An increase in the number of passengers passing through its gates has caused the Sydney Airport Holdings Pty Ltd (ASX: SYD) share price to rise. At the time of writing, the Sydney Airport share price is $5.80 – 3.48% higher than yesterday’s closing price.

The take-off followed the release of the airport’s traffic performance report for April 2021 which found domestic travel is only down 34.8% compared to April 2019.

Let’s take a look at how many travellers passed through what is normally Australia’s busiest airport last month.

Taking to the sky

Sydney Airport noticed an increase in traffic in both its international and domestic terminals last month.

53,000 people travelled through Sydney’s international terminal last month, which is 21.7% more than in April 2020.

For comparison, the airport only saw 33,000 international travellers in March 2021.

This increase in movement could be down to the travel agreement between Australia and New Zealand. The two-way quarantine-free travel bubble began on 19 April. It meant that, for the first time since COVID-19 closed many international borders, Australians and New Zealanders could freely travel out of their countries.

While the number of international passengers seems to be improving, it’s still 96.2% fewer than that of April 2019.  

Sydney Airport stated that the number of international travellers is unlikely to improve again until the Federal Government eases international travel restrictions.

The airport’s total passenger traffic was down 58.1% compared to April 2019. That’s an improvement on both March (down 68%) and February (down 79%).

When it came to domestic travel, slightly less than two thirds of the airport’s normal operations have resumed.

Last month, 1.48 million people passed through Sydney Airport while travelling within Australia.

Sydney Airport share price snapshot

So far, 2021 hasn’t been good to the Sydney Airport share price on the ASX.

Currently, it’s down 10.45% year to date. Though, it’s gained 3.89% since this time last year.

After the travel restrictions brought on by COVID-19, the airport has an eye-watering price-to-earning (P/E) ratio of 92.59. It also has a market capitalisation of around $15 billion, with approximately 2.7 billion shares outstanding.

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The BHP Group Ltd (ASX: BHP) share price is on course to record another decline today. This is despite the mining giant announcing the commencement of production at a new mine.

At the time of writing, the BHP share price is down over 1% to $48.18.

Why is the BHP share price trading lower today?

Today’s weakness in the BHP share price appears to have been driven by a softening iron ore price.

According to CommSec, the spot benchmark iron ore price fell by 3.7% or US$8.30 a tonne overnight to US$215.45 a tonne.

This is also weighing on the Rio Tinto Limited (ASX: RIO) share price. Its shares are down 1% at the time of writing.

What did BHP announce?

Failing to keep the BHP share price in positive territory today was the announcement of the achievement of first ore at the US$3.6 billion South Flank mine in the central Pilbara, Western Australia.

According to the release, South Flank is an 80 Mtpa sustaining mine, and will be the most technically advanced high quality iron ore mine in Western Australia.

Together with the existing Mining Area C, it will form the largest operating iron ore hub in the world. This hub is expected to produce 145 million tonnes of iron ore each year.

BHP’s President of Minerals Australia, Edgar Basto, commented: “South Flank is Australia’s largest new iron ore mine in over 50 years and is on time and on budget. South Flank’s high quality ore will increase WAIO’s average iron ore grade from 61 to 62 per cent, and the overall proportion of lump from 25 to 30-33 per cent.”

“South Flank’s ore will supply global steel markets for the next 25 years, helping to build electricity, transport and urban infrastructure across the globe. And its high quality ore will have an important role in helping BHP’s customers lower their greenhouse gas emissions,” he added.

Western Australia’s Premier, Mark McGowan, was pleased to see the project achieve its first production.

He said: “The South Flank project is an example of my government’s commitment to working with industry to take advantage of the international market and business development trends to create Western Australian jobs. I congratulate BHP on the first production of ore and look forward to this project continuing to provide jobs for Western Australians and delivering considerable economic benefit for our state.”

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The EML Payments Ltd (ASX: EML) share price is bouncing back after a day to forget on Wednesday.

The payments company’s shares were up as much as 16% to $3.24 at one stage today. They have now eased back a touch but remain 7% higher at $3.00 currently.

