• Westpac, ANZ, CBA share prices dip after class action for ‘junk’ insurance

    banker with calculator tries to make sense of the Big Four banks, indicating tough time ahead for banking shares

    The Westpac Banking Corp (ASX: WBC), Australia and New Zealand Banking GrpLtd (ASX: ANZ) and Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA) share prices are slipping today after a news report the banks are facing a class-action lawsuit for their insurance products.

    At market open, the ANZ share price is down 1.8% to $28.35, the Commonwealth Bank share price is flat at $87, while the Westpac share price is down 1.17% to $24.95.  

    Big four banks under fire for consumer credit insurance

    The big four banks are under fire for their consumer credit insurance (CCI), which is marketed as protecting consumers against late or missed payments.

    In reality, the insurance pays out less than 10 cents for each dollar paid in premiums. This is compared to an average of 89 cents for every dollar paid in car insurance premiums.

    During the banking royal commission, it was revealed Australia’s big four banks were warned by executives and international banks of the dodgy practices more than 10 years ago, but refused to stop selling CCI to customers.

    All four of Australia’s major banks were hit with class actions over their CCI products, but National Australia Bank Ltd (ASX: NAB) already settled in 2019, paying out $49.5 million to almost 50,000 customers.

    ASIC taking Westpac to court

    Practice Group Leader at law firm Slater and Gordon, Andrew Paull, told the ABC that CCI had been sold to millions of Australians.

    “It’s known as junk insurance because for any normal person it’s incredibly low value,” he said.

    “We’re talking perhaps one in four Australian households that are being sold a complex and worthless financial product by one of the trusted big four banks.”

    Meanwhile, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) is taking Westpac to court over its CCI deals, alleging it mis-sold CCI to 400 customers who hadn’t agreed to buy it through credit card bundle deals. ASIC is seeking a fine as punishment.

    In a statement, Westpac said it was “carefully considering these claims and is committed to working constructively with ASIC through the court process”.

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

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  • Why the Corporate Travel Management (ASX:CTD) share price is soaring today

    A woman standing on a tarmac celebrates a plane lifting off, indicating rising share price in ASX travel companies

    The market may be sinking lower today but that hasn’t stopped the Corporate Travel Management Ltd (ASX: CTD) share price from charging higher.

    In morning trade, the corporate travel specialist’s shares are up 5% to $20.02.

    Why is the Corporate Travel Management share price soaring?

    Investors have been buying Corporate Travel Management shares this morning following the release of a positive trading update.

    According to the release, during the month of March, the company broke-even following an uptick in travel demand.

    Pleasingly, things are expected to improve further, with management forecasting a return to profit in the fourth quarter of FY 2021. This is being underpinned by the UK/EU and ANZ regions of the business.

    ANZ region

    The release explains that strong domestic demand in the ANZ region means that client activity is nearing pre-pandemic levels.

    For example, last week total client activity climbed to 85% of FY 2019 booking levels in the local market. New Zealand was particularly positive, with trading above 160% of FY 2019 booking levels during the period.

    Europe and US

    Positively, despite lockdowns in the UK and Europe, significant essential travel client wins in this region have continued to contribute profitability to the company.

    Whereas over in the US, the company is experiencing positive signs of activity recovery.

    Furthermore, it notes that these regions have the most advanced vaccination rollouts and are on track for all people over 18 years of age to be vaccinated by June/July.

    This supports expectations of rapid return to corporate domestic travel and meaningful levels of pan-European and trans-Atlantic travel after the northern hemisphere summer vacation.

    Given that ~70% of pro forma FY 2019 revenue was generated from the US and the UK, this is very encouraging for the company.

    Balance sheet remains strong

    Another positive supporting the Corporate Travel Management share price is its balance sheet update.

    At the end of March, the company had net cash of approximately $105 million with no debt and an undrawn line of credit of 100 million pounds.

    Management believes this leaves the company well positioned for any industry consolidation that may occur.

    The company’s Managing Director, Jamie Pherous, commented: “It is very clear from both customer feedback and client activity that businesses are keen to get back on the road. Corporate travel and company success are highly correlated – the ability to connect face-to-face supports businesses to grow at speed, improve supply chain and productivity gains, and for companies and their employees to align on strategy in ways that virtual environments simply cannot match.”

