Shares in ASX copper miners are outperforming today even as multiple reports confirmed China added Australian copper to its list of “banned” imports.

The Sandfire Resources Ltd (ASX: SFR) share price jumped 3.4% to $4.27 and the OZ Minerals Limited (ASX: OZL) share price added 1% to $14.82 during lunch time trade.

In contrast, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (Index:^AXJO) is struggling at breakeven while the Fortescue Metals Group Limited share price and Rio Tinto Limited (ASX: RIO) share price tumbled.

ASX copper miners the latest victims of China’s tantrum

The outperformance of our copper miners comes even as Bloomberg reported that China is ordering its traders to stop buying at least seven types of Aussie commodities.

On top of Aussie copper ore and concentrate, other imports being targeted include wine, coal, barley, lobsters, sugar and timber.

It’s the clearest sign yet that relations between Australia and its most important trading partner are continuing to deteriorate.

Why copper is holding firm despite trade threat

But Sandfire Resources is downplaying the risk to its earnings from the copper ban. It believes it can find other buyers for its copper, reported the Australian Financial Review.

What’s more, the miner’s cash pile that stands close to $400 million will buy it time to seek out new markets.

OZ Minerals is also brushing off the threat. Its chief executive Andrew Cole pointed out that China can’t produce its own copper, unlike coal or wine. This means, China will still need to import the red metal from somewhere, if not Australia.

If the trade tension drives the price of copper higher, Chinese authorities may very well have to swallow their pride and reverse the decision.

China is world’s largest importer of copper

China buys around half of Australia’s copper exports and is the largest importer of the commodity in the world, according to data from Statista.

The Asian giant purchased US$40.8 billion worth of copper in 2019, which is more than the next five largest importers.

Outlook for ASX copper miners still look bright

Further, the COVID‐19 pandemic may be providing a net benefit to copper producers. While global factory production may have tumbled in the near-term, copper exports from Latin America may be impeded for years.

For instance, production at Escondida, which holds the world’s largest copper reserves and is co-owned by BHP Billiton Ltd (ASX: BHP) and Rio Tinto, may not recovery to pre-COVID levels for three years.

In the meantime, industrial production (particularly in China) is starting to recover.

Cost blowouts and longer-than expected lead times in getting new copper mines up and running will further crimp supply.

This explains why analysts remain upbeat on the outlook for copper as the price of the commodity improved 0.2% to US$3.09 a pound today despite news of the Chinese tariff.

More reading

• Quantitative Easing (QE) is here. What does it means for ASX shares?
• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Wednesday
• ASX 200 finished 2% higher on Tuesday
• Here’s what an interest rate of 0.1% means for ASX shares
• Why IDP Education, Sandfire, Telix, & Treasury Wine shares are dropping lower

Motley Fool contributor Brendon Lau owns shares of BHP Billiton Limited, OZ Minerals Limited, and Rio Tinto Ltd. Connect with me on Twitter @brenlau.

The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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Yesterday, we heard from the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) after its monthly meeting concluded for November. Most headlines discussed how the RBA lowered interest rates to yet another record low of 0.1%, down from the previous level of 0.25%. This will have many ramifications, some of which we discussed yesterday.

However, the RBA made another very important announcement that I think is worthy of discussion today. In addition to the cash rate cut, the RBA also announced that it would be undertaking a massive government bond-buying program, which some are calling Quantitative Easing (QE). QE is a new policy in Australia, but not around the world. In fact, the United States Federal Reserve has initiated several rounds of QE over the past decade, starting in the immediate aftermath of the global financial crisis. QE involves the central bank buying massive amounts of government bonds. This has the effect of lowering borrowing costs throughout the economy, which in turn is supposed to spur and encourage economic growth as a result.

Until now, Australia has avoided QE, but no longer. The RBA yesterday announced it would be going on a bond-buying spree of its own, promising to purchase $100 billion worth of government bonds over the next 6 months, with an aim to buy $5 billion worth every week until then.

According to reporting in yesterday’s Australian Financial Review (AFR), RBA Governor Philip Lowe told Australians that “the lower interest rates and our plan to buy $100 billion of government bonds over the next six months will help people get jobs and support the recovery of the Australian economy”.

So what does this mean for ASX shares?

QE for the ASX?

QE is normally viewed as highly supportive of assets like shares. That’s because it crowds out buyers in the bond market, forcing more capital into those markets, which then tends to spill over into other asset markets. It also lowers the yields of government bonds, which also pushes out buyers not willing to accept rock-bottom bond yields.

We’ve seen this play out over in the US. Since November 2010, the Dow Jones Industrial Average Index (DJX: .DJI), a flagship US index, is up more than 145%, whilst the Nasdaq Composite (NASDAQ: .IXIC), another flagship index, is up more than 330%.

One could conclude that QE has played a significant part in these returns. Thus, that’s probably why the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) was up a hefty 1.9% after the RBA’s QE program news yesterday. 