Why is the EML Payments share price jumping?

There appear to be a couple of catalysts for the strong rise in the EML Payments share price on Thursday.

One is bargain hunters swooping in on the belief that its shares were oversold on Wednesday when they lost 45% of their value.

That decline occurred after EML Payments revealed that its Irish business, which oversees its Prepaid Financial Services European operations, could have its licence revoked by the Central Bank of Ireland. This is in relation to Anti-Money Laundering/Counter Terrorism Financing compliance concerns.

Given that this business accounted for 27% of total revenue during the third quarter, the loss of its licence would be a major blow. However, given how far its shares fell, some investors may believe the selling was overdone.

Macquarie retains outperform rating

Also giving the EML Payments share price a boost today was news that analysts at Macquarie Group Ltd (ASX: MQG) have retained their outperform rating on its shares.

The broker has, however, slashed its price target materially to $4.00. This is largely to reflect the removal of the Irish business from its valuation. However, Macquarie is optimistic that regulatory action won’t be as drastic as that.

Based on the current EML Payments share price, this price target implies potential upside of 50% for its shares over the next 12 months.

While this is still well short of its recent high of $5.89, it certainly is an attractive potential return for anyone that wasn’t already holding shares.

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The Appen Ltd (ASX: APX) share price has continued its good form of the week so far, and is up another 3.18% today to $13.62 a share at the time of writing. This move comes after the tech company rocketed more than 19% in value yesterday on the back of a business update the company gave to investors.

But these rises pale against the losses investors have suffered on Appen shares in recent months. Since reaching a peak of $43.66 in August last year, Appen has been locked in a nasty share price slide, which saw the company’s shares lose more than 65% of their value on today’s pricing. As recently as Monday, these losses were as high as 72%.

But investors seemed to have a decisive change of heart yesterday, when the company increased its market capitalisation by a fifth in one trading session. The catalyst for this bold move? The aforementioned business and trading update.

As we covered yesterday, Appen announced a business restructure that will result in the company having four customer-facing business units. These will be global, enterprise, China, and government.

Appen also announced that it would be moving to report in US dollars.

In terms of the trading update, the company announced that it is on track to deliver underlying earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) of US$83-90 million in FY 2021. That’s in line with its previous guidance. This would translate into a growth rate of 18-28% from FY 2020.

Appen shares rise after investor day presentation

So what’s changed today? Well, Appen held an investor technology day presentation this morning, the contents of which it has disclosed to the markets.

There wasn’t a lot of new information that built on what Appen discussed yesterday. However, the company did discuss its restructuring plans (or ‘evolution’) as well as how it’s positioning its business models for future growth. Appen also laid out its plans for new products, which include Appen Intelligence, Appen In-Platform Audit and Appen Mobile.

Investors have clearly liked what they have seen, given the Appen share price reaction today. Appen is now up more than 25% since the lows it was hitting just last Friday.

Investors will no doubt be hoping that it’s only up from here, and this marks Appen’s return to its glory days. We will have to wait and see if that proves the case, but the performance over the past 2 days is a good start to that end. At the current share price, Appen has a market capitalisation of $1.69 billion.

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Shares in Ampol Ltd (ASX: ALD) are rising today following news of a decarbonisation strategy. Interestingly, the strategy involves multiple partnerships and includes entities such as Tesla Inc (NASDAQ: TSLA). At the time of writing, the Ampol share price is up 0.36%, trading for $27.93.

Although it’s now in the green, the Ampol share price spent most of the morning below its previous closing price.

The news comes only days after Ampol committed to keeping its Brisbane-based Lytton oil refinery open. Consequently, the statement came after the announcement of a Federal Fuel Security Package, potentially worth upwards of $2 billion.

Let’s take a closer look at this morning’s news driving the Ampol share price.

Decarbonisation deals

Tesla and Enerven

As part of its newly announced Future Energy and Decarbonisation Strategy, Ampol will collaborate with Tesla. Furthermore, the aim of the project is to build virtual power plants at 3 of Tesla’s retail sites.

