The Cimic Group Ltd (ASX: CIM) share price is trading higher today after the company addressed recent media speculation about the future of its jointly-owned Ventia business.

At the time of writing, the construction conglomerate’s share price is trading 0.83% higher at $21.82.

Cimic’s update follows a story published by yesterday’s The Australian, as well as similar reporting by The Australian Financial Review, claiming Cimic and Apollo Global Management are pursuing an initial public offering (IPO) of services business Ventia.

Rumours confirmed

This morning’s update from Cimic confirms Ventia has appointed advisers to assist in reviewing strategic options – which may include an IPO. Cimic owns a 47.5% stake in the essential services provider.

In late May, the AFR reported Ventia had covertly tested investor appetites during April. Reportedly, those who attended secret pitches to major fund managers were made to sign non-disclosure agreements.

While it’s believed neither Cimic nor other major shareholder Apollo initiated these meetings, both parties will be pivotal in the next steps forward. Analysts estimate if Ventia were to spin off as a separately listed company, its valuation could be more than $3.5 billion.

How’s business?

Despite the impacts of COVID-19, Ventia managed to grow its revenue and earnings in 2020. The company increased revenue by roughly 42% to $3.22 billion. Meanwhile, earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortisation (EBITDA) climbed by more than 12% to $265.5 million.

In December 2020, Ventia was awarded two substantial contracts with Telstra Corporation Ltd (ASX: TLS) and Anglo American. These contracts totalled an estimated revenue of $786 million.

As one of the largest essential services providers across Australia and New Zealand, Ventia is familiar with servicing large-scale projects, including utility infrastructure, asset management and engineering.

Cimic share price under construction

It has been a bumpy past twelve months for the Cimic share price, which has fallen by around 19% during the period. However, the last couple of months have been fruitful.

A flurry of contract wins and maintained guidance have fortified shareholder confidence. Since 21 April 2021, the company’s share price has rallied by around 28%.

No doubt Cimic shareholders will be watching with anticipation to see whether Ventia’s IPO goes ahead.

The post Cimic (ASX:CIM) share price lifts on confirmed Ventia IPO talks appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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Motley Fool contributor Mitchell Lawler has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia 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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The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is on course to start the week on a disappointing note. In afternoon trade, the benchmark index is down 0.3% to 7,273 points.

Four ASX shares that are falling more than most today are listed below. Here’s why they are sinking:

Flight Centre Travel Group Ltd (ASX: FLT)

The Flight Centre share price is down almost 4% to $15.39. A number of travel shares are trading lower on Monday. This may have been driven by concerns over the Melbourne lockdown and its impact on the domestic travel market.

Mesoblast limited (ASX: MSB)

The Mesoblast share price has continued its slide and is down a further 4% to $1.77. Investors have been selling the allogeneic cellular medicines company’s shares since the release of its third quarter update last week. Mesoblast reported a loss after tax of US$26.5 million for the quarter. This brings its financial year to date loss to US$76.75 million.

National Australia Bank Ltd (ASX: NAB)

The NAB share price has fallen 3.5% to $26.57. This morning the banking giant revealed that it has been hit with an AUSTRAC investigation in relation Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing non-compliance concerns. According to the release, AUSTRAC believes there is “potential serious and ongoing non-compliance” regarding the NAB business group’s customer identification procedures and ongoing customer due diligence.

SKYCITY Entertainment Group Limited (ASX: SKC)

The SKYCITY share price has tumbled 9.5% to $3.08. This morning the casino and resorts operator also revealed that AUSTRAC is investigating its Adelaide operation in relation to Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing non-compliance concerns. The release explains that the potential serious non-compliance includes concerns relating to ongoing customer due diligence.

The post Why Flight Centre, Mesoblast, NAB, & SkyCity shares are sinking appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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James Mickleboro does not own any shares mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Flight Centre Travel Group Limited. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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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:

Airtasker Ltd (ASX: ART)

According to a note out of Morgans, its analysts have upgraded this outsourcing marketplace provider’s shares to an add rating with an improved price target of $1.29. The broker has been pleased with the company’s performance in the UK and US markets. It also notes that the company has just announced the acquisition of the US-based Zaarly business. This provides Airtasker with established operations in two US cities. The Airtasker share price is trading at $1.17 today.

