The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) has just capped off the last week of the February earnings season in a rather disappointing fashion. The ASX 200 went backwards last week, sending the index back below 6,700 points and into negative territory for the year so far (if only just).

It would have been a nice week in the green if it wasn’t for Friday’s effort. On that day alone, the ASX 200 lost a whopping 2.35%.

US markets turned Friday into an ASX 200 whitewash

So what happened on Friday to elicit such a violent reaction form investors? Well, nothing that we can pithily sum up. The ASX 200 seemed to just follow Wall Street’s lead of the previous night. The Nasdaq Composite (NASDAQ: .IXIC) had its biggest fall in four months, with investors deciding it was a day to take some profits off of the table. 

There were a few underlying causes as well. As we discussed over the weekend, government bond yields have been on the rise. This tends to have a depressing effect on ASX share prices. In particular, ASX tech shares felt the brunt of this (growth shares are often more affected by higher rates). High-flying shares like Afterpay Ltd (ASX: APT) and Zip Co Ltd (ASX: Z1P) were smashed on Friday, with Afterpay falling more than 11%. But more on that later. 

Oh, and the Aussie dollar reached a new 3-year high last week as well, breaking the US 80 cents mark for the first time since February 2018. It’s an interesting development given that, around this time last year, the Aussie was poised to hit its lowest levels in almost two decades. It ended up bottoming out at around US 57 cents in mid-March 2020.

Finally, earnings, for the most part, wrapped up last week. We had interesting results from Qantas Airways Limited (ASX: QAN), Appen Ltd (ASX: APX), Flight Centre Travel Group Ltd (ASX: FLT) and Cochlear Limited (ASX: COH). Most of the more well-known ASX 200 blue chips reported in the weeks prior.

How did the markets end the week?

Before Friday’s carnage, the ASX 200 had a rather bouncy week. Monday saw the index lose 0.19% off the bat. But Tuesday saw this reverse when the ASX 200 added 0.89%. The markets threw the car back into reverse again on Wednesday with a 0.9% loss, which was countered on Thursday with a 0.83% gain.

But Friday was the day that really set the week’s tone with the 2.35% plunge. Given the ASX 200 started out at 6,793.8 points and finished up at 6,673.3 points, we saw an overall loss of 1.77% for the week.

Meanwhile, the All Ordinaries Index (ASX: XAO) also had a clanger, starting out at 7,064 points and finishing up below the 7,000 point threshold at 6,940.6 points for an overall loss of 1.75%.

Which ASX 200 shares were the biggest winners and losers?

It’s time for our Foolish take on the gossip pages, so get the coffee pot brewing as we unpack the biggest winners and losers for the week, starting, as always, with the losers:

Worst ASX 200 losers	% loss for the week
Service Stream Limited (ASX: SSM)	(32.5%)
Appen Ltd (ASX: APX)	(22.7%)
Afterpay Ltd (ASX: APT)	(21.3%)
Perenti Global Ltd (ASX: PRN)	(17.4%)

Last week’s wooden spoon went to network company Service Stream. The company had a shocker of a week, falling by almost a third in value. The catalyst was, of course, its half-year earnings report. Investors evidently hit the panic button when Service Stream reported a 40.5% profit plunge.

Next up we had WAAAX share Appen. Likewise, investors did not like what they saw in Appen’s earnings report (this one for the full year). That was despite the company reporting 12% in revenue growth and 8% in earnings growth. Sometimes, it’s just all about expectations.

Afterpay did return to trading on Friday following a convertible notes offering earlier in the week. But investors certainly weren’t holding their arms open. Earnings weren’t a factor here, so we can probably put this move down to what we discussed above, possibly in conjunction with the notes. 

Finally, we had mining services company Perenti. Perenti fell hard on earnings – posting a 25.8% plunge in profits and a statutory loss of $63.8 million. Investors weren’t impressed.

Now with the losers out of the way, let’s check out last week’s winners.

