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

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

General Motors (NYSE: GM) reported a fourth-quarter profit that beat Wall Street’s estimates, but said that an ongoing shortage of semiconductors could shave up to $2 billion from its profits in 2021. 

GM’s guidance for 2021 calls for an adjusted operating profit between $10 billion and $11 billion, taking into account the net impact of between $1.5 billion and $2 billion resulting from the worldwide chip shortage. 

About the chip shortage

GM said on Tuesday that it will extend shutdowns at three of its North American assembly plants until at least mid-March, amid a shortage of chips that has hit auto production in factories around the world. The chip manufacturers have struggled to keep pace with a sharp rise in sales of personal computers amid the COVID-19 pandemic. 

CEO Mary Barra said on Wednesday that GM is prioritizing production of its pickup trucks and big SUVs, profitable products that are in high demand. The company expects manufacturing of those products to remain on plan through the year, Barra said, and the supply disruptions won’t have any impact on its future-product efforts.

GM’s fourth-quarter results were good

On an adjusted basis, excluding one-time items, GM earned $1.93 per share in the fourth quarter on revenue of $37.5 billion. Both numbers exceeded the average estimates of Wall Street analysts polled by Thomson Reuters, which called for adjusted EPS of $1.63 on revenue of $26.12 billion. 

GM’s results were a significant improvement on the fourth quarter of 2019, which began amid a United Auto Workers strike that idled the company’s U.S. factories. The improvement was driven by good results in North America, as sales of its newest products remained strong despite the pandemic.

• GM North America earned $2.6 billion in adjusted earnings before interest and tax (“EBIT-adjusted,” in GM-speak) on good sales of pickup trucks and its new full-size SUVs. Margin of 8.7% was an improvement from the strike-battered year-ago result, but was dented a bit by pandemic-related production cuts. 
• In China, GM’s joint ventures generated $248 million of equity income, up slightly from $239 million a year ago. Sales were up, but competitive pressures hurt pricing, and compliance-related costs dented overall results. 
• GM Financial, the company’s financial-services subsidiary, earned $1.04 billion in pre-tax profit in the fourth quarter, up from $498 million a year ago. Leverage declined a bit from a year ago (to an 8.0 multiple from 8.3) as liquidity rose to $26.6 billion. 

Debt, cash, and one-time items

GM’s automotive business ended 2020 with $22.3 billion in cash and an additional $18.2 billion in available credit lines, for total liquidity of $40.5 billion. Against that, it had $17.5 billion in debt, and another $12.4 billion in underfunded pension liabilities. 

The company said that it expects “no significant mandatory contributions” to its U.S. pension plans over the next five years. The plans were underfunded by $5.4 billion as of Dec. 31. 

GM has repaid the full balance of the revolving account it drew down in the spring of 2020, when it idled most of its factories amid the first wave of the pandemic. In addition, it paid off about $800 million of unsecured debt in South America, it said. 

The automaker had several small one-time items in the fourth quarter, including some small credits and charges related to overseas restructuring and buyouts of some Cadillac dealers that chose not to participate in the brand’s transition to electric vehicles. The net impact was a credit of $5 million. 

GM’s full guidance for 2021

For 2021, the company said that auto investors should expect:

• EBIT-adjusted between $10 billion and $11 billion. (2020: $9.7 billion. 2019: $8.4 billion.) 
• Adjusted EPS between $4.50 and $5.25. (2020: $4.90. 2019: $4.82.)
• Adjusted automotive free cash flow between $1 billion and $2 billion. (2020: $2.6 billion. 2019: $1.1 billion. “Automotive” figures exclude results from GM Financial.)
• Capital expenditures between $9 billion and $10 billion, on accelerated electric-vehicle investments and deferred spending from 2020. (2020: $5.25 billion. 2019: $7.49 billion.)

Those figures include GM’s current estimates of the impact of the chip shortage, which it expects will reduce EBIT-adjusted by $1.5 billion to $2 billion, and trim adjusted automotive free cash flow by $1.5 billion to $2.5 billion.

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

More reading

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• ASX 200 drops slightly, Telstra rises, AMP sinks
• Why the GrainCorp (ASX:GNC) share price has climbed today
• Here’s why the Doctor Care Anywhere (ASX:DOC) share price gained 57% in two months
• 3 reasons why the Rio Tinto (ASX:RIO) share price is up today

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.