Megaport Ltd (ASX: MP1)

A note out of UBS reveals that its analysts have retained their buy rating and $17.10 price target on this network as a service provider’s shares. According to the note, the broker is pleased with the progress the company is making with its SD-WAN partnerships. Outside this, UBS has previously spoken about its belief that Megaport is well-placed to benefit from the long-term structural story of the shift to cloud. The Megaport share price is fetching $15.24.

Sezzle Inc (ASX: SZL)

Analysts at Ord Minnett have retained their buy rating and $11.90 price target on this buy now pay later (BNPL) provider’s shares. This follows news that Sezzle has signed a three-year deal with US retail giant Target. The broker believes this is a game changer for the company and has updated its forecasts to reflect this. It suspects Sezzle could reach 1.25% of Target’s volumes in beauty, fashion and apparel in FY 2022. The Sezzle share price is trading at $9.01 on Monday afternoon.

The post Leading brokers name 3 ASX shares to buy today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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Motley Fool contributor James Mickleboro has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of and has recommended MEGAPORT FPO. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has recommended Airtasker Limited and Sezzle Inc. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended MEGAPORT FPO and Sezzle 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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The Superloop Ltd (ASX: SLC) share price has been frozen ahead of an acquisition and capital raising announcement.

Shares in the telecommunications infrastructure company entered a trading halt prior to open this morning. The Superloop share price remains halted at $1.04.

Why is the Superloop share price halted?

According to the release, the telecommunications infrastructure company has entered a trading halt ahead of announcing a material acquisition and a capital raising.

While yet to be confirmed, Superloop is rumoured to be readying to launch a $100 million equity raising with the help of Canaccord Genuity and UBS. The capital injection will go towards funding the acquisition of a private broadband company.

The trading halt will remain in place until after Superloop releases further details or commencement of trading on Wednesday 9 June 2021.

Superloop cash burner

Despite Superloop being a loss-making company, the last time it went to investors for additional capital was back in September 2019.

At 31 December 2021, the company’s 12-month trailing earnings came in at a loss of $3.11 million. Additionally, the Superloop share price has fallen by 4% over the last year.

Further details pertaining to the material acquisition and capital raise will be reported on once released.

The post Superloop (ASX:SLC) share price frozen ahead of acquisition news appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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

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ASX copper shares have broadly enjoyed a strong year on the back of rocketing copper prices.

How strong?

Sandfire Resources Ltd (ASX: SFR) has gained 41% over the past 12 months.

Oz Minerals Limited (ASX: OZL) has rocketed 145% higher over that same time.

And these aren’t small-cap ASX copper shares we’re talking about here. Sandfire has a market cap of $1.3 billion, while Oz Minerals’ market cap is some $8.4 billion.

For some comparison, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) has gained 19% since this time last year.

What’s driving the big rallies for ASX copper shares?

While not all ASX copper share have witnessed similar market-beating gains, producers of the red metal have enjoyed a strong tailwind in the form of rocketing copper prices.

On 8 June 2020, a tonne of copper was trading for US$5,700 (AU$7,355). Today that same tonne is worth US$9,955. That’s down a bit from the US$10,460 peaks copper reached in mid-May, largely due to some efforts by China to halt soaring commodity prices. But it’s still up 75% year-on-year.

And those 75% gains go straight to the bottom line for ASX copper shares.

Why this copper rally has legs

The performance of ASX copper shares over the past 12 months is water under the bridge.

Looking at what’s yet to come, the demand for copper is expected to continue growing as the world looks to decarbonise and turns to EVs and renewable energy sources. Both EVs and solar installations require far more copper than conventionally powered sources.

Meanwhile, new copper supplies remain limited, opening the door for leading ASX copper shares to potentially continue to outperform.

