and a 18% decline of statutory earnings per share (EPS) to 14.1 cents.

The half-year dividend was grown by 5% to 14.4 cents. The coal price has seen a recovery in recent months, so this may be able to help future earnings.

Super Retail Group Ltd (ASX: SUL)

Super Retail is a large retailer with several businesses including BCF, Macpac, Rebel and Supercheap Auto.

The ASX dividend share is currently liked by at least four brokers at the moment, including Credit Suisse which has a price target for the business of $14.64.

Super Retail generated large profit growth in the first six months of FY21 off the back of strong sales growth. Total group sales went up 23% to $1.78 billion, with online sales growth of 87% to $237.4 million.

Operating leverage was on display with the profit lines growing quickly. The segment EBIT margin went up from 6.4% to 14.4%. This helped underlying NPAT rise by 139% to $177.1 million and statutory NPAT grew by 201% to $172.8 million.

The board of Super Retail decided to pay an interim dividend of 33 cents per share. Credit Suisse is expecting the ASX dividend share to pay a dividend of 64 cents per share, which translates to a grossed-up dividend yield of 7.6%.

In the first seven weeks of the second half of FY21, Super Retail has seen like for like sales growth of 30.5%. Management expect to revert to normal levels of promotional activity in the second half as inventory levels are restored. Expenses are also expected to catch up on projects deferred during COVID-19.

More reading

• 3 ASX dividend shares to buy today
• Leading broker names its best ASX share ideas for April
• 2 quality ASX dividend shares to buy this week
• Retail shares: buy what you know, but who owns what you buy?
• 2 high yield ASX dividend shares for income investors to buy

Motley Fool contributor Tristan Harrison has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of and has recommended Super Retail Group Limited. 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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The Liontown Resources Limited (ASX: LTR) share price rose today. The positive price movement comes as the ASX lithium miner gave an update on operations at its Western Australia mining site.

At market close, shares in the company were trading for 45.5 cents each – up 1.11%. By comparison, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) closed up 1.02%.

Let’s take a closer look at Liontown’s update.

Liontown share price up on lithium update

In a statement to the ASX, Liontown says it has identified a number of additional project improvements for its Kathleen Valley Lithium Project in WA.

The improvements in question include an upgrade in the categorisation of minerals, sustaining capital savings, and “simplification of the process flowsheet…”

The company has also conducted a feasibility study at the site. Parts of the study include:

• A review of environmental policies and their application at the site, including impacts on Traditional owners, minimising land and water usage, and lowering its carbon footprint.
• A mineral resource estimate update.
• Geotechnical modelling for improved economic results.
• Process flowsheet enhancements.
• “Detailed” metallurgic test work with a focus on greater ore processes
• Successful hydrological drilling.

So far, the company believes there is a total lithium output of 156 million tonnes at the site, which bodes well for the Liontown share price as the price of lithium continues to increase. As of writing, lithium is trading on the commodities market for a 52-week high of US$90,000 a tonne.

ASX lithium stocks in general have been doing tremendously well over the last year. One such reason is because of the ever-increasing demand for electric vehicles – of which lithium is a core component.

Management commentary

Liontown Managing Director, David Richards, says the progress outlined today will put Kathleen Valley into the forefront of lithium projects.

We are continuing to see excellent progress, with ongoing work reinforcing Kathleen Valley’s attributes as a high-grade, large-scale, long-life lithium project in a Tier-1 location.

Kathleen Valley is ideally placed to be a key player in the global energy transformation, which is gaining momentum as major auto-makers and players in the lithium-ion battery supply chain continue to ramp-up their commitments to help reduce the global carbon footprint.

Liontown share price snapshot

Like other ASX lithium miners, the Liontown share price has gone gangbusters over the last year. If an investor bought in the company 12 months ago today, they would be sitting on a tidy 505.26% return on investment.

On current prices, Liontown Resources has a market capitalisation of $834.5 million.

More reading

• Surge in mining exploration to benefit these small-cap ASX shares: broker

Motley Fool contributor Marc Sidarous 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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Are you looking to add a small cap share or two to your portfolio? If you are, then you might want to consider one of the shares listed below.

Here’s what you need to know about these exciting small cap shares:

Alcidion Group Ltd (ASX: ALC)

The first small cap share to watch is this informatics solutions company. Alcidion provides software which has been designed to improve the efficacy and cost of delivering services to patients and reduce hospital-acquired complications. It looks well-positioned for growth because of the shift to a paperless environment in the healthcare sector. Positively, Alcidion has announced a number of major contract wins this financial year.