Best ASX 200 gainers	% gain for the week
Sandfire Resources Ltd (ASX: SFR)	18%
Corporate Travel Management Ltd (ASX: CTD)	15.9%
Flight Centre Travel Group Ltd (ASX: FLT)	14.2%
Costa Group Holdings Ltd (ASX: CGC)	13.7%

Copper miner Sandfire was… on fire last week and topped the ASX 200 gainers’ list. Investors were evidently impressed with this company’s earnings report, which contained a near-doubling of profits and a big dividend hike. Thank high copper prices.

ASX travel companies Corporate Travel and Flight Centre also had good weeks. Investors liked what they saw in Flight Centre’s earnings, whereas Corporate Travel seemed to just benefit from hopes that vaccine rollouts will lead to a recovery in travel.

Finally, fruit and vegetable grower Costa also reported earnings, and gave investors a 108% profit jump. That would have been a welcome sight for Costa shareholders since this company has struggled in recent years.

A wrap of the ASX 200 blue chip shares

Before we go, here is a look at the major ASX 200 blue chip shares as we start yet another week on the ASX boards.

ASX 200 company	Trailing P/E ratio	Last share price	52-week high	52-week low
CSL Limited (ASX: CSL)	35.59	$262.59	$332.68	$242.67
Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA)	18.14	$81.56	$89.20	$53.44
Westpac Banking Corp (ASX: WBC)	37.39	$23.82	$24.77	$13.47
National Australia Bank Ltd (ASX: NAB)	22.71	$24.64	$26.48	$13.20
Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd (ASX: ANZ)	21.61	$26.17	$26.95	$14.10
Fortescue Metals Group Limited (ASX: FMG)	9.25	$24.11	$26.40	$8.20
Woolworths Group Ltd (ASX: WOW)	35.17	$39.40	$42.23	$32.12
Wesfarmers Ltd (ASX: WES)	29.69	$49.24	$56.40	$29.75
BHP Group Ltd (ASX: BHP)	28.28	$49.13	$50.51	$24.05
Rio Tinto Limited (ASX: RIO)	16.77	$127.19	$130.10	$72.77
Coles Group Ltd (ASX: COL)	19.49	$15.33	$19.26	$14.01
Telstra Corporation Ltd (ASX: TLS)	20.67	$3.08	$3.59	$2.66
Transurban Group (ASX: TCL)	–	$12.80	$15.70	$9.10
Sydney Airport Holdings Pty Ltd (ASX: SYD)	–	$5.86	$7.85	$4.26
Newcrest Mining Ltd (ASX: NCM)	16.27	$24.64	$38.15	$20.70
Woodside Petroleum Limited (ASX: WPL)	–	$24.57	$29.93	$14.93
Macquarie Group Ltd (ASX: MQG)	21.52	$142.48	$149	$70.45
Afterpay Ltd (ASX: APT)	–	$119.52	$160.05	$8.01

And finally, here is the lay of the land for some leading market indicators:

• S&P/ASX 200 Index (XJO) at 6,673.3 points.
• All Ordinaries Index (XAO) at 6,940.6 points.
• Dow Jones Industrial Average Index (DJX: .DJI) at 30,932.37 points after falling 1.5% on Friday night (our time).
• Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) going for US$58,724 per coin.
• Gold (spot) swapping hands for US$1,734.78 per troy ounce.
• Iron ore asking US$173.34 per tonne.
• Crude oil (Brent) trading at US$64.42 per barrel.
• Australian dollar buying 77.06 US cents.
• 10-year Australian Government bonds yielding 1.91% per annum.

That’s all folks. See you next week!

More reading

• How Aldi plans to disrupt many ASX retail shares
• These were the best performing ASX 200 shares in February
• 2 reliable ASX dividend shares to buy in March
• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Monday
• 2 ASX 200 shares to buy for income

Sebastian Bowen owns shares of Bitcoin, National Australia Bank Limited, Newcrest Mining Limited, and Telstra Limited. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of Appen Ltd, Cochlear Ltd., CSL Ltd., and ZIPCOLTD FPO. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. recommends Bitcoin. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of and has recommended Corporate Travel Management Limited, COSTA GRP FPO, Macquarie Group Limited, and Telstra Limited. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of AFTERPAY T FPO, COLESGROUP DEF SET, Transurban Group, Wesfarmers Limited, and Woolworths Limited. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Cochlear Ltd., Flight Centre Travel Group Limited, and Service Stream 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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There is talk that Aldi is developing a plan to disrupt many ASX retail shares.

