A number of growth shares have come under pressure during recent market volatility and are now trading at significant discounts to their recent highs.

Two examples of this are listed below. Here’s why this could be an opportune time to consider an investment:

Domino’s Pizza Enterprises Ltd (ASX: DMP)

The first ASX growth share to consider is this pizza chain operator. The Domino’s share price is trading 14% lower than its 52-week high. This is despite Domino’s smashing expectations with its half year results last month.

Those results revealed a 16.5% increase in total global food sales to $1.84 billion and a 32.8% increase in underlying net profit after tax to $96.2 million. This stellar growth was driven by a combination of strong same store sales growth, the opening of 131 new stores, and operating leverage.

Positively, management expects an even stronger performance in the second half. It has also reiterated its long term plan of doubling its store network again over the next decade.

One broker that sees this recent weakness as a buying opportunity is Goldman Sachs. It recently reaffirmed its conviction buy rating and $112.60 price target.

Nearmap Ltd (ASX: NEA)

Another ASX growth share to consider is this aerial imagery technology and location data company. The Nearmap share price is down ~25% from its February high.

Goldman Sachs also appears to see this pullback as a buying opportunity for investors. In response to its half year results release last month, the broker put a buy rating and $2.95 price target on its shares.

While the broker acknowledges that it has been facing some near term headwinds because of COVID-19, it expects momentum to improve through 2021. It expects this to lead to new business wins accelerating from here.

In light of this, Goldman believes Nearmap can grow its revenue by a CAGR of 15% per annum between FY 2020 and FY 2023.

Furthermore, the broker has been crunching the numbers and believes Nearmap has the balance sheet strength to see it through to profitability in FY 2023.

More reading

• 2 exciting ASX growth shares to buy now
• 5 of the best ASX shares to buy next week
• 2 ASX growth shares for smart investors to buy
• 2 ASX 200 shares that keep growing the dividend every year
• 2 top ASX growth shares to buy next week

James Mickleboro has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of Nearmap Ltd. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Dominos Pizza Enterprises Limited and Nearmap 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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Spheria Emerging Companies Ltd (ASX: SEC) has identified a few ASX shares that it believes are opportunities at the moment.

What is Spheria Emerging Companies?

This is a listed investment company (LIC) that is managed by Spheria Asset Management.

It tries to look at the smaller end of the market for opportunities to beat the market.

Spheria Emerging Companies has been successful with that goal. Over the last year the LIC’s net portfolio performance has been a return of 29.8%, outperforming the S&P/ASX Small Ordinaries Accumulation Index’s return of 17.2%. Since inception in November 2017, the net return has been 9.1% per annum – superior to the benchmark return of 7.4% per annum.

The LIC owns a number of interesting ASX shares in its portfolio such as Fletcher Building Limited (ASX: FBU), HT&E Ltd (ASX: HT1), Blackmores Limited (ASX: BKL), Healius Ltd (ASX: HLS), Adbri Ltd (ASX: ABC) and Class Ltd (ASX: CL1).

These are manager’s latest thoughts on some ASX shares it thinks are opportunities:

Seven West Media Ltd (ASX: SWM)

Seven West was the largest contributor to the Spheria Emerging Companies portfolio in February. Spheria said this was thanks to reporting a result that was well ahead of market expectations as television advertising returned to growth during the fourth quarter of the 2020 calendar year. Costs were better that expected and the balance sheet was improved.

A deal about news with Google will also add to revenue and profit. Spheria believes that stronger viewer numbers should help increase revenue and potential news about the divestment of studios and/or towers may also help.

Despite the strong share price movement recently, Spheria said that the Seven West valuation is on a cheaper valuation multiple compared to its nearest listed peer.

Corporate Travel Management Ltd (ASX: CTD)

Corporate Travel was another strong performer last month. Spheria pointed to the “respectable” result, low cash burn and increasing market share as reasons to be positive. The acquisition of the US business Travel & Transport was also a factor.

The LIC believes that Corporate Travel Management is positioned to return to good profitability once the western world emerges from travel restrictions due to COVID-19. The ASX share still has many months of liquidity at the current cash burn rate.

Vista Group International Ltd (ASX: VGL)

Vista was another holding that returned over 20% during the month.

Spheria explained that Vista dominates the market for software in the global cinema exhibition, distribution and production markets.

Vista has been hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic because of the amount of cinemas that have been closed over the past year. However, the ASX share has been able to keep the cash burn to a low level, according to the fund manager. It still has 20 months of liquidity left at the current burn rate, which should improve as vaccines are rolled out in markets like North America, Europe and the UK.