A Tesla virtual power plant is a network of solar panels and Tesla Powerwall battery systems. These components work together to create reliable, renewable power. A South Australian Tesla virtual power plant has already been supported by the state’s government. The project aims to create the world’s largest virtual power plant.

Enerven has agreed to install 6 to 9 Tesla Powerwall batteries and accompanying solar panels at 3 of Ampol’s Adelaide retail sites.

The deal will see Ampol generating, storing, and using solar power across its sites. It also has the potential to sell electricity back to the grid in the future, creating another income stream for the business.

Further, the installation of Tesla virtual power plants means Ampol will be able to assess whether it can integrate fast electric vehicle charging to its service stations nation-wide.

Hydrogen technology

Ampol will also partner with an unnamed early-stage Australian developer of hydrogen-based microgeneration and storage technology.

Additionally, Ampol states the technology could bring energy solutions that are cheap enough to compete with diesel generators. This would also give Ampol’s diesel customers a low carbon diesel option.

Fusion Fuel Green

Finally, Ampol has signed a head of agreement with Fusion Fuel Green PLC to install a green hydrogen production plant at Ampol’s Lytton oil refinery.

The two companies might soon be producing green hydrogen as a joint venture in Brisbane.

Green hydrogen is ‘green’ as it’s produced using renewable energy.

Ampol new emissions goals

Ampol has set itself ambitious carbon emissions targets as part of its Future Energy and Decarbonisation Strategy.

The company has vowed to ensure 40% of its operations are powered with renewable energy by 2025. In the same time frame, it will also reduce its convenience retail’s emissions by 25%. Additionally, the company aims to reduce its fuel and infrastructure’s emissions by 5%.

These milestones will increase over the years. Ampol plans to source 50% of its energy needs from renewables by 2030. By 2040, Ampol aims to have zero net scope 1 and scope 2 emissions.

Scope 1 emissions are those created by a company’s activities. Scope 2 emissions are from the power used by a company.

Ampol will also spend a minimum of $100 million on “future energy” projects by 2025. Furthermore, it states it has a goal to provide its customers with greener fuel by using electricity, hydrogen, gas, biofuels, and carbon offsets.

Commentary from management

Ampol’s managing director and CEO Matt Halliday commented on today’s news, saying:

 Our decarbonisation efforts and new initiatives to extend our customer value proposition will be executed with capital discipline to deliver sustainable returns for shareholders over the long-term…

There are a number of characteristics unique to Australia that will impact the pace of the national energy transition, including our geography, demographics and our strong base of transport and other heavy industries.

For this reason, an orderly transition will take time, and we expect traditional liquid fuels to play a key role in Australia’s energy mix for years to come and for demand to remain resilient until at least 2030.

Ampol share price snapshot

After announcing the news, the Ampol share price has been tumultuous on the ASX. Shareholders might be holding their breath as their shares get closer to making a profit in 2021.

Currently, the Ampol share price is down just 1.24% year to date. However, it has still gained 11.38% since this time last year.

The company has a market capitalisation of around $6.6 billion, with approximately 238 million shares outstanding.

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The Province Resources Ltd (ASX: PRL) share price is flat today despite providing a positive update to the ASX.

During market open, the minerals producer’s shares took off to trade as high as 18.5 cents. However, after some profit taking, Province shares are now selling for 17.5 cents apiece – flat for the day.

What did Province announce?

Investors appear unfazed by the company’s latest announcement on its capital raising efforts, sending Province shares nowhere.

In its announcement, Province advised it has secured firm commitments from professional and sophisticated investors for a capital raising. The $18 million (before costs) placement was offered at a price of 15 cents per share, representing a discount of 16% on today’s price.

Province stated that the placement received an influx of applications, highlighting investor interest. Pleasingly for eligible shareholders, there was no mention of a scale back from the heavily oversubscribed equity raise.

In total, 120 million shares will be issued using the company’s existing placement capacity under listing rule 7.1. This allows up to 15% of its shares to be issued without shareholder approval.

Settlement of the shares is expected to occur around 27 May 2021.