John Rosevear owns shares of General Motors. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

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

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The Market Herald Ltd (ASX: TMH) share price exploded today. This comes after the company provided an update on the pilot launch of its Australian business television streaming network.

The Market Herald share price closed the day up an astonishing 85.71% to 78 cents. It’s worth noting that its shares reached an intraday high of 84 cents during midday.

What did The Market Herald announce?

The Market Herald share price is rocketing higher as investors are fighting to get a hold of its shares.

According to its release, The Market Herald advised that the Australian streaming business television network platform saw growth in a number of key metrics. For the period ending 31 December, the company achieved the following:

• Reached a total audience of 2.3 million content users per month
• Aggregate total de-duplicated audience of more than 1 million users per month
• Average daily viewing of 1,231 hours of original content per day
• Average daily view streams of 500,000 per day
• Commissioned 2 market news show formats
• Developed proprietary streaming news playout technology
• Sold $1.1 million worth of annualised cross-platform sponsorships
• Received $290,000 in cash receipts during the pilot period.

The company has attributed these outstanding results to management’s initiative to provide viewers a disruptive delivery model that revitalises business and finance journalism. As a result, this attracted the largest business streaming audience when compared to other well-known brands. This includes Bloomberg, Yahoo Finance, Sky News, MSN Money, Reuters, and others.

In addition, The Market Herald is also exploring the production launch of Scheduler – a software-as-a-service (SaaS) based cloud subscription platform — in other markets. Management hopes to target the $1 billion global playout workflow market.

Quick take on The Market Herald

Based in Australia, The Market Herald operates as multi-platform business and finance news organisation. The company provides share trading and investment management discussions, as well as news and insights for active investors.

Management commentary

Jag Sanger, managing director of The Market Herald commented on the company’s achievements:

The successful launch of our Australian business television streaming network allows us to first target the $1.5bn Australian online video advertising market – and second build unique cross-platform offers for brands to connect with our affluent and influential audience.

During the pilot period we engaged with well-known financial services brands and signed $1.1m of annualised contracts based on or driven by our video streaming offer.

Comparison with other brands providing primarily Australian business and finance investor focused news streaming content shows that we have the largest audience by view streams – the most comparable video measurement metric – and the youngest audience. We offer wealth and luxury brands the best way to reach the most affluent and influential audience in Australia.

The Market Herald share price snapshot

The Market Herald share price has gained more than 170% in the past month alone, reaching an all-time high.

Based on the current share price, The Market Herald commands a market capitalisation of roughly $132 million.

More reading

• General Motors (NYSE:GM) profit beats estimates, but chip shortage could cost $2 Billion in 2021
• ASX 200 drops slightly, Telstra rises, AMP sinks
• Why the GrainCorp (ASX:GNC) share price has climbed today
• Here’s why the Doctor Care Anywhere (ASX:DOC) share price gained 57% in two months
• 3 reasons why the Rio Tinto (ASX:RIO) share price is up today

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

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The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) fell by 0.1% today to 6,850 points.

Here are some of the highlights from the ASX:

Telstra Corporation Ltd (ASX: TLS)

The Telstra share price went up around 3% after reporting its FY21 half-year result.

Telstra reported that its total income fell 10.4% to $12 billion. On a reported basis, earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) fell 14.7% to $4.1 billion and adjusted for lease accounting, EBITDA declined 11.7% to $4 billion.

Looking at underlying EBITDA, it decreased by 14.2% to $3.3 billion. Telstra explained that the largest two contributors to this decline were the estimated impact from the in-year NBN headwind of $370 million and an estimated $170 million impact from COVID-19. Excluding both of these, Telstra said that underlying EBITDA was broadly flat compared to the first half of FY20.

One area that Telstra continues to see growth with is its mobile division. During the half, Telstra added more than 80,000 postpaid handheld mobile services with “healthy performance” across all segments and brands. It also added more than 46,000 unique prepaid handheld users and more than 163,000 wholesale mobile services.

However, Telstra said that mobile revenue declined due to lower hardware sales and the impact of international roaming from COVID-19.

The Telstra board declared an interim dividend of 8 cents per share and expect the annual dividend to be 16 cents per share.

Telstra now expects full year income for FY21 to be in the range of $22.6 billion to $23.2 billion and underlying EBITDA in the range of $6.6 billion to $6.9 billion.