A few years ago there was commentary that Aldi was going to continue to hurting supermarket businesses Coles Group Ltd (ASX: COL) and Woolworths Group Ltd (ASX: WOW).

Our local food retailers were finding it tough – Aldi was expanding its number of stores and the lower prices made Coles and Woolworths think they had to compete on price too.

But then Woolworths brought in a new CEO and concentrated on other things that consumers wanted like store locations, convenience options inside the supermarket, a greater range of products and online delivery. It didn’t have to just be about the lowest price. 

COVID-19 has completely changed the retail environment. Companies need to have compelling online offerings to bring in higher levels of growth. And the growth is there for businesses that can capitalise on it.

In the recent reporting season, plenty of businesses reported high levels of online growth. Coles consumer online sales went up by 61% and Woolworths online sales grew by 92%.

Other sectors also saw strong online growth. JB Hi-Fi Limited (ASX: JBH) experienced online sales growth of 161.7% to $678.8 million and Adairs Ltd (ASX: ADH) saw the Adairs division grow online sales by 95.2%.

Aldi is planning to do online

According to reporting by News.com.au, the major German retailer is trying to find a solution for an online shopping option. It hasn’t quite found the desired model yet, which is why there isn’t online shopping already.

News.com.au quoted an Aldi spokeswoman:

Currently, the trade off to offering online shopping for the grocery sector means costly overheads. It’s no secret that we are different from the competitors. These differences continue to be the reason millions of Australians choose to shop with us every week. Once we have a business model to deliver online shopping, without compromising on the price of our products, that is when we will act.

Before the COVID-19 pandemic came along, online shopping wasn’t a popular option with supermarket businesses. They would have to pay someone to walk around a supermarket picking the order, whereas customers choosing for themselves are doing it for ‘free’. Unless you charge a hefty delivery fee, it’s an costly operation.

One potential solution is ‘dark stores’ where no customers are allowed into the building, it’s purely just for online order pickers. Both Coles and Woolworths are trying these out, though with a very limited number.

It will be interesting to see what model Aldi tries to pursue. It saif that 2020 was still a good year of sales, despite the shift to online shopping for many customers.

You’d think Aldi will do something eventually if more and more customers only want to do their grocery shopping online rather than in-store.

Aldi has small stores to save on costs, such as rent, which helps margins and allows it to offer lower prices to customers. However, an online store might allow the business to offer a wider range of products at once – or at least more of its special buys.

More reading

• 2 reliable ASX dividend shares to buy in March
• 3 ASX shares that doubled their profit in reporting season
• The Bubs (ASX:BUB) share price is rising today on solid results
• Is the Woolworths (ASX:WOW) share price in the buy zone after its results?
• Why you should think long-term when investing

Tristan Harrison has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. recommends ADAIRS FPO. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of COLESGROUP DEF SET and Woolworths Limited. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended ADAIRS FPO. 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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Although it finished the month with a day deep in the red, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) was on form in February and recorded a 1% gain.

While a number of shares charged higher, here’s why these were the best ASX 200 performers during the month:

Zip Co Ltd (ASX: Z1P)

The Zip share price was the best performer on the ASX 200 in February with a massive 43% gain. Investors were buying the buy now pay later (BNPL) provider’s shares for a number of reasons. One of those was speculation it is considering a secondary listing in the United States. This would give Zip greater access to US capital markets. In addition to this, a strong second quarter update and an overall re-rating of BNPL shares following the highly successful Affirm IPO in the United States were supportive. This more than offset a pullback in the Zip share price following weakness in the tech sector at the end of the month.

Virgin Money UK CDI (ASX: VUK)

The Virgin Money UK share price wasn’t far behind with a gain of 39.5% in February. The catalyst for this was the release of a stronger than expected first quarter update early in the month. That update revealed that the UK based bank “had a profitable and positive first quarter.” Another positive was that management revealed that its COVID bad debts are comfortably within the level assumed in its provision.