The funds raised will be put towards advancing the scoping and feasibility studies at its HyEnergy Zero Carbon Hydrogen Project. In addition, Province will also seek to further its mineral exploration portfolio.

Post capital raise, the company noted that cash in the bank stands in excess of $23 million.

Province managing director, David Frances commented:

The strong support demonstrated by the equity capital market and, in particular ESG and other institutional funds, of our vision to be a significant green hydrogen producer and mineral explorer is highly encouraging and allows us to aggressively pursue these goals.

About the Province share price

It’s been an interesting 12 months for Province shares, delivering astronomical gains of 2,100% to patient investors. Year-to-date performance has also been superb, jumping more than 1,200% over the 5 months.

On valuation metrics, Province Resources has a market capitalisation of roughly $171 million, with about 980 million shares on issue.

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The Wisr Ltd (ASX: WZR) share price jumped by almost 10% this morning after the company announced an AAA rating for its asset-backed securities (ABS). Wisr shares have since pulled back slightly and are currently sitting at 28 cents, up 5.56%.

Wisr is an Australian non-bank lender offering competitive, personalised consumer loans.

The company offers an innovative feature to round up purchases to the nearest dollar, with the difference going towards your debt, Wisr loan or savings account. The rounding effect pays off debts faster, meaning less interest you’ll have to pay over time.

WISR share price higher on ratings update

Wisr proudly announced the pricing of its $225 million of ABS. The WISR Freedom Trust 2021-1 is the company’s first ABS transaction, with strong investor interest seeing all tranches significantly oversubscribed.

Global bond credit rating agency Moody’s rated the company’s top tranche as AAA, the highest rating with the lowest credit risk. The AAA rating signals the company is well-placed to repay short-term debt.

Wisr touted the rating as “exceptional for an inaugural issuer” and “providing strong external validation of the quality of the Wisr business operations and the underwriting platform”.

Management commentary

Wisr Chief Financial Officer, Mr Andrew Goodwin commented on the exceptional result and strong investor demand:

This transaction signifies a coming of age for Wisr as the Company commences access to the global debt capital markets. We are extremely pleased with the market appetite. It’s a very strong testament to the quality of the Wisr loan book and overall business. The strong demand and pricing achieved across all tranches reflects that investors continue to seek high quality assets originated by high quality companies

There is a huge opportunity in front of us to grow market share in-line with our risk appetite and this
transaction is an important and strategic step for Wisr. We’re in a prime position to aggressively grow our
revenue with significant room to scale towards our medium-term target of a $1B loan book. We have the
right ingredients to deliver a highly profitable, differentiated business that is well capitalised and with
market leading metrics

The Wisr share price so far in 2021

The Wisr share price has increased an impressive 50% year-to-date. This is despite the broader S&P/ASX 200 Info Tech Index (ASX: XIJ) sliding 18% this year.

Other tech-enabled financing businesses, such as Moneyme Ltd (ASX: MME), have failed to deliver meaningful returns.

The Wisr share price has likely been supported by strong financial and operational updates including a 275% increase in 3Q21 revenues announced on 29 April.

The company’s record 19 quarters of back-to-back growth, announced on 14 April, also shored up the Wisr share price.

More reading

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The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is bouncing back strongly from yesterday’s heavy decline. In afternoon trade, the benchmark index is up 0.9% to 6,994.3 points.

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

Afterpay Ltd (ASX: APT)

The Afterpay share price is up 6% to $91.43. This gain appears to have been driven by a bullish broker note out of Macquarie this morning. According to the note, the broker has upgraded its shares to an outperform rating with a $120.00 price target. Macquarie made the move largely on valuation grounds after a sharp pullback. It also notes that the company is well-positioned in the US market due to its wide reach. It expects this to offset a lack of BNPL brand loyalty with consumers.

EML Payments Ltd (ASX: EML)

The EML Payments share price has rebounded 7% to $3.00. Bargain hunters appear to have been buying this payments company’s shares following a massive ~45% decline on Wednesday. One broker that sees value in its shares at the current level is Macquarie. After adjusting its valuation to remove the embattled European business until its regulatory matter is resolved, the broker has a price target of $4.00 on its shares.