Magellan Financial Group Ltd (ASX: MFG)

Magellan revealed its FY21 half-year result. It said that average funds under management (FUM) went up 9% to $100.9 billion, with management and service fees revenue up 8% to $311.4 million. Profit before tax and performance fees of the funds management business went up 8% to $256.2 million.

Net profit after tax grew 3% to $202.3 million, whilst adjusted net profit after tax fell 2% to $213.1 million.

Magellan said that it expects the funds management business expenses in FY21 to be at the lower end of the $110 million to $115 million range.

The ASX 200 dividend share gave an insight into how its investments in Barrenjoey and Guzman y Gomez are going. Guzman y Gomez has $410 million of annualised global sales, with $387 million of annualised Australian sales. Australian like for like sales growth was 27% in FY21 to date. Barrenjoey has welcomed David Gonski as the independent chair. The Barrenjoey advisory business has been operating since late 2020. The markets businesses are due to go live progressively from the second quarter of 2021.

For the first half of FY21, Magellan decided to increase the interim dividend by 5% to 97.1 cents per share.

AMP Limited (ASX: AMP)

The diversified financial business reported its FY20 result to investors today.

AMP advised that Ares does not intend to proceed with its takeover offer of AMP for a price of $1.85. The company said that it continues to engage constructively with Ares in relation to AMP Capital as part of the portfolio review.

The company said that its underlying net profit was down 33% to $295 million, reflecting the impacts of COVID-19 on clients, AMP and the broader economy and financial markets. The FY20 statutory profit was $177 million, reversing the $2.5 billion loss in FY19.

AMP’s assets under management (AUM) in Australian wealth management was down 8% and in AMP Capital was down 7%.

The ASX 200 company decided not to declare a dividend, though it did have $521 million of surplus capital at 31 December 2020.

AMP said that 80% of the client remediation is now complete. It’s on schedule to be fully complete in the middle of 2021.

The review of the business confirmed the best outcome for shareholders is the transformation of the Australian wealth management and AMP bank, as well as the New Zealand wealth management businesses. It’s reviewing options for AMP Capital.

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Motley Fool contributor Tristan Harrison owns shares of Magellan Financial Group. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of and has recommended 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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The Graincorp Ltd (ASX: GNC) share price zoomed up today after the company provided earnings guidance for its 2021 financial year in an update to the market.

Shares in the Australian grain company opened 5.8% higher at $4.93 this morning. Since then, the Graincorp share price has trended downwards, trading at $4.75 at the time of writing.

Details from the guidance

In today’s guidance, Graincorp advised it expects to report FY21 underlying earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) of $230 million to $270 million. This would suggest an increase of 113% from FY20’s EBITDA of $108 million on the low range estimate.

The company also expects net profit after tax (NPAT) for FY21 will come in at $60 million to $85 million. In comparison, Graincorp reported a net loss of $16 million on its FY20 results.

The company added that this would include the $70 million maximum payment threshold, payable by Graincorp, under the crop production contract.

Graincorp CEO commentary

Commenting on the guidance, Graincorp CEO Robert Spurway said:

We experienced near optimal conditions across much of eastern Australia during the recent winter cropping season and this has translated into one of the largest crops in recent history.

The business reportedly has recorded its largest grain receivals in recent history, hitting 13.9 million tonnes. This figure is even greater than Graincorp’s last season of bumper crops in 2016-17, which amounted to 12.9 million tonnes.

Keeping with the times

In its AGM presentation also released today, Graincorp noted that the company has remained resilient to COVID-19 impacts by accelerating contactless deliveries via its digital offerings CropConnect and FastWeigh.

The presentation said 10,000 grain growers were now registered on the CropConnect platform.

Graincorp share price snapshot

The Graincorp share price has gained 10% over the past 12 months. For comparison, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is down 3.3% in the same period.

In late March of 2020, the company experienced its 52-week low, clocking in at $2.90. That means the Graincorp share price has appreciated 63.4% since March last year.

Based on the current Graincorp share price, the company has a market capitalisation of $1.07 billion.

More reading

• General Motors (NYSE:GM) profit beats estimates, but chip shortage could cost $2 Billion in 2021
• The Market Herald (ASX:TMH) share price just jumped 85%. Here’s why
• ASX 200 drops slightly, Telstra rises, AMP sinks
• Here’s why the Doctor Care Anywhere (ASX:DOC) share price gained 57% in two months
• 3 reasons why the Rio Tinto (ASX:RIO) share price is up today

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

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The Doctor Care Anywhere Ltd (ASX: DOC) share price has shot up roughly 57% since early December 2020. During today’s trading, it’s dipped 0.74% and is presently trading at $1.34.