The thinking behind the LIC’s choice of Vista is that it believes it’s well placed to return to strong levels of profitability as the pandemic wanes. At around 2.5x historical revenue, Spheria believes the business is undervalued if it can return to prior levels of earnings.

More reading

• ASX 200 dips, travel shares drop, Pushpay soars
• What’s with the Flight Centre (ASX:FLT) share price today?
• 11 top ASX shares that WAM thinks will make great buys
• Why Corporate Travel Management, Silver Lake, Volpara, & Vulcan are pushing higher
• Why Corp Travel Management, IGO, Limeade, & ResApp are tumbling lower

Motley Fool contributor Tristan Harrison has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of and has recommended Blackmores Limited and Corporate Travel Management Limited. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of Class Limited and Vista Group Intl. 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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If you’re looking to beat the low interest rates being offered with savings accounts and term deposits, then the share market could be the answer.

Two ASX dividend shares that offer investors attractive yields are listed below. Here’s what you need to know about them:

Super Retail Group Ltd (ASX: SUL)

Super Retail is the company behind retail brands BCF, Macpac, Rebel, and Super Cheap Auto.

Last month it released its half year results and reported a 23% increase in sales to $1.78 billion and a 139% increase in underlying net profit after tax to $177.1 million. This was driven by strong like for likes sales, rapid online sales growth, and margin expansion.

This strong form allowed the Super Retail board to declare a fully franked interim dividend of 33 cents per share.

One broker that expects more of the same in the second half is Goldman Sachs. So much so, it is expecting the company to reward shareholders with a special dividend. Goldman is forecasting an 81 cents per share fully franked dividend for FY 2021.

Based on the latest Super Retail share price, this represents a 6.85% yield. The broker has a buy rating and $15.00 price target on its shares.

Telstra Corporation Ltd (ASX: TLS)

Another dividend share that Goldman Sachs likes is Telstra. The broker believes that its shares will re-rate higher in the future as it becomes a simpler business following its T22 strategy. It also sees further upside from its plan to split into four separate entities and monetise its assets.

In addition to this, importantly for income investors, the broker believes that Telstra will continue to pay a fully franked 16 cents per share dividend for the foreseeable future.

Based on the latest Telstra share price of $3.33, this will mean a fully franked yield of 4.55% for investors. Goldman Sachs has a buy rating and $4.00 price target on its shares.

More reading

• Why is there no ASX All Ordinaries ETF?
• Why is the Woolworths (ASX:WOW) share price up 5% in a week?
• Could a restructure spell a new era for the Telstra (ASX:TLS) share price?
• 8 ASX 200 shares rated as ‘outperform’ by brokers
• 2 quality ASX dividend shares to buy this month

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

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On Thursday the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) was on form again and pushed higher. The benchmark index rose almost 0.2% to 6,790.6 points.

Will the market be able to build on this on Friday? Here are five things to watch:

ASX 200 expected to rise

The Australian share market looks set to end the week on a positive note. According to the latest SPI futures, the ASX 200 is expected to open the day 22 points or 0.3% higher this morning. This follows a positive night on Wall Street, which in late trade sees the Dow Jones up 0.4%, the S&P 500 up 0.4%, and the Nasdaq trading 0.1% higher.

AMP CEO remains

The AMP Ltd (ASX: AMP) share price will be on watch today after providing an update on its CEO. On Thursday there was speculation that Francesco De Ferrari had handed in his resignation, but this wasn’t the case. AMP commented that it “notes the media reports today and confirms that Francesco De Ferrari remains as Chief Executive Officer of the group.”

Oil prices sink

Energy producers including Santos Ltd (ASX: STO) and Woodside Petroleum Limited (ASX: WPL) are likely to end the week deep in the red after oil prices sank lower overnight. According to Bloomberg, the WTI crude oil price is down 4.4% to US$58.49 a barrel and the Brent crude oil price has fallen 4% to US$61.82 a barrel. This is despite concerns that the Suez Canal blockage could take weeks to fix.

Gold price falls

Gold miners Newcrest Mining Ltd (ASX: NCM) and St Barbara Ltd (ASX: SBM) will be on watch after a poor night of trade for the gold price. According to CNBC, the spot gold price is down 0.2% to US$1,729.20 an ounce. A strengthening US dollar weighed on the precious metal and offset lower bond yields.