EML Payments Ltd (ASX: EML)

The EML Payments share price was on form in February and recorded a gain of 29.6%. Investors were fighting to get hold of the payments company’s shares following the release of its half year results. EML Payments delivered a 54% increase in group gross debit volume to $10.2 billion and a 61% jump in revenue to $95.3 million. In respect to its earnings, as this growth was driven largely by its lower margin General Purpose Reloadable (GPR) segment, its net profit grew at a slightly lower rate of 30% to $13.2 million. This was still well ahead of the market’s expectations.

Sandfire Resources Ltd (ASX: SFR)

The Sandfire share price was a very strong performer last month and rose 27.6% during the period. A large portion of this gain came in the final week of the month following the release of its half year result. For the six months ended 31 December, the copper producer almost doubled its net profit to $60.8 million. This allowed its board to lift its interim dividend to 8 cents per share from 5 cents per a year earlier. Management advised that this strong performance was driven by rising copper prices, which offset a slight reduction in production.

More reading

• 3 of the best ASX 200 results from last week
• These were the best performing ASX 200 shares last week
• ASX 200 sinks 2.4%, Afterpay plunges, AMP jumps
• Brokers name 3 ASX shares to buy right now
• Will Wall Street’s overnight tumble send ASX 200 shares down today?

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 EML Payments. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of ZIPCOLTD FPO. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended EML Payments. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

The post These were the best performing ASX 200 shares in February appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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Would you like to bolster your income portfolio with some reliable ASX dividend shares?

Then you might want to take a look at the dividend shares listed below. Here’s what you need to know about them:

BWP Trust (ASX: BWP)

The first ASX dividend share to look at is BWP. It is the largest owner of Bunnings Warehouse properties, with a total of 68 properties in its portfolio.

Bunnings has proven to be a great tenant to have during the pandemic. Thanks to strong demand in the home improvement market from stimulus and a redirection of spending, its sales have been growing rapidly.

In light of this, it will be no surprise to learn that BWP is performing positively as well. It recently released its first half results for FY 2021 and revealed profit growth of 6% over the prior corresponding period to $144 million.

This positive form has allowed the BWP board to reaffirm its plans to pay a full year distribution of ~18.3 cents per share. Based on the current BWP share price, this represents a generous 4.8% dividend yield.

Coles Group Ltd (ASX: COL)

Another ASX dividend share to look at is Coles. It has also benefited from a favourable shift in consumer spending and habits.

For example, during the first half of FY 2021, Coles reported an 8% increase in revenue to $20,569 million and a 14.5% increase in net profit to $560 million. This allowed the Coles board to increase its fully franked interim dividend by 10% to 33 cents per share.

And although its cautious outlook has worried investors and put pressure on the Coles share price, Goldman Sachs believes it has created a buying opportunity.

The broker recently reaffirmed its buy rating and put a $20.70 price target on its shares. Goldman is also forecasting a 62 cents per share fully franked dividend for the 12 months. Based on the current Coles share price, this represents a 4% dividend yield.

More reading

• The Bubs (ASX:BUB) share price is rising today on solid results
• Why you should think long-term when investing
• 2 high quality ASX dividend shares to buy now
• 3 ASX blue chip shares that just raised their dividends
• ASX 200 Weekly Wrap: ASX lower despite bumper dividends

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

The post 2 reliable ASX dividend shares to buy in March appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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The end of last week saw the share prices of some ASX shares tumble in response to global market gyrations.

Lower share prices may mean it’s an opportunistic time to consider some quality ASX shares that the market isn’t as excited about now.

The below two businesses are still reporting a lot of growth for shareholders:

City Chic Collective Ltd (ASX: CCX)

City Chic describes itself as a global omni-channel retailer specialising in plus-size women’s apparel, footwear and accessories.

It has a number of different brands including City Chic, Avenue, Evans, CCX, Hips & Curves and Fox & Royal. A core component of the business is that it has a network of 96 stores across Australia and New Zealand. It also has websites in ANZ, the US and UK, as well as marketplace and wholesale partnerships in the US, UK and Europe.