    “Now that both the US and UK markets are well advanced in their vaccination programs, with adults ‘at risk’ and over 50s largely vaccinated, travel restrictions are on the verge of being relaxed. This will allow businesses in these regions to gain a competitive advantage on the rest of the world in economic trade and recovery, and we expect that recovery to accelerate further by June/July based on the majority of all adults being vaccinated,” he added.

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  • ANZ Bank’s (ASX:ANZ) profit result could get an extra boost: Macquarie

    ANZ share price

    There are high expectations for ASX banks ahead of next month’s reporting season and the Australia and New Zealand Banking GrpLtd (ASX: ANZ) share price could be a standout.

    The analysts at Macquarie Group Ltd (ASX: MQG) extrapolated the strong results from US banks. It believes the ANZ Bank share price could be the biggest winner on the back of the US trend.

    Banks in the US have posted around 14% year-on-year growth in trading income for the first quarter of calendar 2020.

    US profits bolstering earnings expectations for ASX banks

    This is a significant indicator for ASX banks. Trading and markets income are one of the most difficult things to forecast for our sector.

    “While Australian banks composition of markets and trading income differs from the US banks with a more significant proportion of revenue coming from rates and FX, recent trends from US investment banks suggest further upside risk in markets income in 1H21,” said Macquarie.

    “Our analysis highlights that ANZ appears to be more leveraged to the trends observed from offshore peers.”

    Why ANZ Bank has most to gain

    This is because ANZ Bank has a larger global markets business compared to the other three big banks.

    Macquarie calculated that there is around a 90% correlation between ANZ Bank’s income relative to US banks.

    This doesn’t mean that the National Australia Bank Ltd. (ASX: NAB) share price and Westpac Banking Corp (ASX: WBC) share price won’t benefit from the upbeat trend in the US.

    But their income is less correlated to the US, while Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA) is only slightly correlated, added Macquarie.

    ASX banks getting an earnings upgrade

    For this reason, the broker upgraded ANZ Bank’s FY21 cash earnings forecasts by 1.9%. The other three banks got a modest upgrade of between 0.3% and 0.6% each.

    On the other hand, I suspect the favourable US banking results is even better news for the Macquarie share price.

    Afterall, our home-grown investment bank has an even larger exposure to global markets than our domestic banks.

    The big four generate most of their earnings from home loans. This is why investors already have high hopes for ASX banks heading into the May reporting season.

    As it stands the share prices of ASX banks have outperformed the S&P/ASX 200 Index (Index:^AXJO) in the past few months.

    Skyrocketing residential prices and a big jump in demand for mortgages are big profit tailwinds for ASX bank shares.

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  • Why the Syrah (ASX:SYR) share price is moving today

    hand arranging wooden blocks that spell update

    The Syrah Resources Ltd (ASX: SYR) share price is on the move today after the graphite miner’s latest quarterly report.

    Why is the Syrah share price on the move?

    Shares in the Aussie graphite fell 0.5% in early trade after providing an update for the period ended 31 March 2021 (Q1 2021). 

    Syrah’s key value proposition remains in the electric vehicle (EV) market. Syrah is a primary producer of high quality graphite and graphene, which are key components for EV batteries.

    The Aussie miner reported strong EV sales during the quarter, up 140% on Q1 2020 to over 1.1 million units. Ramp-up is continuing at the group’s flagship Balama Graphite Operation with positive grade and recoveries.

    The Syrah share price has been on a recovery path in the past 12 months, climbing over 350% to the current $1.06 per share valuation. Shares in the graphite producer are falling this morning following the update despite reporting growing plant utilisation and production volumes.

    Syrah reported increased natural graphite demand from EV sales growth. Active Anode Material (AAM) production volumes continue to grow after being disrupted by the coronavirus pandemic on both the supply and demand side.

    Syrah said that was supportive of the production resumption at Balama in March 2021 ahead of schedule. Easing COVID-19 restrictions, stronger market conditions and new enquiries from customers all played a part in the decision.

    Syrah produced 4,700 tonnes and shipped 2,300 tonnes of prior sales from product inventory to established customers. That comes after restructuring to enhance yield unit cost reduction upon commencement.

    Increasing plant utilisation and natural graphite production have the company working towards 15,000 tonnes per month subject to demand.

    Foolish takeaway

    The Syrah share price has been under pressure following the update as the broader market slumps lower. At the time of writing, shares in the Aussie miner are down 0.5% to $1.06 per share as investors react to the latest news.