Resolute rated as a buy

The Resolute Mining Limited (ASX: RSG) share price crashed lower on Thursday after announcing that the Ghanaian government has terminated the mining license of its Bibiani operation. Goldman Sachs believes this is a buying opportunity for investors and has retained its buy rating and $1.30 price target. It commented: “In our view, the current share price [47 cents] implies no value is being ascribed to any asset apart from Syama Sulphides, which we conservatively model at Reserves only. We retain our Buy rating.”

More reading

• ASX 200 rises, Brickworks builds, Netwealth sinks
• Why is the Woolworths (ASX:WOW) share price up 5% in a week?
• 2 ASX 200 shares that keep growing their dividends
• Some of the ASX 200 companies that drove Australian exports to record levels
• Top brokers name 3 ASX shares to sell today

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 are a number of companies in the tech sector that are growing at a strong rate currently

Two that you might want to get better acquainted with are listed below. Here’s what you need to know about them:

ELMO Software Ltd (ASX: ELO)

The first ASX tech share to look at is ELMO. It provides a cloud-based human resources and payroll software platform that streamlines a number of important business processes such as employee administration, remuneration, and payroll.

ELMO has been a strong performer once again in FY 2021. Last month it released its half year results and revealed a 42.8% increase in annualised recurring revenue (ARR) to a record $74.2 million. This was driven by a combination of organic growth and the benefits of acquisitions.

Morgan Stanley is positive on the company’s growth prospects. It currently has an overweight rating and $9.70 price target on its shares. This compares to the latest ELMO share price of $5.12.

Megaport Ltd (ASX: MP1)

Another ASX tech share to look at is Megaport. It is a provider of elastic interconnection services across data centres globally.

Megaport has been benefiting greatly from the shift to the cloud over the last few years. Pleasingly, this has continued in FY 2021 with the company recently reporting Monthly Recurring Revenue (MRR) growth of 37% to $6.3 million at the end of the first half. If you annualise this, it works out to be revenue of $75.6 million, which is already 30% higher than FY 2020’s revenue of $58 million.

Goldman Sachs is a fan of the company and recently put a buy rating and $15.00 price target on its shares. The broker believes Megaport is well placed for growth thanks to increasing demand for public cloud infrastructure and the broadening of its product suite.

More reading

• 2 rapidly growing mid cap ASX shares to buy
• ELMO (ASX:ELO)’s disappointing Supreme Court decision revealed
• 2 small cap ASX shares you need to know about
• ASX quarterly rebalance: HUB24 joins ASX 200, Brainchip into ASX 300
• ASX 200 rises, Afterpay sinks, Vocus jumps

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 Elmo Software and MEGAPORT FPO. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Elmo Software and MEGAPORT 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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The Fortescue Metals Group Limited (ASX: FMG) share price is down around 20% over the last month. What do brokers make of the value that the miner offers investors?

How has the Fortescue share price been going recently?

It has been a volatile period over the last few months for the large iron ore miner. At the start of December 2020 it was priced at $18.23. A few weeks later it had climbed 42% to $25.92 on 7 January 2021.

However, it has steadily sunk 25% since then.

Why has the Fortescue share price been falling?

Like any commodity-based business, Fortescue’s prospects are heavily linked to the movement of the iron ore price.

The iron ore price has been falling recently, it can’t be expected to stay strong forever.

There have been concerns that there has been a call by Chinese authorities to reduce emissions in Tangshan which would involve a slow down of steel production.

However, the Fortescue share price is still a lot higher than recent years and so is the iron ore price. This was reported by Fortescue itself in its half-year result when it said that the realised price was up 42% year on year to US$114 per dry metric tonne.

There wasn’t much change in the amount of iron ore sold by Fortescue – it went up 3% to 90.2 million tonnes.

The increase in the iron ore price led to Fortescue growing revenue by 44% to US$9.3 billion, underlying earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) growing by 57% to US$6.6 billion and net profit after tax (NPAT) rising by 66% to $4.08 billion.

A shift in focus for the company

Investors have also been taking in the news that Fortescue is going to be focusing on decarbonising its operations and pursuing green energy projects.

Fortescue has said it’s going to leverage its successful track record of identifying, assessing and developing large-scale resource and infrastructure opportunities, It’s going to bring its capabilities to adopting innovative technology to ensure Fortescue is at the forefront of this emerging industry.

Fortescue Future Industries (FFI) has been established, it’s identifying renewable energy and green hydrogen projects both in Australia and globally.