Doctor Care Anywhere is a company which offers a range of telehealth services. Its services include 24-hour GP access by video or phone call.

Access to telehealth services has become of particular importance as communities continue navigating through the coronavirus. 

Let’s take a look at what’s been moving the Doctor Care share price over these past few months.

Doctor Care Anywhere signs deal with Allianz

On 22 December 2020, Doctor Care Anywhere announced it was entering a strategic partnership with Allianz Partners international health line of business.

The Doctor Care share price started climbing after this and gained approximately 4% over the following 2 weeks.

The agreement with Allianz allows Allianz Partners international private medical insurance (iPMI) holders to access Doctor Care Anywhere consultations for a fixed price.

Commenting on the deal, Dr. Bayju Thakar, Founder & CEO of Doctor Care Anywhere, said:

“We are thrilled by the opportunity to work with another world leading insurer; this is further recognition of the value that the Doctor Care Anywhere platform brings to patients, payors and providers. Being engaged by Allianz Partners adds to the company’s growth trajectory and supports our ability to service patient needs globally. This agreement is integral to our strategic plans for 2021 and beyond, helping us to deliver joined-up, accessible, quality health and disease care in the UK and globally.”

Share price bumps following quarterly results

After the release of the company’s quarterly results on 27 January 2021, the Doctor Care Anywhere share price fired up 6% stronger.

Quarterly highlights included a 151% increase in revenue to 3.8 million pounds.

Part of the driving force behind this gain was the total number of patients entitled to Doctor Care Anywhere services, referred to as ‘Eligible Lives’.

The 4Q21 ‘Eligible Lives’ total was 2.2 million people. This was a 186% increase compared to 4Q20. 

The company reported cash of 38.4 million pounds as of 31 December 2020.

The Doctor Care Anywhere share price has climbed around 22% over the previous 12 month period.

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

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The Rio Tinto Limited (ASX: RIO) share price is on the rise today, currently trading 1.3% higher at $119 a share.

Here are 3 reasons why the Rio Tinto share price could be getting a lift at the moment.

Rio Tinto dividend is on the way

With the miner’s annual results release scheduled for 17 February 2021, eager investors are already anticipating the next Rio Tinto dividend. The dividend record date is 5 March 2021.

With the price of iron ore still on fire, the Australian Financial Review reported that a record dividend payout is expected from Rio Tinto. Consensus forecasts are predicting a $4.20 interim dividend.

UBS has also forecast a record dividend for Fortescue Metals Group Limited (ASX: FMG), predicting a dividend of $1.45 a share.

Eased tensions with traditional landowners

Following a conflict based on the destruction of a 46,000-year-old heritage site, Rio Tinto has managed to break bread with the Puutu Kunti Kurrama and Pinikura people (PKKP).

According to The Australian, the PKKP felt there was a breach of trust following Rio Tinto’s recent unveiling of a new executive team. Initially, there were perceptions that this was a move to mislead the PKKP Board and Elders.

While Rio Tinto admits that the company had ‘fresh misteps’ regarding its communications with the PKKP, it maintains that the focus remains rebuilding a relationship with the PKKP.

The PKKP has since released the following statement:

“The PKKP acknowledges that it was not the intention of the Rio Tinto Chairman Simon Thompson to mislead the PKKP Board and Elders at the joint board meeting.”

Rio Tinto share price creeps up as new team takes effect

As mentioned, on 28 January 2021, the company announced the appointment of a new executive team. Since this information was released, the Rio Tinto share price has crept up about 6.5%.

As part of the restructure, the company appointed Jakob Stausholm as permanent chief executive officer of Rio Tinto’s iron ore business.

Commenting on his appointment, Mr Stausholm said:

While Rio Tinto continues to deliver strong safety and operational performance, despite the ongoing challenges of COVID-19, there are improvements we can achieve across the business to make Rio Tinto more resilient, and an even stronger performer and employer. I want to re-establish Rio Tinto as a trusted partner for host communities, governments and other stakeholders.

The Rio Tinto share price is up roughly 19% over the past 12 months. The mining giant has a market capitalisation of approximately $43.6 billion and 1.6 billion shares outstanding.

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

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The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is having a pretty flat day today. At the time of writing, the ASX 200 is down a measly 0.08% to 6,851 points.