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  • Why the Nuheara (ASX:NUH) share price is soaring 6% today

    asx share price secret represented by woman holing hands up to ear through hole in wall

    The Nuheara Ltd (ASX: NUH) share price is on the move this morning. This comes after the company announced a positive development with a major contract.

    At the time of writing, the hearing solutions provider’s shares are swapping hands for 5.3 cents, up 6%.

    What did Nuheara announce?

    Investors are pushing Nuheara shares higher following the company’s latest update.

    According to this morning’s release, Nuheara advised it has begun mass production of HP Elite Wireless Earbuds for HP Inc (NYSE: HPQ). This follows HP’s recent approval of the initial samples, paving the way for commercial production.

    Nuheara highlighted that this will be the first product to be manufactured under the umbrella supply agreement. Both parties entered into a partnership arrangement in late December last year.

    The Elite Wireless Earbuds will be offered as bundled options to customers with the purchase of select HP notebook computers.

    Large-scale manufacturing of the Elite Earbuds has started, with shipment to take place in early May 2021.

    What did the CEO say?

    Nuheara CEO Justin Miller commented on the partnership agreement:

    We are incredibly proud to be working and developing products for HP, a global technology leader. Nuheara’s co-development of the new HP Elite Wireless Earbuds has seen this new product delivered, from concept to mass production, in record time.

    Our strong working relationship with HP has been critical in developing and manufacturing this product seamlessly. As global leaders in our respective markets of PCs and Hearables, Nuheara anticipates the strengthening of this partnership over the next three years to continue the supply of innovative audio solutions to HP’s customers.

    About the Nuheara share price

    The Nuheara share price has accelerated to more than 200% in the last 12 months, particularly from July 2020 onwards. The company’s shares reached a 52-week high of 6.6 cents in August before moving in circles thereafter.

    On valuation grounds, Nuheara commands a market capitalisation of around $86.1 million, with 1.7 billion shares on issue.

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  • Why the Nuix (ASX:NXL) share price is crashing 16% lower today

    three yellow exclamation marks on blue background

    The Nuix Ltd (ASX: NXL) share price is crashing lower on Wednesday following the release of an update to its guidance for FY 2021.

    At the time of writing, the investigative analytics and intelligence software provider’s shares are down 16% to $4.27.

    What did Nuix announce?

    According to the release, during April, a significant and larger than expected number of Nuix’s customers, including one of its largest, elected to transition from module-based subscription licenses to consumption and Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) license models.

    This has resulted in a shift in both revenue and Annualised Contract Value (ACV) profiles.

    In addition to this, Nuix revealed that some of its law firm, advisory and service provider customers have also recently informed it of a reduced add-on (upsell) requirement for existing licenses.

    This is because of both their unutilised license capacity in the current climate, as well as the recovery in legal case backlog being slower than anticipated.

    Management notes that the accelerated switch to consumption licenses, including SaaS, is primarily driven by changing customer business models. This is being caused in part by a shift from office settings to remote working environments and the need to have flexible global licensing to manage projects in line with data privacy and sovereignty requirements.

    Nuix notes that it also reflects the attractiveness for many customers of a decision by the company to provide greater choice in deployment. This includes on-premise and in the cloud hybrid solutions, which assists customers as they evaluate their transition toward consumption licenses.

    What impact will this have on its guidance?

    The above factors have led to Nuix downgrading its guidance just over six weeks after reaffirming it following media criticism.

    Nuix is now expecting pro forma revenue of $180 million to $185 million in FY 2021. This compares unfavourably to its guidance of $193.5 million.

    The company’s ACV is now expected to be in the range of $168 million to $177 million this year. This falls well short of its forecast of $199.6 million.

    One slight positive, though, is that its pro forma EBITDA is expected to be $64.6 million to $66.6 million, which is higher than its guidance of $63.6 million.

    Nuix’s CEO, Rod Vawdrey, commented: “Over the last 18 months, Nuix has enabled its customers to move from module-based subscription licenses to more flexible consumption-based licensing models. The increasing rate of adoption of consumption licenses has had a positive impact on new business and existing retention notwithstanding a transitory downward impact on FY21 revenue. Giving our customers the choice in how they consume Nuix is a key competitive advantage.”