The ASX share is currently liked by a number of brokers, including Morgan Stanley. It has a share price target for City Chic of $4.75.

Morgan Stanley is a fan of the high level of online sales and growth which can lead to rising profit margins.

In the recent FY21 half-year result, City Chic reported that its sales grew by 13.5% to $119 million off the back of comparable sales growth of 20.8% excluding Victorian store closures. Online sales grew by 42% and represented 73% of total sales. 

Underlying earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) rose 21.8% to $23.3 million and the EBITDA margin improved from 18.2% to 19.6%. This helped the statutory net profit after tax (NPAT) rise by 24.8% to $13.1 million.

Morgan Stanley has projected that City Chic is going to generate 10 cents per earnings per share (EPS) in FY21, which means it’s trading at 40x FY21’s estimated earnings.

Redbubble Ltd (ASX: RBL)

Redbubble is an online artist product ASX share that’s liked by the brokers at Morgans.

It said that the fall in the share price after the report’s release was likely a bit too hard. However, it did say that EBITDA was not quite as strong as expected because of higher advertising spending and lower gross profit margins in the second quarter.

But, Redbubble has started the FY21 second half strongly and Morgans believes that the consumer shift to shopping online is permanent and will help Redbubble’s growth.

Redbubble reported that excluding a positive adjustment for delivery dates normalising, it generated $343 million of marketplace revenue (paid), up 90%. It also grew gross profit (paid) by 102% to $138 million and earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) (paid) came in at $35 million, compared to $0.2 million in the prior corresponding period.

In January the ASX share said that its marketplace revenue (paid) had grown by 66% (or 82% on a constant currency basis).

Redbubble said that it’s targeting four key initiatives. The first is acquisition, activation and retention of artists. Second, acquiring users and optimising transactions. Third, customer understanding, loyalty and brand building. The final focus is further physical product and fulfilment network optimisation.

Morgans has a share price target of $6.64 for Redbubble. It thinks it can make $0.20 of EPS in FY22, meaning it’s valued at 26x FY22’s estimated earnings.

More reading

• 2 ASX growth shares to buy in March 2021
• City Chic (ASX:CCX) share price to grab attention after HY21 profit growth
• 3 little known ASX growth shares to buy
• Why Domino’s, EML Payments, Redbubble, & Westpac shares are storming higher
• Leading broker says Redbubble (ASX:RBL) share price selloff is a buying opportunity

Motley Fool contributor Tristan Harrison 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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On Friday the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) finished the week in a very disappointing fashion. The benchmark index sank 2.35% to 6,673.3 points.

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

ASX 200 expected to rebound

The Australian share market looks set to bounce back on Monday. According to the latest SPI futures, the ASX 200 is expected to open the week 29 points or 0.45% higher this morning. On Wall Street on Friday night, the Dow Jones fell 1.5%, the S&P 500 dropped 0.5%, and the Nasdaq index was up 0.55%.

Oil prices sink lower

Energy producers such as Santos Ltd (ASX: STO) and Woodside Petroleum Limited (ASX: WPL) could start the week deep in the red after oil prices sank lower on Friday night. According to Bloomberg, the WTI crude oil price fell 3.2% to US$61.50 a barrel and the Brent crude oil price fell 2.6% to US$64.42 a barrel. This was driven by a strengthening US dollar. However, it couldn’t stop oil prices recording solid weekly and monthly gains.

Mesoblast capital raising

The Mesoblast limited (ASX: MSB) share price will be one to watch this morning if it returns from its trading halt. The biotech company is seeking to raise funds to keep its operations running. On Friday the company revealed that it “has commenced a proposed equity-based private placement to a targeted industry investor to fund operations.” Mesoblast is understood to be aiming to raise around US$100 million.

Gold price tumbles

Gold miners Newcrest Mining Limited (ASX: NCM) and Northern Star Resources Ltd (ASX: NST) will be on watch after the gold price tumbled lower on Friday. According to CNBC, the spot gold price sank 2.6% to US$1,728.80 an ounce. Rising US bond yields and a strengthening US dollar sent the precious metal to an eight-month low.