According to Richard Adkerson, CEO of copper giant Freeport-McMoRan Inc (quoted by Bloomberg):

In the short-run, actions can have an impact, commodity trading can have an impact. But the commodity market for copper today is extraordinarily strong. Both on the demand side, we’ve got new sources of demand, and supply scarcity is a real factor in the marketplace…

It’s hard to find another commodity that has the supply side support that copper has. And now we’ve got a new era of copper demand where we’re not just relying on China’s growth for new demand but lots of things for growth outside of China.

If the global copper supply does remain subdued in the face of strong demand, ASX copper shares could be in for another run higher.

The post Why ASX copper shares could have more market-beating gains ahead appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. Bernd Struben 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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Investing in 2021 has so far been largely defined by market fears of inflation. Whilst the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) has, on the whole, had a great year considering its year to date gains of around 9% and a series of recent new record highs, there has been a lot of volatility in between.

This is especially so in the tech shares sector. One of the root causes of this volatility has been fears of inflation, and the higher interest rates that come with it.

It’s worth noting that both the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) and the US Federal Reserve (the Fed) have given strong indications that they don’t see a case for interest rates going up before 2023 at the earliest. Even so, this hasn’t stopped investors from speculating a far earlier rate rise. Or government bond yields essentially doubling over the past 6-7 months or so, which indicates that markets aren’t entirely buying what the RBA and the Fed are selling.

Today, we have an interesting development along that line.

According to Bloomberg, the US Treasury Secretary (which is a rough equivalent to our Treasurer) Janet Yellen has stated that higher interest rates could be good for the US economy. In an interview, Secretary Yellen said that the Biden Administration should push ahead with its massive spending programs that are currently being proposed. Even if it results in inflation.

Here’s some of what she told Bloomberg:

If we ended up with a slightly higher interest rate environment it would actually be a plus for society’s point of view and the Fed’s point of view… We’ve been fighting inflation that’s too low and interest rates that are too low now for a decade.

What would higher interest rates mean for ASX shares?

Well, it’s worth noting that if the US starts raising interest rates, our RBA would probably have to follow suit. And that would of course mean higher interest rates in Australia as well.

But how would this impact the share market? Well, interest rate rises are normally not conducive to higher share markets. Higher rates normally mean that ‘risky’ assets like shares lose some of their appeal in the eyes of many investors since term deposits and other ‘safer’ investments become more attractive. So while higher rates might be good for the economy, this probably won’t translate into higher shares, at least in the short term.

But with interest rates at near-zero levels currently, there really is only one way they can go in the future. So perhaps that’s what ASX investors should be preparing for right now. After all, the Fed and the RBA have both told us they are coming at some point. Whether that be in 2023, 2024 or even 2022 is the real question.

The post Do higher interest rates look more likely than ever now? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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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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Qantas Airways Limited (ASX: QAN) has hit the headlines as reports allege up to 150 of the airline’s staff could be involved in organised crime. At the time of writing, the Qantas share price is down 2.16% to $4.765.

Several Nine Entertainment Co Holdings Ltd (ASX: NEC) mastheads published the claims yesterday. They reported federal crime agencies have reason to believe some Qantas staff have been involved in drug smuggling and other crimes that have compromised Australia’s border security.

Qantas’ chief security officer Luke Bramah responded to media reports last night, saying he finds them “disturbing”.

Let’s take a closer look at the news circulating.

Qantas in the headlines

According to reporting by Nine’s 60 Minutes, The Age, and The Sydney Morning Herald, a classified federal law enforcement intelligence operation found numerous Qantas employees linked to organised crime.

In response to the allegations, Bramah said Qantas has not been notified of any potential wrongdoing by its employees, saying:

None of Australia’s law enforcement agencies have told us of the existence of a report that suggests there are potentially 150 Qantas employees who have connections to organised crime. Nor have they raised concerns with us about our vetting or background checking processes.

We’ve written to the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission, AFP, Border Force and Aviation and Maritime Security seeking details of the report.