    “The fundamental revenue drivers for Nuix are strong and underpinned by a growing order book and pipeline. It reflects the underlying strength of the Nuix software offering, a sticky, loyal customer base, strong growth in new business and an increase in order size. We look forward to shareholder participation in Nuix’s Investor Day in May.”

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  • Why the Splitit (ASX:SPT) share price is sinking 5% lower today

    Fall in ASX share price represented by white arrow pointing down

    The Splitit Ltd (ASX: SPT) share price is under pressure this morning following the release of its first quarter update.

    At the time of writing, the buy now pay later (BNPL) provider’s shares are down 5% to 80.5 cents.

    How did Splitit perform in the fourth quarter?

    Splitit has just completed a reasonably disappointing first quarter of FY 2021.

    Although the headline number looks impressive, digging a little deeper there are worrying signs for the BNPL provider.

    For the three months ended 31 March, the company achieved Merchant Sales Volume (MSV) of US$82 million. While this was an increase of 247% compared to the same period last year, it was actually down 5% quarter on quarter from US$86.3 million.

    It is also well short of what many of its rivals are reporting. For example, Afterpay Ltd (ASX: APT) just reported quarterly underlying sales of $5.2 billion and Zip Co Ltd (ASX: Z1P) delivered quarterly transaction volume to $1.6 billion.

    In respect to revenue, Splitit recorded first quarter gross revenue of US$2.7 million, which was up 292% on the prior corresponding period. Though, once again, it was down from gross revenue of US$2.9 million in the fourth quarter.

    If this trend continues throughout the remainder of FY 2021, it will lead to Splitit going backwards in respect to MSV and revenue. This could be bad news for the Splitit share price given its lofty valuation on limited revenue.

    Why is slowing Splitit’s growth?

    Management blamed the slowdown in its growth on a deliberate shift away from debit cards. It believes its MSV in Q1 2021 would have surpassed its fourth quarter MSV if it were not for the shift.

    The company advised that it has made the switch as credit cards present a significantly lower risk profile for the company.

    What else did Splitit report?

    The company’s closing cash position was US$75 million. This follows cash burn of US$7.6 million during the quarter.

    Also catching the eye was management’s intriguing decision to no longer report repeat shoppers, 12-month active customers, or 12-month active merchant data.

    It doesn’t believe these are appropriate near-term performance metrics but rather long-term growth avenues. As a result, it will cease reporting these metrics for the foreseeable future.

    Given how these are good indicators of how BNPL providers are performing, and standard metrics in the industry, its decision to not disclose them could be concerning for investors.

    In light of this and its slowing growth, it isn’t overly surprising to see the Splitit share price tumble today.

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  • Altium (ASX:ALU) share price tumbles on broker downgrade

    A businessman holds his glasses in concern, indicating uncertainly in the ASX share price

    The Altium Limited (ASX: ALU) share price has come under pressure for a second day in a row.

    In morning trade, the electronic design software company’s shares are down 3% to $27.59.

    Why is the Altium share price under pressure?

    On Tuesday the Altium share price tumbled lower following the release of a note out of Citi.

    Although the broker remains positive and has held firm with its buy rating, it suggested the company could fall short of expectations in FY 2021.

    This follows some heavy discounting, which it fears could be a sign of weak market conditions.

    Why is it dropping further today?

    It hasn’t taken long for another broker to pick up on this discounting.

    This morning Bell Potter responded to the news by downgrading the company’s shares to a sell rating and cutting the price target on them by 3.5% to $27.50.

    However, based on the current Altium share price, this implies only modest downside from where it trades now.

    What did Bell Potter say?

    Bell Potter commented: “Altium is discounting the price of a term licence for its Altium Designer (AD) software by 50% in the first year. At this stage the offer is valued for two months – till 18th June – and is limited to two licenses per customer at this price. The price for a perpetual licence, however, appears to be unchanged and, for instance, in Australia remains A$11, 590 (A$9,495 for the licence and A$2,045 for the one year subscription).”

    “The discounting of just the term licence differs from around this time last when the company was aggressively discounting the price of a perpetual licence by around 40%. The discounting suggests Altium is pursuing subscriber growth before the end of the financial year – both in new AD seats sold and 365 users – though this will have negative short term impact on revenue. The impact is also likely to be accentuated as it will further incentivise new customers to buy a term rather than perpetual licence,” it added.