IntelliHR Ltd (ASX: IHR)

IntelliHR is a cloud-based human resources technology business that is developing and marketing a next-generation cloud-based people management and data analytics platform. The company notes that its disruptive and advanced technology leverages artificial intelligence, is highly scalable, and industry agnostic. Demand has been growing for its platform, leading to strong annualised recurring revenue growth in FY 2021.

Nitro Software Ltd (ASX: NTO)

Nitro Software is another small cap ASX share to watch. It is a software company that is aiming to drive digital transformation in organisations around the world. Its key solution is the Nitro Productivity Suite. This provides integrated PDF productivity and electronic signature tools to customers through a horizontal, software-as-a-service, and desktop-based software solution. Nitro counts a number of the largest companies in the world as customers.

Volpara Health Technologies Ltd (ASX: VHT)

A final small cap ASX share to watch is Volpara Health Technologies. It is a provider of software that uses artificial intelligence imaging algorithms to assist with the early detection of breast and lung cancer. Volpara has been growing at a rapid rate in recent years thanks to market share gains and its expanding average revenue per user (ARPU) metric. Thanks to acquisitions and its growing product portfolio, the latter metric is expected to rise significantly in the coming years. This could be supportive of further stellar growth over the 2020s.

More reading

• 2 rapidly growing small cap ASX shares to buy
• 3 ASX shares to buy in April 2021
• 2 small cap ASX shares to watch closely
• 2 stellar ASX tech shares to buy in April
• 2 little known small cap ASX shares to buy

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 recommends VOLPARA FPO NZ. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of Alcidion Group Ltd. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Alcidion Group Ltd, Nitro Software Limited, and VOLPARA FPO NZ. 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 Kalamazoo Resources Ltd (ASX: KZR) share price is surging today after the company announced it has started gold drilling in the rural Victorian region of Muckleford.

The Kalamazoo share price has jumped by 7% to 45 cents per share at the time of writing.

Kalamazoo is a gold and copper explorer and developer, which traditionally has focused on exploring and developing gold projects in Western Australia.

However, after success in its Castlemaine gold drilling projects in Victoria, it’s expanded into the Muckleford region.

What Kalamazoo’s drilling update means

In today’s release, Kalamazoo advised that on 1 April, it started general reverse circulation (RC) drilling down to 4,000 metres at 4 prospects in the South Muckleford area. These are located at Fentiman’s Reef, Smith’s Reef and Charcoal Gully. 

The gold miner considers these prospects high priority drill targets. They were recently identified to contain highly prospective epizonal gold-antimony mineralisation which is closely analogous to that of the nearby Fosterville and Costerfield deposits in Central Victoria.

Epizonal systems can develop extremely high-grade, free gold deposits.

Kalamazoo has also completed detailed airborne surveys over the regions it’s now drilling, which it believes will aid the process. It has also been conducting 3D modelling to enhance its planning.

Can regional Victoria provide another gold region?

Kalamazoo believes the South Muckleford project area is vastly under-explored by modern drilling standards. It says it hasn’t been subjected to any systematic modern exploration techniques and only very limited shallow drilling. 

This RC drilling program is part of an extensive exploration work program undertaken by Kalamazoo aimed at advancing the significant potential of this broad epizonal gold-antimony mineralised system.

Kalamazoo believes that the drilling targets are favourably located in the hanging-wall position of the major regional-scale, north-south trending Muckleford Fault.

This is considered a key deep-tapping conduit for gold mineralising fluids and could potentially provide the company with strong free gold drilling results.

Kalamazoo share price snapshot

Kalamazoo spent most its early ASX listing hovering around the 10 cents per share mark until a 40 cent price jump in January 2019. It reached a high of 80 cents in July last year but has since fallen to its current price.

The Kalamazoo share price is down 24% in 2021 so far and 44 cents against the basic materials sector.

More reading

• 4 exciting small cap ASX shares to watch
• Bitcoin’s price is down 8% from February’s highs. Is it time to buy the dip?
• Archer (ASX:AXE) share price retreats despite positive update
• 2 outstanding ASX shares to buy and hold
• 3 reasons the Westpac (ASX:WBC) share price just hit a 52-week high

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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The Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) price is down 2.3% over the past 24 hours. One Bitcoin is currently worth US$56,612 (AU$74,489).