Shares going ex-dividend

A number of shares are going ex-dividend this morning and could trade lower. One of those is iron ore giant Fortescue Metals Group Limited (ASX: FMG) for its fully franked interim dividend of $1.47 per share. This dividend alone equates to a yield of approximately 6%, which could mean its shares fall by a similar margin this morning.

More reading

• 2 ASX 200 shares to buy for income
• Why outperforming ASX resources shares will be in the hotseat on Monday
• These were the best performing ASX 200 shares last week
• These were the worst performing ASX 200 shares last week
• Forget the ASX 200! Another market crashed this week

Motley Fool contributor James Mickleboro 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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There is a great way for Aussies to get exposure to the Asian technology giants of Tencent and Alibaba. It’s an exchange traded fund (ETF) called Betashares Asia Technology Tigers ETF (ASX: ASIA).

What is Tencent and Alibaba?

Tencent are Alibaba are two of the biggest technology businesses in the world. They both have very diverse operations and assets.

Alibaba is actually more than 20 years old. The company is best known for its large retail businesses including Taobao, Tmall and Alibaba. It also has divisions focused on food delivery, logistics, videos, organisation collaboration software and cloud computing.

Tencent is also over 20 years old. It has investments and operations in things like online games, WeChat, QQ, video, news, music, online literature, mobile payments and cloud computing. But it’s not solely a Chinese-based business, it’s invested in businesses like Riot Games, Epic Games, Supercell and Miniclip.

Both of these businesses have been growing revenue and profit at a fast pace for many years and the share prices have largely been following that too.

But Tencent and Alibaba are not directly listed on the ASX. However, there is one way to Aussie investors to get a good amount of exposure to them in a single investment.

Betashares Asia Technology Tigers ETF

This is where the ETF comes in.

It gives Aussies exposure to 50 of the largest technology businesses outside of Japan.

Looking at the holdings of this ETF, Alibaba and Tencent make up 15.4% of the portfolio combined. This is a very sizeable position for just two businesses.

But there are also several other businesses which have a weighting of more than 5% of the ETF. They are: Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (10.9%), Samsung Electronics (10.7%), Meituan (9.2%), JD.com (5.2%) and Pinduoduo (5.1%).

Whilst all of the businesses in Betashares Asia Technology Tigers ETF count as technology, BetaShares has split the portfolio into different sectors and shows the allocation: internet and direct marketing retail (28.2%), semiconductors (18.8%), interactive media and services (17.8%), technology hardware, storage and peripherals (13.9%), interactive home entertainment (8.2%), IT consulting and other services (5.3%), electronic manufacturing services (2.3%), movies and entertainment (1.1%), semiconductor equipment (0.9%) and other (3.5%).

It has a lot of diversification for just 50 different businesses.

It’s true that the majority of the ETF is actually invested in businesses in China – with a weighting of 55%. However, there’s another 21.4% listed in Taiwan, 18.1% in South Korea, 4.9% in India, 0.2% in Hong Kong and 0.4% in ‘other’.

The cost of this ETF is an annual fee of 0.67% per annum.

The returns of this ETF have been very strong. Over the last year, it has delivered a net return of 71.5%. Since inception in September 2018, the ETF has made returns of an average return per annum of 37.2%.

BetaShares shows the returns of the index that Betashares Asia Technology Tigers ETF tracks. Over the last five years the index has returned an average of 28.3% per annum.

More reading

• 2 ASX tech shares to buy in March 2021
• 2 tech ETFs for ASX investors to buy after the market selloff
• Why this ASX tech ETF is in the buy zone
• 2 excellent ETFs for ASX investors to buy now
• 2 of the best ETFs for ASX investors to buy today

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. 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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There are plenty of ASX shares that may be compelling opportunities in March 2021.

The share market has taken a bit of a tumble recently, so that gives investors the opportunity to buy shares at a lower price.

The two ASX shares below have already demonstrated the ability to make strong long-term returns.