The miner has committed to investing 10% of its net profit each year into renewable energy growth through FFI.

Broker thoughts on the Fortescue share price

There are varying thoughts on Fortescue. The broker Macquarie Group Ltd (ASX: MQG) has a price target of $25.50, which suggests potential upside of around 30%.

However, there’s then Morgan Stanley which thinks the Tangshan issues will start to cause a decline for the iron ore price. As a miner with a lower grade of iron, Fortescue could be hurt more by this. Morgan Stanley’s price target is $17.45.

In FY22, Morgan Stanley thinks that Fortescue could pay a dividend of $1.58 per share, amounting to a grossed-up dividend yield for next financial year of 11.6%.

However, Macquarie has a more positive outlook for the FY22 dividend and earnings. Macquarie believes the Fortescue share price is valued at 8x FY22’s estimated earnings with a FY22 grossed-up dividend yield of 14%.

More reading

• Where to reinvest your Fortescue (ASX:FMG) dividends
• The ANZ (ASX:ANZ) share price is Macquarie’s top big four bank pick
• Macquarie sees near-term pain for the Afterpay (ASX:APT) share price
• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Wednesday
• 8 ASX 200 shares rated as ‘outperform’ by brokers

Motley Fool contributor Tristan Harrison owns shares of Fortescue Metals Group Limited. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of and has recommended Macquarie 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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Big brokers have run the ruler on new announcements and notable share price movements. Here are the ASX 200 shares that have been upgraded to a buy or buy equivalent rating on Thursday. 

4 bullish ASX 200 shares 

Bapcor Ltd (ASX: BAP) 

Bapcor announced its plans to expand into Asia by acquiring 25% of the issued equity of Tye Soon. Tye Soon is an independent automotive parts distributor in South East and North East Asia, distributing a wide range of parts and aftermarket parts. Bapcor will invest approximately SGD$12.5 million for the 25% stake and work together to maximise opportunities in the Asia and Australasia region. 

Citi believes the acquisition will provide Bapcor with a base to grow its Asian business and address the gaps in its specialist wholesale portfolio. The broker eyes South Korea and Malaysia (43% of Tye Soon’s revenue) as key rollout opportunities for Bapcor in Asia. 

Citi retained a buy rating with a $9.35 target price, representing an upside of approximately 26%.

Brickworks Limited (ASX: BKW) 

The Brickworks share price is on the rise today after announcing its half-year results. At the time of writing, Brickworks shares were trading for $19.80, up 4.7%.

The building products company reported a 4% decline in revenue to $432 million. Earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) fell 6% to $127 million. 

These results were better than expected from Citi’s point of view and were boosted by revaluations and sales of property. Excluding property, the operational performance came in below expectations, driven by a weaker Australian building products segment. 

The broker retained a buy rating with the belief that its outlook is improving. Its target price of $22.70 represents an upside of approximately 20% at today’s prices. 

Graincorp Ltd (ASX: GNC) 

Graincorp upgraded its earnings on Wednesday on the back of new operating initiative and completion of its international expansion. This is expected to increase its ‘through-the-cycle’ earnings which refers to a notional year of average East Coast Australia grain production and average tonnes handled by GrainCorp.

Credit Suisse believes the market has underrated the cost reductions that Graincorp has made over the years. The broker also increased its medium-term forecasts, in-line with the company’s new earnings before taxes, depreciation, and amortisation EBITDA guidance. 

The broker upgraded Graincorp shares to outperform with a $5.59 target price. With the Graincorp share price pushing another 2.6% higher today to $5.13, the target price represents an upside just shy of 10%. 

Polynovo Ltd (ASX: PNV) 

The Polynovo share price is making a strong recovery this month after losing more than 30% in value between late December 2020 and mid January 2021. 

The company missed earnings expectations when it updated the market back in January. The update reported a 31% increase in sales vs. the commentary from Polynovo managing director that revenue would double again in FY21. 

Macquarie Group Ltd (ASX: MQG) believe Polynovo could get back on track with its entry into sizeable markets such as chronic wounds and hernia to support growth in the medium to long term. 

The broker upgraded Polynovo shares from neutral to outperform with a $3.20 target price. The Polynovo share price has surged more than 20% this month to $3.02 at the time of writing. The target price represents an upside of 5.40%. 