Bitcoin is still up 95% so far in 2021 but has now retraced 8% from the US$61,556 it reached on 14 February, according to data from CoinDesk.

Which has crypto enthusiasts and newbies alike wondering, is it time to buy the dip?

Timing your entry

For an answer to that question, we turn to Simon Peters who is a market analyst at eToro. The online trading and brokerage company bought Bitcoin for its own balance sheet. This happened more than 10 years ago when it was worth $5.

Now only the most bearish crypto analysts forecast the Bitcoin price will return to those bargain-basement levels. But the notoriously volatile digital token could certainly go lower from here.

Asked whether ASX investors should wait for a potentially bigger price fall before buying Bitcoin, Peters told the Motley Fool:

Timing the dip of any asset is both risky and difficult, as the price could fall further than the point where you think the bottom is. Ideally, the investor would need to have some knowledge of reading charts and using technical indicators to identify the bottom, or very close to the bottom of a dip or retracement.

Long-term investors, those planning to buy and hold, may find it easier to dollar cost average. Buying with a fixed amount each week or month, for example, regardless of what the price is. This strategy may not yield the highest returns versus buying at the bottom of a dip, it removes the complication of trying to time the market.

Can Bitcoin shine amid renewed inflation concerns?

Crack open the financial news and you’ll almost certainly run across several articles highlighting the potential risks of resurgent inflation to share markets.

You’ll likely also find at least 1 article from a prominent central banker attempting to allay those fears.

We don’t have a crystal ball. But the broad consensus is that whether inflation begins to impact interest rates and share markets this year or next, we can expect the erosion in the value of our fiat currencies to return.

But how about cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin? Can Bitcoin serve as an effective inflation hedge?

Here’s what eToro’s Peters told us:

Bitcoin has fulfilled the criteria of an inflation hedge, which is an asset that protects against the decreasing purchasing power of a domestic currency. More people are viewing it as such. This first happened with individual investors. Now we are starting to see corporations hold Bitcoin in their treasuries as an inflation hedge instead of cash.

Peters said he expects more investors will turn to Bitcoin as an inflation hedge. Especially if global governments and central banks continue their easy monetary and fiscal policy measures. That in turn, he said, should see the Bitcoin price keep rising.

What could send the price lower?

With the Bitcoin price up 670% in the past 12 months, and more institutions lending their support for the crypto asset, what tailwinds could drag Bitcoin lower?

According to Peters, there are a number of risk factors Bitcoin investors or speculators should be aware of:

Firstly, we could see government or regulatory intervention, making it harder or illegal to transact, hold, or mine Bitcoin.

Secondly, a flaw or vulnerability in the underlying blockchain could get exploited. For example, a 51% attack where miners collude to control the majority of hash rate on the network. Whilst this is very difficult to execute, it is not theoretically impossible.

Lastly, we could see price manipulation. Bitcoin is arguably not as liquid as other assets like stocks, meaning significant orders (sometimes referred to as whales) can severely affect its price.

He noted that any of these issues could see investors lose confidence in the world’s biggest crypto and send the price lower.

The case for holding Bitcoin

Peters reminded us that it’s been just over a year, 11 March 2020, since Black Thursday. That was the day a technical failure on the Bitcoin Mercantile Exchange (Bitmex) saw futures crash more than 50%. And the Bitcoin price crashed below US$4,000.

Since then, he told the Motley Fool, Bitcoin has gone “from strength to strength”.

The case for holding bitcoin has increased over the period, with institutional investors now holding the crypto asset, as they look to alternatives to fiat currencies. With big corporations also lending their support, the future has never looked brighter for crypto assets.

Tesla’s decision to both accept payment for its cars in bitcoin and hold that bitcoin on its balance sheet rather than convert it to dollars will likely build more momentum for the crypto asset.

Tesla and other companies are showing that crypto is here to stay, and its mainstream adoption is only going to increase.

With a finite supply of Bitcoin, Peters said increased institutional interest in the digital token could cause a supply-side squeeze and see prices continue to rise longer-term.

More reading

• How Westpac (ASX:WBC) is set to cash in on Bitcoin
• Will China’s great emissions wall crash the Bitcoin price?
• 3 reasons Bitcoin could double your money (and more)
• Bitcoin price mania spreads as Ether price hits record highs
• What’s driving the Bitcoin price back towards new record highs?