One ASX growth share is faring a little worse, though. The Xero Limited (ASX: XRO) share price is down 2.58% at the time of writing to $130.38 a share. Xero shares closed at $133.81 yesterday but opened at $133.47 this morning and have trended lower ever since.

Today’s move continues a trend in 2021 – a year that has surprisingly not been a good one for Xero. Since the start of the year, Xero shares are down 12%. In fact, Xero has fallen more than 15% since its last all-time high back in December.

To be fair, Xero did have a corker of a year in 2020, rising roughly 85% over the year. But still, the ASX 200 is up 2.7% in 2021, while Xero is down almost 12%.

So what’s going on today?

Well, there are no major announcements out of Xero recently. Apart from some routine stock issuance notices (unlikely to move the market). But an interesting report from the Australian Financial Review (AFR) today might have something to do with Xero’s movements.

MYOB told to mind its own competition

The AFR reports that Xero’s competitor MYOB has run into trouble with the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) regarding a potential acquisition.

MYOB is proposing to acquire the Australian arm of GreatSoft, a South African-based company. GreatSoft offers a cloud-based accounting software model that can integrate with other software, including Xero’s. MYOB used to be an ASX-listed company but was acquired by the private equity group KKR a few years ago.

The ACCC has outlined preliminary competition concerns over the proposed deal. It stated that “we are concerned that if MYOB acquired GreatSoft, there would only be three major suppliers of practice management software to medium-to-large accounting firms”.

Typically, an announcement that one of Xero’s rivals is being hampered by the ACCC might cause investors to assume it would benefit Xero. But perhaps investors are worried that the ACCC’s assessment of the accounting software market as potentially uncompetitive might spill over to Xero in the future.

Or perhaps investors are simply continuing to take profits off the table after Xero’s stellar year last year. The company does have an eye-watering price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 548 on current prices. That could be making some investors uneasy.

Whatever the reason for Xero’s poor share price performance today, all we know for certain is that investors are getting jittery.

More reading

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Motley Fool contributor Sebastian Bowen has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of 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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The Charter Hall Social Infrastructure REIT (ASX: CQE) share price has been a positive performer on Thursday.

In late afternoon trade the social infrastructure-focused property company’s shares are up 3% to $3.03.

Why is the Charter Hall Social Infrastructure share price pushing higher?

Investors have been buying Charter Hall Social Infrastructure shares today following the release of a solid half year result this morning.

According to the release, for the six months ended 31 December, the company delivered a 14.1% increase in operating earnings to $29.1 million.

This was driven largely by an 8.2% increase in net property income to $34.4 million and a 9.4% reduction in operating expenses to $7.7 million.

From this, the company declared a distribution of 7.5 cents per unit for the half.

Other key metrics

At the end of the period, the company had an occupancy rate of 99.7% and a weighted average lease expiry (WALE) of 14 years. This was up 1.3 years from the end of June.

Also increasing was the number of leases on fixed rent reviews. This metric has increased to 63.3% from 53.6% at the end of June.

Finally, management advised that lease expiries within the next five years represent just 4.7% of rental income.

Charter Hall Social Infrastructure REIT’s Fund Manager, Travis Butcher, commented: “Consistent with CQE’s strategy, our focus during the period has been on enhancing income sustainability and resilience by improving the quality of tenants and leases within the portfolio.”

“This has included the extension of 58 leases to an average 20 years with CQE’s major tenant, Goodstart and the acquisition of two new social infrastructure properties with strong tenant covenants. CQE is well positioned in the current economic environment with low gearing and $130 million of investment capacity to deliver secure income and capital growth to investors,” he added.

Outlook

Management advised that it is well positioned in the current economic environment with predictable and growing income, low gearing, and $130 million of investment capacity.

It also confirmed that, barring any unforeseen events, it expects to pay shareholders a distribution ahead of its previous guidance.

Instead of 15 cents per unit, it now expects to pay shareholders 15.7 cents per unit in FY 2021. Based on the current Charter Hall Social Infrastructure share price, this represents an attractive 5.2% yield.

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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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Superannuation has been at the centre of political debate over the past few years in Australia. Even though the system is world-renowned and appreciated by most Australians, debate continues to rage over potential improvements. Much of this debate has been centred on the already legislated scheduled increases to the super guarantee. That’s the mandatory proportion of a worker’s wage that is quarantined for super.