Qantas Airways Limited (ASX: QAN)

The Qantas share price is up 4% to $4.70. Investors have been buying the airline operator’s shares following the release of a positive market update this morning. That update reveals that Qantas is expecting to be statutory free cash flow positive for the second half of FY 2021. This follows a sustained rebound in domestic travel demand and the strong performance of its Freight and Loyalty divisions.

Sezzle Inc (ASX: SZL)

The Sezzle share price is up over 3.5% to $7.59. This follows the announcement of a new product launch this morning by the BNPL provider. Sezzle has launched its long-term financing options with Ally Lending. This will allow for monthly fixed-rate instalment-loan products that extend up to 60 months in length and US$40,000 per instalment plan.

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The Nuenergy Gas Ltd (ASX: NGY) share price is on fire today. And that’s an understatement. Nuenergy shares are up an extraordinary 151.72% today (at the time of writing) to 7.3 cents a share. That’s after opening at just 3.3 cents a share this morning.

As recently as January this year, Nuenergy was a 1 cent share.

So what on earth is causing this share price explosion for Nuenergy today?

Indonesian approval lights a rocket

Nuenergy’s explosive opening this morning can be put down to an ASX release the company made today. It came out just before market open. In this announcement, Nuenergy stated that it had received an “advance notice” of a virtual ceremony that will take place on 17 June.

The company states that it “has been proposed” that the Indonesian government’s Special Task Force for Upstream Oil and Gas Business Activities will grant approval for Nuenergy’s Plan of Development 1 at its Tanjung Enim Block in South Sumatra.

The Tanjung Enim Block houses a deposit of coal bed methane, which Nuenergy is planning on developing. The company tells us that this will “mark the first grant of a plan of development for CBM in Indonesia. Nuenergy states that this announcement represents “an evolution from an exploration to a development phase” for the Tanjung Enim Block.

Nuenergy’s chief executive officer, Dr Ian Wang stated that: “This development represents a major step for the company and Indonesia’s CBM industry to transition from exploratory into a commercial phase.”

Nuenergy has promised to make a further “detailed announcement” on 17 June. Depending on a final grant of approval, that is.

About the Nuenergy Gas share price

Nuenergy Gas is an ASX mining and exploration company that focuses on gas and ancillary power generation. It has a primary focus on Indonesia.

Even after today’s explosive pricing developments, Nuenergy has struggled as a long-term investment. It’s still around 77% below its share price peak of 33 cents a share that we saw all the way back in early 2006.

On current pricing, Nuenergy shares have a market capitalisation of $133.1 million and a price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 17.7.

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Online real estate classifieds site Domain Holdings Australia Ltd (ASX: DHG) has been hit by a cyberattack.

The company sent an email to users warning them to take caution when applying for rental properties.

“We have identified a scam that used a phishing attack to gain access to Domain’s administrative systems to engage with people who have made rental property enquiries,” Domain chief Jason Pellegrino said, as first reported by the Sydney Morning Herald.

“We understand the scammers then contacted some of these people by email to suggest that they pay a ‘deposit’ to secure a rental property on a website nominated by the scammer.”

The Motley Fool has contacted Domain for comment.

According to Pellegrino, Domain has put measures in place to prevent further damage since finding out about the breach.

“We are sorry for any stress or negative impact this causes you,” he said in the email to users. 

“Unfortunately, since COVID, scams like these have been on the rise.”

The company is currently unaware of exactly how many users might be impacted by the scam.

The Domain share price is up 0.46% trading at $4.40 at the time of writing.

“It is disappointing for us to find out that after such a challenging past 12 months for many of us, some see this as an opportunity to take advantage of others,” said Pellegrino of the scam.

Domain was originally spun off from Fairfax Media, which was since bought out by Nine Entertainment Co Holdings Ltd (ASX: NEC). Nine still holds a majority stake in the online classifieds site.

Nine itself suffered from a cyber-breach in March that saw live television disrupted. 

The Nine share price is currently trading at $2.85, up 3.64% from the previous close.

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