More reading

• The PolyNovo (ASX:PNV) share price jumps 5% with its latest news
• ASX 200 rises, Brickworks builds, Netwealth sinks
• 2 ASX 200 shares that keep growing their dividends
• Some of the ASX 200 companies that drove Australian exports to record levels
• Why Brickworks, McPherson’s, MedAdvisor, & Premier Investments are storming higher

Kerry Sun has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of POLYNOVO FPO. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of and has recommended Bapcor and Brickworks. 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 PolyNovo Ltd’s (ASX: PNV) share price took flight this afternoon after it announced an agreement with a US group purchasing organisation (GPO), Premier Inc.

The medical device company will sell its novel range of bio-resorbable polymers to Premier’s member hospitals.

The PolyNovo share price was trading up 4.88% to close this afternoon at $3.01. 

Let’s look closer at PolyNovo’s news today.

Group purchasing agreement

PolyNovo’s purchasing agreement with Premier will see the potential for the company’s product NovoSorb BTM to be used in around 4100 health facilities and hospitals.

According to PolyNovo, its agreement with Premier will allow its products to be accessed by more than 2000 acute care hospitals, 100 designated trauma centres, and 63 children’s hospitals.

NovoScorb BTM is a dermal scaffold for the regeneration of the dermis when lost from surgery or burns. It can be produced in many forms such as film, fibre, foam and coatings.

PolyNovo will have access to Premier’s regional representatives from the beginning of next month and plans to provide them with training. The training will cover how they can best advise healthcare professionals on the use and purchase of NovoScorb BTM.

Why are GPOs important?

The company stated that GPOs were key to promoting new medical technologies in the United States. GPOs vet products on their efficiency and value before recommending them to healthcare providers.

PolyNovo said Premier was the second largest GPO in the US and held agreements with the fifth largest GPO, First Choice, and Aptitude, another GPO.

The company is in discussions with other GPOs to distribute NovoScorb BTM.  

Commentary from management

PolyNovo managing director Paul Brennan commented on the agreement:

This signing with Premier, the second largest GPO in the US, is a major milestone. We have recently signed with Aptitude and First Choice. These GPO agreements put our disruptive BTM on a much larger list of hospitals than our sales team can get around in the short term.

We will continue expanding our sales team into new markets to support hospitals and surgeons but now also to match the geographical footprint of the GPOs. We look forward to demonstrating improved health economic benefits for Premier hospital members and their patients.

PolyNovo share price snapshot 

The PolyNovo share price is up by 109% over the last 12 months but down 24.03% year to date.

The company has a market capitalisation of $1.9 billion, with approximately 661 million shares outstanding.

More reading

• Brokers are bullish on these 4 ASX 200 shares
• ASX medical shares report promising half-year results
• What’s happening with the PolyNovo (ASX:PNV) share price?

Motley Fool contributor Brooke Cooper has no position in any of the stocks mentioned.

The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of POLYNOVO 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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The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) went up by 0.2% today to 6,791 points.

These are some of the highlights from the ASX today:

Netwealth Group Ltd (ASX: NWL)

The Netwealth share price fell around 13% today after announcing a significant change for its business.

Describing the events leading up to the change, Netwealth said that as a result of COVID-19 and current global economic conditions the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) has reduced and maintained official interest rates at 10 basis points and provided substantial liquidity to the Australian banking sector at historically low rates and credit spreads.

Due to the current environment, and reduced cost of funding for banks, Netwealth said that the agreement with Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd (ASX: ANZ) in relation to the interest payable on the total pooled cash transaction account is to be terminated in 12 months on 24 March 2022, pursuant to the terms of the agreement.

This agreement that’s being terminated provides a margin of 95 basis points above the overnight cash rate and will continue for 12 months.

Netwealth said that it’s in negotiations with ANZ and other banks to establish an alternate facility and deposit rate.

Washington H. Soul Pattinson and Co. Ltd (ASX: SOL)

Investment conglomerate Soul Patts reported in its half-year result that it saw a 27.7% decrease in regular profit after tax, whilst statutory profit increased by 35.2% to $68.9 million.

Soul Patts said that the decrease in regular profit was attributable to two areas. TPG Telecom Ltd (ASX: TPG) did not make a contribution to regular profit due to the derecognition of TPG as an equity accounted associate of Soul Patts following the merger with Vodafone.

The second area was that New Hope Corporation Limited’s (ASX: NHC) contribution to regular profit decreased 99% due to lower average coal prices and lower volumes as a result of planned maintenance at Bengalla and end of mine life at stage 2 of New Acland.

These negatives were partially offset by Round Oak’s contribution to regular profit increasing $50 million as a result of increased production levels at all operations and strengthening commodity prices together with lower ore treatment charges.