Since its inception in the early 1990s, the super guarantee has risen from 3% to the current rate of 9.5%. As it stands today, the guarantee is set to rise by 0.5% at the start of every financial year until reaching 12%. The first of these scheduled rises will occur on 1 July this year and will push the guarantee to 10%.

According to reporting in the Australian Financial Review (AFR) today, the government has said that it will make a final decision on whether to allow this move to go forward before it hands down the budget in May. The Labor Party opposition is backing the move to 12%.

To rise or not to rise

Bumping up the super guarantee to 12% is controversial for several reasons. Firstly, some businesses argue that they can’t afford a compulsory rise in the super payments, due to the ongoing economic uncertainty induced by the coronavirus pandemic.

Others argue that Australians would be worse off, seeing as any increase in the guarantee would come at the expense of wages growth. Some politicians are even arguing that the money could instead be better used to help workers get onto the property ladder. Or pay off their mortgages faster for retirement.

On the other hand, proponents of the move say the increase is much-need and long overdue. The Abbott government already postponed the move to 12% back in 2014. Part of these arguments rests on the assumption that the current rate of 9.5% is not enough to ensure a comfortable retirement for the average Aussie worker in itself. That would result in a continued reliance on the government age pension. The superannuation system is designed to reduce pressure on the pension system.

The AFR reports that Industry Super Australia estimates that ditching the legislated increase to 12% will add $33 billion to the cost of the aged pension in 2058. It also estimates it will cost a couple, currently aged 30, more than $170,000 in retirement.

It’s a vexing debate, as you might imagine.

Poll shows support for 12% super

But Aussies tend to be coming down pretty hard on one side, if the results of a poll on the matter are to be believed.

According to the AFR report, a UMR Strategic Research poll was commissioned by Industry Super Australia Group on the matter. This poll found that two-thirds of those surveyed said they supported the rise in the super guarantee from 9.5% to 12%.

However, the results are a bit more nuanced than that headline figure. The poll also showed that “nearly half” of those surveyed also said they would choose to take the extra money upfront in their take-home pay if allowed. Even so, 71% of those surveyed also said “that option should not be available because high super balances were more important long term.”

Interestingly, the poll told participants of the beneficial tax treatments that super payments are entitled to. Considering this, 60% of respondents “viewed any move to stop the SG rate increase as a ‘tax grab’ by the government.”

Under a third of those surveyed said that the government should dump the increases altogether. “Getting more people in work is more important than increasing the super rate” was the reason given for this view.

Regardless of the poll results, we can probably expect the debate to continue to heat up until the government makes its decision closer to the budget. Even if the government does decide to ditch the scheduled rise to 12%, there is no certainty that this change has the numbers to pass through parliament anyway at this stage. So stay tuned!

More reading

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

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The Argosy Minerals Limited (ASX: AGY) share price has plummeted in early afternoon trade. This comes despite a positive company announcement to the ASX market this morning.

At the time of writing, the Argosy share price is trading down 7.89% at an intraday low of 17.5 cents.

Argosy Minerals is a mining and exploration company with a 77.5% interest in the Rincon Lithium Project in Salta Province, Argentina. The company also operates the Tonopah Lithium Project in Nevada, USA.

What did Argosy announce?

In today’s release, Argosy revealed that Salta Province’s government plans to develop a mining logistics node to support mining and energy activities in the Puma region. The node will be located next to Argosy’s Rincon project.

Argosy said the facility would act as a self-sustaining industrial service site to benefit mining workers who operate close by. Infrastructure will include an airport, industrial area, transfer facility, accommodation, service station, commercial premises, and health centre.

The government granted 403ha of land to provincial state company Remsa, to help develop the site. Argosy also noted that the planned location adjoins South America’s second-largest photovoltaic plant facility.

What did the managing director say?

Argosy managing director Jerko Zuvela welcomed the news, saying:

The planned facility will provide substantial benefits as we continue development of our Rincon Lithium Project, in addition to significant potential cost savings given the planned site location and services being provided.

Argosy will continue to cooperate with the Salta Province government to assist with this development and maintain our strong relationship with the local community.

Argosy share price snapshot

The Argosy share price has performed well in the past 3 months, surging 260% and reaching a 52-week high of 21.5 cents in January.

Based on the current share price, Argosy commands a market capitalisation of $178.4 million.

More reading

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Motley Fool contributor Aaron Teboneras 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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