Bramah also said Qantas is the only commercial airline that has an accreditation with Australian Border Force. The accreditation means all employees flying internationally must pass a fit and proper test.

Qantas stated that if concerns of an employee’s behaviour were raised by law enforcement agencies, they would be acted upon.

The reports claim a person with connections to a motorcycle gang works in Qantas’ middle management team at Sydney Airport. The reports allege the person has been recruiting criminals to the airline to help transport drugs.

They also reported the intelligence operation found $1 billion worth of cocaine entered Australia through a corrupt Qantas baggage handler. Further, they stated five Qantas staff have links to Islamic extremism.

Qantas share price snapshot

The Qantas share price has had a turbulent time on the ASX lately.

Currently, Qantas shares are around 1.65% lower than at the start of 2021. The Qantas share price is, however, around 3% higher than where it was this time last year.

The airline has a market capitalisation of around $9 billion, with approximately 1.8 billion shares outstanding.

The post Qantas (ASX:QAN) share price suffers as drug smuggling claims surface appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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

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The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) has had an interesting start to the trading week. At the time of writing, the ASX 200 is looking at a loss, down 0.07% to 7,290.6 points after initially rising strongly this morning.

Among the best performing ASX 200 shares so far today is Afterpay Ltd (ASX: APT). The Afterpay share price is currently up a healthy 1.8% to $96.18, after rising almost 4% earlier today. As you might have gathered, that’s significant outperformance of the broader market today.

So why is Afterpay suddenly in demand? As you may remember from last week, Afterpay was not doing a whole lot, even though the ASX 200 was rising strongly and making new all-time highs. So what’s changed?

ASX tech shares in demand

Well, today’s move looks like nothing to do with Afterpay itself, seeing as there is no major news out of the company. Instead, it’s likely to be reacting to a strong showing from the US markets last week.

On Friday night (our time), the US NASDAQ-100 (NASDAQ: NDX) had an extremely positive session, rising 1.78% to 13,771 points, putting it within 2% of its all-time high. The Nasdaq is a tech-heavy index and thus tends to reflect a broader market sentiment over tech shares in general. And that seems to be spilling over into Afterpay shares this morning.

It’s not just Afterpay either. We are seeing similar moves across many popular ASX tech shares today. Appen Ltd (ASX: APX) shares are up 4.82% today to $12.83. The WiseTech Global Ltd (ASX: WTC) share price is up 2.94% today to $29.40. And the Nuix Ltd (ASX: NXL) share price, which had a clanger of a week last week, is up a hefty 6.56% to $2.76. Indeed, the entire S&P/ASX All Technology Index (ASX: XTX) is up a substantial 1.34% this morning.

About the Afterpay share price

The Afterpay share price has spent 2021 on something of a roller coaster ride. After rising by more than 30% year to date and topping out at an all-time high of $160.05 per share back in February, Afterpay shares have been on a slide ever since.

Even at today’s prices, the company’s share price is still down by around 18% year to date and down by around 39% from its February peak. At the current share price, Afterpay has a market capitalisation of $28 billion.

The post Why the Afterpay (ASX:APT) share price is starting the week on a high appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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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. owns shares of and has recommended AFTERPAY T FPO, Appen Ltd, and WiseTech Global. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has recommended Nuix Pty Ltd. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of and has recommended AFTERPAY T FPO, Appen Ltd, and WiseTech Global. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Nuix Pty Ltd. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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The Star Entertainment Group Ltd (ASX: SGR) share price is down today. Star is the latest ASX company to confirm it is being investigated by financial crimes watchdog AUSTRAC for potential “serious” breaches of anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism legislation.

At the time of writing, shares in the casino operator are trading for $3.83 – down 3.53%. At the same time, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is only 0.09% lower.

Shares in National Australia Bank Ltd (ASX: NAB), Crown Resorts Ltd (ASX: CWN), and SKYCITY Entertainment Group Limited (ASX: SKC) are all down after all confirmed they are also being investigated by AUSTRAC.

Let’s take a closer look at today’s news.