Betashares Global Cybersecurity ETF (ASX: HACK)

According to BetaShares, this exchange-traded fund (ETF) gives investors exposure to many of the world’s leading cybersecurity companies with a single investment.

The portfolio of this ETF includes both worldwide cybersecurity leaders as well as emerging businesses from various global locations.

Why is cybersecurity a compelling investment? BetaShares says:

With cybercrime on the rise, the demand for cybersecurity services is expected to grow strongly for the foreseeable future.

In terms of exposure, the biggest 10 positions in the portfolio are: Crowdstrike Holdings, Zscaler, Cisco Systems, Accenture, Splunk, Fortinet, Fireeye, Palo Alto Networks, Sailpoint Technologies and Proofpoint.

Most of the portfolio is listed in the US, almost 90% of it. There are only four other countries with a weighting of more than 1%: the UK, Israel, Japan and France.

It has an annual management fee of 0.67% and the net returns have been an average of 20.9% per annum since inception in August 2016. Over the last three years the average returns per annum have been 25.1%.

Xero Limited (ASX: XRO)

Xero is a software ASX share that provides ‘beautiful’ accounting tools for business owners, accountants, bookkeepers and financial advisors.

It has become one of the largest tech businesses on the ASX with a market capitalisation of $17.6 billion, according to the ASX.

A few months ago Xero reported its FY21 half-year result which, according to management, demonstrated the resilience of its global subscriber base, and its proactive response supporting customers and partners, in a challenging COVID-19 environment. While COVID-19 had some impact on Xero’s ability to acquire new customers during the period, subscribers grew by 19% to reach 2.45 million with all markets showing positive progress. Australia has become the first market with one million subscribers.

In that half-year result, Xero grew its operating revenue by 21% to NZ$410 million and earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) rose by 86% to NZ$120.8 million. The NZ$71.2 million revenue increase led to a NZ$55.9 million rise of EBITDA, a NZ$49.4 million increase of free cashflow and a NZ$33.2 million increase in net profit.

Xero’s gross margin percentage rose from 85.2% to 85.7%, which means that a higher percentage of revenue can help the EBITDA grow.

In terms of the outlook, Xero said:

Xero is a long-term orientated business with ambitions for high-growth. We continue to operate with disciplined cost management and targeted allocation of capital. This allows us to remain agile so we can continue to innovate, invest in new products and customer growth, and respond to opportunities and changes in our operating environment.

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Motley Fool contributor Tristan Harrison has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of BETA CYBER ETF UNITS and Xero. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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There are some very good S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) shares that could be worth owning for income.

Some businesses are paying dividends with yields that are much higher than what other assets are paying right now.

The two ASX 200 shares in this article operate in fairly defensive and growing industries:

Centuria Industrial Reit (ASX: CIP)

This real estate investment trust (REIT) gives Aussie investors exposure to the largest domestic pure play industrial property investment vehicle.

It’s rated as a buy by UBS with expectations of more acquisitions and continuing high-quality tenants at its properties. The broker has a share price target for Centuria Industrial REIT of $3.38.

It currently owns around 60 industrial assets that are worth around $2.5 billion. The aim of the REIT is to grow both the income and capital value. It has around 90% of the portfolio weighted to Australia’s strong-performing eastern seaboard industrial markets. It currently has an occupancy rate of 97.7%.

Centuria Industrial Reit has a weighted average lease expiry (WALE) of 9.8 years, which has increased by 5.5 years since December 2016.

Whilst the portfolio has been growing, the gearing of the ASX 200 dividend share has been reducing. It has fallen 13.3 percentage points from 42.9% at December 2016 to 29.6% at December 2020.

The REIT’s net tangible assets (NTA) per unit has been steadily growing over time. In the FY21 half-year result it revealed that its NTA had grown year on year from $2.83 to $2.99.

Centuria Industrial Reit has upgraded its guidance twice for FY21. It’s now expecting FY21 funds from operations (FFO) to be no less than 17.6 cents per unit.

In FY21 the REIT is expecting to pay an annual distribution of 17 cents per unit, which equates to a distribution yield of 5.75% for income-seekers.