Bernd Struben has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of and recommends Bitcoin. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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The Archer Materials Ltd (ASX: AXE) share price has retreated in late-afternoon trade after soaring as high as 93.5 cents. This comes after the company announced that it has begun to progress on the pathway for sub-10 nanometre biochip fabrication.

At the time of writing, the advanced material company’s shares are fetching 90 cents apiece, flat for the day.

Development plans

Archer shares were trading on a high earlier on but have since fallen back to yesterday’s market close.

According to its release, Archer advised it has commenced development to produce biochip components that are under 10 nanometres (nm) in size. In comparison, a human hair is around 75 microns or 75,000 nm.

Archer noted that miniaturisation to below 10 nm is a key requirement for the operation and end-use of its biochip. Anything less than 10nm is considered as best-in-class across the semiconductor industry.

The company explained that if successful in creating prototype biochip devices, it would remove significant barriers to entry. This includes pattern design and process optimisation, for on-chip fabrication of biosensor components.

What did the CEO say?

Archer CEO, Dr Mohammad Choucair touched on the company’s nanofabrication development, saying:

Archer has progressed to one of the most advanced forms of nanofabrication after recently translating biosensor components onto silicon wafers. We are expanding on this strength with in-house capability to build a robust biochip IP portfolio. This is key to Archer’s long-term growth, and near-term speed of execution in its deep tech development.

Best-in-class capabilities in nanofabrication is a global competitive advantage in the multibillion-dollar point of care medical diagnostics industry. One of the reasons why there are few companies in the world developing and commercialising biochips is because it’s difficult to achieve precision engineering at the nano scale.

Archer share price summary

Over the past year, the Archer share price has accelerated over 400%, with 75% of those gains coming from year-to-date. The company’s shares reached an all-time high of $1.24 in late February on the back of achieving a technological breakthrough.

More reading

• Up 673% in 1 year, why the Archer Materials (ASX:AXE) share price is lifting again today

Motley Fool contributor Aaron Teboneras 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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One of the ways that Warren Buffett has generated significant wealth over the last six decades is through buy and hold investing.

If the Oracle of Omaha finds a company that he likes, he will invest and not sell shares unless something breaks his investment thesis. The beauty of this strategy is that it allows investors to benefit greatly from compounding.

Compounding explains why a 10% per annum return will turn $10,000 into $11,000 in one year and into ~$26,000 in ten years.

With that in mind, I have picked out two ASX shares that could be great candidates for a buy and hold investment. They are as follows:

Domino’s Pizza Enterprises Ltd (ASX: DMP)

Due to its strong performance in FY 2021 and very bright outlook, Domino’s could be a top buy and hold investment option.

In respect to the former, strong demand for its pizzas in the ANZ, European, and Japanese markets underpinned stellar sales growth during the first half of FY 2021. Domino’s reported a 16.5% increase in total global food sales to $1.84 billion. And thanks to operating leverage, its net profit grew at an even stronger rate of 32.8% to $96.2 million.

Pleasingly, management is expecting an even stronger performance during the second half, which is likely to lead to a bumper profit result in August.

Looking further ahead, Domino’s still has a significant growth runway. For example, at the end of the first half, the company had a network of 2,800 stores. It is now aiming to double this over the next decade. And that’s just from its existing markets. Management is also looking for acquisitions and could expand into new territories in the future to give the company an even larger growth runway.

Analysts at Goldman Sachs are very positive on the company’s future. As a result, the broker recently put a buy rating and $112.60 price target on its shares.

SEEK Limited (ASX: SEK)

Another buy and hold investment option to consider is SEEK. It is of course the leading job listings company in the ANZ region and has a number of growing businesses around the world.

In respect to its local operations, at the end of December, SEEK ANZ had 16 million candidate profiles, 35 million monthly visits, and 160,000 active hirers. This led to the company having almost a third of all placements in the region, which is five times greater than its nearest competitor.

This gives the company a firm foundation to build on over the next decade, which should be supported by its international businesses, which continue to grow.

One broker that is a fan of SEEK is UBS. It currently has a buy rating and $32.00 price target on its shares.

More reading

• Seek (ASX:SEK) share price lifts as jobs ads reach 12-year high
• ASX 200 up 0.9%: Cleanaway jumps, tech shares rise, Incitec Pivot sinks
• 3 five-star ASX shares to buy in April
• 2 ASX growth shares to buy in April
• Over 1 in 4 Australians are investing in the ASX: report

Motley Fool contributor James Mickleboro owns shares of SEEK Limited. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Dominos Pizza Enterprises Limited and SEEK Limited. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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The Westpac Banking Corp (ASX: WBC) share price has continued its positive run on Thursday.