Star share price dims on investigation

In a statement to the ASX, Star Entertainment said AUSTRAC has begun investigations into the company for “potential serious non-compliance… with the Australian Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Act 2006 and the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Rules Instrument 2007 (No. 1).”

According to Star, the investigation includes “concerns” about proper customer due diligence and potentially not maintaining an anti-money laundering or counter-terrorism financing program. The statement goes on to say these alleged breaches were identified in September 2019 and relate to FY16 and FY19. The matter is now being handled by AUSTRAC’s enforcement division.

Star also says AUSTRAC has not made any decision yet about what action it will take and if the company will face any penalties, and to what extent. AUSTRAC has requested to review documents from Star as part of the investigation, according to the gaming operator. The prospect of hefty fines may be weighing on investors’ minds and the Star share price.

In its statement, Star says it “takes its anti-money laundering obligations very seriously and will fully co-operate with AUSTRAC in relation to its requests for information and documents and the investigation.”

A spokesperson for AUSTRAC confirmed the agency is investigating Star’s Sydney casino for potential breaches and that the investigation stems from work that began in 2019. The spokesperson goes onto say AUSTRAC is working with state and territory agencies in regard to potential money-laundering in casinos.

Anti-money laundering blitz

As mentioned, Star is not the only ASX-listed company that is facing a government probe into potential breaches of law. NAB, SkyCity and Crown (which Star is currently vying to takeover) have all said they are being investigated by AUSTRAC.

Between the four companies, a collective $3.27 billion in value has been obliterated in the market due to today’s news.

The news could potentially have ramifications for Star’s takeover bid of Crown. Crown has been under pressure to sell itself after being refused a gaming license in NSW due to breaches in anti-money laundering legislation.

Star share price snapshot

Over the past 12 months, the Star share price has gained 17%. Today’s losses see the company’s shares come down to a level not seen in two months.

Given its current valuation, Star Entertainment has a market capitalisation of $3.6 billion.

The post Star (ASX:SGR) share price latest to fall on anti-money laundering investigation appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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

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The IXUP Ltd (ASX: IXU) share price is gaining in late morning trade. Shares are up 3% at the time of writing after earlier posting intraday gains of more than 11%.

IXUP develops software to help securely share and analyse data using encryption technology.

Below we look at the latest acquisition announcement from the ASX technology share.

What acquisition did IXUP report?

IXUP’s share price is moving higher after the company announced it has entered into a binding agreement to acquire Data Republic’s entire intellectual property and associated technology product portfolio.

Administrators for Data Republic commenced the rapid sales process for the Data Republic Technology Assets in mid-May.

IXUP has agreed to pay $3 million, less agreed deductions, for the entire portfolio. It says the purchase price represents a 94% discount to the roughly $50 million that Data Republic spent to develop and deploy its Data Republic Technology Assets.

Commenting on the agreement, Marcus Gracey, IXUP’s CEO said:

Due to Data Republic being a market competitor to IXUP, we have followed Data Republic’s evolution closely for many years. While it is unfortunate that the Data Republic business was not able to achieve the necessary scale required to continue in its previous form and we empathise with the affected employees and customers of their business, we believe that with a new and reinvigorated commercialisation strategy and in combination with IXUP’s aggressive growth plan, the Data Republic Technology Assets will demonstrate significant value…

[W]e are confident that we will generate significant commercial returns from this modest investment and breathe significant life back into the Data Republic Technology Assets to fulfill their full potential.

Gracey added that, where possible, IXUP intends to continue to deliver services to all of Data Republic’s customers.

The company said it has identified “significant potential product and commercial synergies” from the acquisition.

IXUP share price snapshot

Over the past 12 months, IXUP shares have gained a whopping 1,600%. That blows the doors off the 20% gains posted by the All Ordinaries Index (ASX: XAO).

Year-to-date the IXUP share price has continued to outperform, up 113% so far in 2021.

The post Up 1,600% in 12 months, why the IXUP (ASX:IXU) share price is gaining again appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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