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  • Leading brokers give their verdict on the Afterpay (ASX:APT) share price

    company meeting taking place

    On Tuesday the Afterpay Ltd (ASX: APT) share price dropped lower despite the release of an impressive third quarter update.

    The payments company’s shares dropped almost 1% to $125.23.

    What happened in the third quarter?

    For the three months ended 31 March, Afterpay continued its strong form by reporting a 104% increase in underlying sales to $5.2 billion.

    This comprises a 167% increase in North American sales to $2.6 billion, a 48% lift in ANZ sales to $2.1 billion, and a 246% jump in the UK sales to $0.5 billion.

    This strong performance was driven by a 75% increase in active customers globally to 14.6 million and increasing customer frequency across all regions.

    Also catching the eye was news that there may soon by an Afterpay share price trading on US markets. Afterpay notes that the US is now its biggest market and its shareholder base is increasingly becoming more globally focused. It feels a US listing would further accommodate this growing interest.

    Where do brokers think the Afterpay share price is going?

    Analysts at Credit Suisse were pleased with Afterpay’s sales growth during the quarter. And while its customer growth fell a touch short of expectations, the broker has retained its outperform rating and $145.00 price target.

    The ultra bearish UBS has held firm with its sell rating and $36.00 price target on the company’s shares. They are concerned that its US listing could distract management, particularly given the requirement for more rigorous quarterly reporting.

    Over at Morgans, its analysts have retained their hold rating and trimmed its price target slightly to $121.00.

    Analysts at Wilsons have reduced their price target but remains positive on the company. Wilsons has a buy rating and $151.05 price target on Afterpay’s shares.

    And yesterday, after a first look at its result, Macquarie Group Ltd (ASX: MQG) held firm with its neutral rating and $120.00 price target. It noted that Afterpay’s numbers were in line with its expectations.

    Over at RBC Capital, yesterday its analysts noted that Afterpay fell a touch short of its expectations in the third quarter. However, it remains confident it can still achieve its full year forecasts. RBC had an outperform rating and $150.00 price target at that point.

    Based on the above, brokers appear largely undecided on the direction the Afterpay share price is going from here.

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  • PayPal will target cross-border payments in China

    This article was originally published on Fool.com. All figures quoted in US dollars unless otherwise stated.

    PayPal building

    This article was originally published on Fool.com. All figures quoted in US dollars unless otherwise stated.

    In an interview with CNBC, PayPal (NASDAQ: PYPL) revealed plans to develop a digital wallet in China, the world’s largest payments market. This comes after PayPal completed its acquisition of GoPay in December, making it the first and only foreign enterprise to operate a China-based payments company.

    For the last several months, the fintech company has kept quiet about its plans in the country. But the China CEO for PayPal, Hannah Qiu, recently shed some light on the situation. Specifically, Qiu said the company won’t compete against giants like Ant Group’s Alipay and Tencent Holdings‘ WeChat Pay, which have a collective user base that exceeds 1 billion.

    Instead, Qiu explained that PayPal is working in cooperation with local payment companies, though she didn’t mention any names. She added, “What we need to do is to build a bridge, bringing good Chinese products overseas and taking good overseas products back to China.” In other words, PayPal’s new wallet will target cross-border payments.

    This differs slightly from CEO Dan Schulman’s commentary during the most recent earnings call. At the time, Schulman said PayPal would first grow its cross-border business, then “slowly but surely add incremental services into the domestic market.” Either way, this could be a big opportunity for the fintech company. According to Statista, the business-to-business cross-border payments market in China should hit $875 billion in 2021.

    That matters because PayPal primarily earns revenue as a percentage of the total payment volume (TPV). Last year, the company achieved record results, growing TPV 31% to $936 billion. That drove revenue to $21.5 billion. Even so, if this new product gains traction, PayPal could see a meaningful bump in TPV from its China business, and that could translate into meaningful top-line growth.

    This article was originally published on Fool.com. All figures quoted in US dollars unless otherwise stated.

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    Trevor Jennewine owns shares of PayPal Holdings. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of and recommends PayPal Holdings and recommends the following options: long January 2022 $75 calls on PayPal Holdings. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended PayPal Holdings. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

    The post PayPal will target cross-border payments in China appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

    This article was originally published on Fool.com. All figures quoted in US dollars unless otherwise stated.

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