In fact, at one stage today, the banking giant’s shares hit a 52-week high of $25.38.

When the Westpac share price hit that level, it meant it was up a remarkable 29% since the start of the year.

Here are three reasons why the Westpac share price is flying high right now:

Strong first quarter update

One reason the Westpac share price is at a 52-week high is its strong first quarter update in February. For the three months ended 31 December, the bank posted a $1.97 billion first quarter cash profit. This was up a massive 144% over the quarterly average cash earnings of $808 million it achieved in the second half of FY 2020. Another big positive from the result was its impairment benefit of $501 million. Westpac reversed a portion of its COVID provisions due to improved credit quality, stronger economic outcomes, and a better economic outlook.

Improving dividend outlook

Also getting investors excited has been Westpac’s dividend outlook. Thanks to the improving economy, a booming housing market, and the removal of dividend restrictions by APRA, Westpac and the rest of the big four banks look well-positioned to grow their dividends in the coming years. In addition to this, Westpac’s exceptionally strong capital position means it could return excess funds to shareholders via buybacks in the near future.

Positive brokers

Another reason the Westpac share price is on fire this year is the bullish views of a number of leading brokers. One of those is Morgans, which earlier this week put the bank on its best ideas list for April. The broker currently has an add rating and $27.50 price target on its shares. In addition to this, going back to its improving dividend outlook, the broker is forecasting dividends of $1.32 per share in FY 2021 and then $1.43 per share in FY 2022. This represents fully franked yields of 5.2% and 5.6%, respectively.

More reading

• Leading broker names 3 of its best ASX share ideas for April
• Saxo reveals its Australian clients’ top 5 most popular shares
• ASX 200 up 1%: Big four banks and miners take ASX 200 above 7,000 points
• How Westpac (ASX:WBC) is set to cash in on Bitcoin
• Westpac (ASX:WBC) share price on watch after ASIC launches civil proceedings

Motley Fool contributor James Mickleboro owns shares of Westpac Banking. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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The Bill Identity Ltd (ASX: BID) share price is falling today after the company announced a master services agreement with energy retailer Simply Energy for its New Zealand customers.

At the time of writing, the Bill Identity share price has slumped 3.4% to 83.5 cents per share.

A quick take on the companies

Bill Identity is a technology company that automates the bill-paying process through cloud computing. The company provides utility bill expense management solutions and is spread across Australia, New Zealand, the United States, the United Kingdom, and Europe. 

Simply is one of Australia’s largest energy retailers with around 700,000 Australian accounts and is wholly owned by French energy company ENGIE. It will initially only use its current arrangement for New Zealand customers.

What the deal means

Bill Identity will provide Simply with its cloud-based bill paying software, the Utility Bill Portal solution.

The deal was reached after a successful pilot program and has an initial three-year term. It will provide a step-change in service to “a large number” of Simply’s commercial and industrial customers in New Zealand.

Bill Identity describes its Utility Bill Portal software as a fully-orchestrated robotic process automation (RPA) business customer platform for energy retailers, which enables their customers to have “easy access to utility bills anywhere, at any time”.

By automatically capturing and validating invoices and meter data, its clients can streamline their accounting and payment processes. 

What management said

Bill Identity managing director Guy Maine welcomed the deal, saying:

We are extremely excited to be providing Simply with our Utility Bill Portal solution.

The solution has been designed to deliver significant cost-to-serve economies, and the data-driven RPA experience uses intuitive simplification that is intended to drive increased engagement and satisfaction, thereby unlocking ongoing value for large multi-site energy customers. 

Bill Identity share price snapshot

The Bill Identity share price and its relative transformation under the ASX ticker Bill Identity has been well publicised. But since reaching a high of $1.60 in February 2019, it’s had a series of volatile jumps and falls to its current price of around 84 cents.

It’s down 84% against the technology sector over the past 12 months and has lost more than 30% of its share price value in 2021 so far.

More reading

• 3 ASX dividend shares to buy today
• The Tietto Minerals (ASX:TIE) share price is up 8% today. Here’s why
• Strike Energy (ASX:STX) share price rising on more WA gas discoveries
• These ETFs have been making ASX investors rich
• Why the Province Resources (ASX:PRL) share price is up 12%

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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