The ASX 200 share’s net asset value (pre-tax) was up 1.3% to $5.2 billion. However, net cashflows from investments fell 8% to $85.3 million.

Soul Patts grew its dividend by 4% to 26 cents.

The managing director of Soul Patts, Todd Barlow, said:

The operating environment for most of our investments continues to improve from the disruptions of COVID-19. In particular, we are seeing a strong recovery in certain commodities such as thermal coal and copper (up 42% and 73% respectively in the last 12 months in US dollar terms).

Brickworks Limited (ASX: BKW)

Brickworks also reported its FY21 half-year result to the market.

It said that group revenue fell 4% to $432 million, underlying earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) dropped 4% to $163 million, underlying earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) fell 6% to 127 million and underlying net profit dropped 10% to $90 million.

The Australian building products division saw EBIT jump 60% to $16 million, but the North American division suffered a 33% decrease in EBIT to $4 million. It’s starting to see a recovery of demand in the US, whilst Australian demand remains robust.

The property division saw 3% growth of EBIT to $92 million, with the net trust income growing 7% to $16 million.

Total assets within the property trust now stands at almost $2.2 billion. After including debt, Brickworks’ share of net assets was $777 million at the end of the half, up another $50 million over the six-month period.

The Brickworks board decided to grow the dividend by interim dividend by 5% to 21 cents.

More reading

• Why is the Woolworths (ASX:WOW) share price up 5% in a week?
• 2 ASX 200 shares that keep growing their dividends
• Some of the ASX 200 companies that drove Australian exports to record levels
• Here’s why the Oceania Healthcare (ASX:OCA) share price is falling today
• Why Airtasker, Netwealth, Piedmont Lithium, & Resolute Mining are tumbling lower

Motley Fool contributor Tristan Harrison owns shares of Washington H. Soul Pattinson and Company Limited. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of and has recommended Brickworks and Washington H. Soul Pattinson and Company Limited. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of Netwealth. 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 Singular Health Group Ltd (ASX: SHG) share price was flying today. The medical software company reached an intraday high of 64.5 cents per share – up 9.32% on the previous day’s close.

The price rocketed after the company announced the completion of a project developed with the Australian Government.

At the time of writing, the Singular Health share price had retreated slightly, trading for 60 cents each, still up 1.7%. By comparison, the S&P/ASX All Ordinaries Index (ASX: XAO) is down 0.04%.

Let’s take a closer look at Singular Health’s announcement.

Singular Health and CSIRO develop AI medical technology

Today’s announcement shook the Singular Health share price. In a statement to the ASX, Singular Health declared it and the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) had developed “an artificial intelligence [AI] model capable of automatically segmenting spinal vertebrae from CT scans.”

According to Singular Health, the automatic segmentation of the spine will enable surgeons and radiologists to closely examine the spines of patients through 3D models. Doctors will be able to manipulate models down to individual vertebrate. This will enable medical professionals to “better plan their surgeries and even design custom surgical implants and guides.”

Consequently, Singular Health believes the product will drastically cut diagnostic times for practitioners. Overall this should reduce times from a few hours to only a couple of minutes.

The project was made possible due to the CSIRO’s Kick-Start program. The agency provides funding and research assistance to small-and-medium Australian technology companies. The program matches company investment in research and development between the sums of $10,000 – $50,000. Additionally, this program allows companies to use CSIRO staff, equipment, and related expenditures.

Management Commentary

Dr. Guan Tay, executive director of Innovation at Singular Health, said the following about today’s announcement:

Singular Health has had the unique opportunity to access the deep-domain knowledge of CSIRO’s data scientists to develop this semi-automated instance segmentation and labelling of the spinal vertebrae. We are conducting further testing and validation of the spine segmentation function before commercial release.

The use of artificial intelligence in medical imaging, and more specifically radiology, has the ability to profoundly change the workflow for radiologists.

With around 45,000 Australian’s undergoing spinal surgery every year, the rapid segmentation will save thousands of hours for radiologists and surgeons who will only have to make small mark-ups and/or validate the segmentation as opposed to manual segmentation slice-by-slice.

We would like to thank the team at CSIRO and the efforts of our internal developers for their dedication to the collaborative research project and for delivering a successful outcome.

Singular Health share price snapshot

Since its IPO in early February, the Singular Health share price has increased by 57.89%. A healthy return for a company not even 2 months old.

At its current valuation, Singular Health has a market capitalisation of $61.3 million.

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

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