More reading

• ASX copper miners brush off latest Chinese tariff threat
• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Wednesday
• ASX 200 finished 2% higher on Tuesday
• Here’s what an interest rate of 0.1% means for ASX shares
• ASX 200 has explosive start to trading ahead of RBA decision

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. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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Travel shares are trading higher today after a border announcement by New South Wales Premier Gladys Berejiklian. The premier declared NSW would reopen its border to Victorians on Monday 23 November.

She also called on other Australian states to reopen their borders to NSW. 

“If NSW has the guts to open our borders to Victoria, you should have the guts to open your borders to us. It is in our national interest. It is in the interest of all our citizens,” she said.

The decision means that Victorians wishing to travel to NSW after 23 November will no longer have to get government permission or quarantine for 14 days. 

Prior to this announcement, NSW was open to all Australian states except Victoria. This latest border relaxation will make NSW the only state in the country to have open borders with every other state. 

Which shares are trading higher?

After the announcement, share prices in travel-related companies have climbed.

At the time of writing,  Qantas Airways Limited (ASX: QAN) rose by 3.24% to $4.62, while Sydney Airport Holdings Pty Ltd (ASX: SYD) climbed by 3.1% to $5.98.

Also flying higher are Flight Centre Travel Group Ltd (ASX: FLT), which soared up by 6.81% to $13.02, and Corporate Travel Management Ltd (ASX: CTD) rose 3.23% to $15.97.

More reading

• 3 ASX shares rated as buys by brokers
• Zip and Credit Clear were among the most traded shares on the ASX last week
• How Sydney’s new road could pressure the oOh!Media (ASX:OML) share price
• These are the 10 most shorted shares on the ASX
• ASX 200 Weekly Wrap: ASX 200 has another shocker as US election approaches

Motley Fool contributor Eddy Sunarto has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of and has recommended Corporate Travel Management Limited. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Flight Centre Travel Group Limited. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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The Pendal Group Ltd (ASX: PDL) share price has fallen by around 7% today, trading at $6.36 at the time of writing. This comes after the company published an annual report earlier this morning revealing that many important KPIs have underperformed.

What’s moving the Pendal share price?

The market is no doubt responding to a number of Pendal’s missed KPIs. Most striking is the fall in net profit after tax (NPAT), which has fallen by 25% against FY19. In addition, operating revenue fell by 3%, funds under management (FUM) fell by 4% against the previous corresponding period (pcp), and cash earnings per share fell by 11%. The Pendal dividend payment has also fallen by 18%.

Operating expenses were 3% higher compared to the pcp. According to the report, the increase in expenses is attributed to investments in the global executive team, and technological improvements.

The company’s base management fees declined 5%, which Pendal attributed largely to its lower average FUM (4% lower than pcp). The base management fee margin remained relatively stable, down one basis point (bps) to 48 bps, which Pendal has attributed to a slight change in asset mix over the year.

According to today’s announcement, the decline in Pendal’s FUM was the result of net outflows of $6.5 billion and unfavourable foreign currency movements of $2.3 billion, as the US dollar (-5.1%) and British pound (-0.9%) weakened against the Australian dollar. 

The company reported its outflows were primarily $3.3 billion in net redemptions from European strategies, with investors continuing to reduce their exposure to the region over Brexit concerns and investment underperformance.

Management commentary

The group’s chief executive officer Mr Emilio Gonzalez commented:

The global economic and health crisis has accelerated a number of secular trends in the global asset management industry and highlighted the importance of ESG factors affecting the sustainability of businesses; a need to broaden distribution channels and to reduce costs in the operating model.

Pendal has already made progress in all of these areas and recognises the need to increase the pace of investment in order to position the company to take advantage of the opportunities inherent in these trends and deliver long-term sustainable FUM growth.

Mr Gonzalez highlighted that the company’s ability to execute on this strategy will require a multi-year investment, indicating that Pendal’s fixed costs for the 2021 financial year are expected to increase by 8–10%.

“We believe this strategy will deliver a more cost effective model and increase FUM by around 50% by FY25,” he added.

Despite today’s losses, the Pendal share price is still up by more than 16% in the past month. 

More reading

• ASX 200 finished 2% higher on Tuesday
• Takeovers will continue to rock ASX shares

Motley Fool contributor Daryl Mather has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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The Afterpay Ltd (ASX: APT) share price has been a standout performer among buy now, pay later (BNPL) shares. Afterpay’s competitors such as Zip Co Ltd (ASX: Z1P), Splitit Ltd (ASX: SPT), Sezzle Inc (ASX: SZL), Laybuy Holdings Ltd (ASX: LBY) and Openpay Group Ltd (ASX: OPY) are all well below their record all-time highs, while Afterpay may go up even higher. 

The company’s upbeat quarterly update saw a series of positive broker updates come about for the Afterpay share price target. However, given Afterpay’s ballooning $28 billion valuation on $519.2 million revenue and a loss of $22.9 million in FY20, the general concensus is cautious. These broker upgrades are still below the current Afterpay share price of $99.04.

Cautious updates to the Afterpay share price 

UBS Group AG (NYSE: UBS) has been the least optimistic broker for its Afterpay share price target. The broker has maintained a price target within the $20 range throughout Afterpay’s run to $100. Yesterday, the broker nudged its price target from $28.50 to $30.00 and retains a sell rating. Despite continuing improvement in transaction values and customer growth, the broker still sees this market leader as overvalued. 