Bapcor Ltd (ASX: BAP)

Bapcor likes to describes itself as the leading auto parts business in Australasia. It operates a number of different brands including Burson, Precision Automotive Equipment, AAD, Bearing Wholesalers, Commercial Truck Parts, Autobarn, Autopro, Midas and ABS.

It’s one of the few ASX 200 shares that grew the dividend in FY21, even if it was just an increase of 2.9%.

The FY21 dividend is shaping up to be a much larger increase after a half-year dividend increase of 12.5%.

There was particularly strong growth in its retail businesses during the six-month period with Autobarn same store sales up 37.1%.

Bapcor still has a large growth targets. Over the next five years it wants to increase its number of trade stores from 195 to 240, whilst also growing the percentage of own brand sales from 29% to 35%.

For its commercial vehicle segment, it wants to reach 40 light vehicle locations (currently 16) and 50 heavy vehicle locations (currently 31).

Looking at Autobarn, it wants to reach 200 Autobarn stores, it currently has 133. It’s targeting 500 service locations, which would be an increase from the current 105.

One growth area that the ASX 200 share is really targeting is South East Asia. It now has six locations in Thailand, but it wants to reach at least 80.

In the FY21 half-year result it saw revenue growth of 25.8% to $883.6 million, earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) growth of 45% and net profit growth of 49.7%.

Based on the last 12 months of dividends, it has a grossed-up dividend yield of 3.9%.

More reading

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• ASX 200 sinks 2.4%, Afterpay plunges, AMP jumps

Motley Fool contributor Tristan Harrison has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of and has recommended Bapcor. 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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Last week was another busy one for investors with an endless stream of results releases.

Three results which were arguably among the best released over the period are summarised below. Here’s what you need to know about them:

Cochlear Limited (ASX: COH) 

This hearing solutions company released a surprisingly strong half year result last week. For the six months ended 31 December, Cochlear posted an underlying net profit of $125.3 million. Impressively, despite facing tough trading conditions caused by COVID-19, Cochlear’s profit was down only 4% in constant currency from its record first half profit in the prior corresponding (and COVID-free) period.

Looking ahead, a strong second half is expected by management. It has provided full year underlying net profit guidance of $225 million to $245 million. This represents a 46% to 59% increase on FY 2020’s profits.

This went down well with analysts at Macquarie. In response to its result, the broker retained its outperform rating and lifted its price target to $245.00.

Goodman Group (ASX: GMG) 

Goodman Group is on form again in FY 2021 and delivered a strong half year result. The global integrated property company reported a 16% increase in operating profit to $614.9 million for the six months ended 31 December. This was driven by new developments, strong demand, and like-for-like net property income growth of 3%.

Also going down well with investors was management’s guidance for the full year. It now expects operating profit growth of 12% in FY 2021. This compares to its previous guidance of 9% year on year growth.

Macquarie was also impressed with this result. It responded by upgrading Goodman’s shares to an outperform rating with an improved price target of $20.39.

Zip Co Ltd (ASX: Z1P) 

This buy now pay later provider has continued its meteoric growth in FY 2021. Last week it released its half year results and reported a 141% increase in total transaction volume (TTV) to $2.32 billion. This underpinned a 130% jump in half year revenue to $160 million.

Zip’s stellar growth was driven largely by a significant lift in active customers. At the end of December, the company had a total of 5.7 million active customers, which was an increase of 217% over the prior corresponding period. In addition to this, it revealed that it now has more than 38,500 merchants across the United States, Australia, New Zealand, and the UK. Looking ahead, Zip advised that it has global momentum and the foundations to accelerate growth in the second half.

In response to the result, analysts at Morgans retained their add rating and lifted their price target to $12.00.

More reading

• Top brokers name 3 ASX shares to buy next week
• ASX 200 sinks 2.4%, Afterpay plunges, AMP jumps
• Brokers name 3 ASX shares to buy right now
• Will Wall Street’s overnight tumble send ASX 200 shares down today?
• ASX 200 rises 0.8%, A2 Milk sinks, Zip drops

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 Cochlear Ltd. and ZIPCOLTD FPO. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Cochlear 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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