Goldman Sachs Group Inc (NYSE: GS) raised its Afterpay share price target from $93.45 to $94.40 and retains a neutral rating. It reacted positively to Afterpay’s first quarter trading update and notes robust customer growth in the United States and improving margins. However, the broker remains cautious about increasing competition. Afterpay’s current share price is ahead of its target so it retains a neutral rating. 

What investors can look forward to

While the Afterpay quarterly update was positive and highlighted its strong growth trajectory, it also shed light on its global expansion and demographic tailwinds. 

In August, Afterpay launched its product in Canada, with a number of large retailers now live, integrating or signed. In its FY20 results, Afterpay outlined its plan to enter the rest of Europe via the acquisition of Pagantis. This acquisition is progressing well and is on track for completion by the end of the 2020 calendar year, pending regulatory approval by the Bank of Spain.

This will provide Afterpay a licence to operate in Spain, France, Italy and Portugal as well as pending licence passport applications in Germany and Poland. The company has completed a cross-functional, 100-day integration plan to launch as soon as possible, post completion. 

Plans to expand into Asia are also progressing well with the established base in Singapore to drive the development of the Southeast Asia market. Its acquisition of local BNPL ‘Empatkali’ in Indonesia is also under way.

More reading

• Zip and Credit Clear were among the most traded shares on the ASX last week
• Laybuy (ASX:LBY) launches tap to pay digital card
• These were the best performing ASX tech shares in October 
• Why Zip Co Ltd (ASX:Z1P) share price is down 15% in one week
• Where to invest $1,000 into ASX shares this week

Lina Lim has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of ZIPCOLTD FPO. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. recommends Sezzle Inc. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of AFTERPAY T FPO. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Sezzle Inc. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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An online broking platform has offered free, $1 million insurance for its users in case it becomes insolvent.

Multinational platform, eToro, announced Wednesday that all its Australian, Europe and United Kingdom customers would receive the coverage automatically at no cost.

“The insurance will form the third layer of protection for clients after segregated trust accounts and regulatory protections,” stated the company.

“In the unlikely event that eToro were [sic] to enter a state of insolvency, the policy would kick in to cover clients for losses above the relevant financial compensation schemes to a value of AU$1 million, and in accordance with the purchased policy.”

The insurance will cover both cash held on the platform and open accounts, but exclude cryptocurrency assets.

Everyday Australians have lost millions in the past

You might think an online broking provider going bankrupt is a fanciful prospect. But there are several recent examples in Australia where everyday investors have lost money from their broker collapsing.

Only a couple of months ago, online customers of collapsed broker BBY found out they would only receive 44 cents for each dollar they were owed.

To rub salt in the wound, the liquidator accused former director and tennis legend, Ken Rosewall, of receiving $3.3 million while the company was insolvent.

Last year, online broker Halifax went down, taking $20 million of client money with it.

“The primary cause of the deficiency appears to be the use of client monies to fund operating losses since at least January 2017,” said administrator Ferrier Hodgson.

“The management accounts, audited accounts and lodgements with ASIC all appear to present with accounting irregularities.”

The lost $20 million represented about 9% of investors’ cash.

eToro stated its million-dollar insurance policy would provide “peace of mind” for its 15 million users.

“It signals the fintech’s ongoing commitment to providing the best possible user experience and safeguarding client wellbeing.”

The coverage is underwritten by Lloyd’s of London.

eToro was established in 2007 and is a platform that allows investors to mimic the portfolios of other successful users.

More reading

• ASX stock of the day: Kleos Space (ASX:KSS) shares rocket 21% on satellite news
• Analysts divided over future of Westpac (ASX:WBC) share price
• Infomedia (ASX:IFM) share price up 7% on contract win
• Gold explorer Tesoro Resources (ASX:TSO) jumps 25% on high-grade intercept
• The Nanosonics (ASX:NAN) share price is surging higher

Motley Fool contributor Tony Yoo has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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The Kleos Space SA (ASX: KSS) share price is in the spotlight today. Kleos shares are rocketing at the time of writing, up 21.37% to 80 cents a share after closing at 66 cents a share yesterday and opening at 69 cents this morning.

Whilst today’s move might seem dramatic, it’s just the latest gain for Kleos shareholders, who have had a truly fantastic month. Kleos shares were 28 cents each at the start of October, which means they have risen by more than 185% since 1 October. The shares are up more than 150% year to date, and more than 400% since the company’s IPO in August 2018.

So what is this high-growth share? And why is it exploding even higher today?

Kleos shares: an introduction

According to the company, Kleos Space was founded in 2017 by “experienced Space engineers”. The plan was to develop a “new Space enabled Data-as-a-Service concept and disruptive in-Space technologies.”

Kleos is dual-listed, sitting on the ASX as well as Germany’s Frankfurt Stock Exchange, and is based in Luxembourg.

The company operates satellites and satellite infrastructure that collect radio frequency information. It states that “rather than observing the Earth in the visible domain as you would with cameras, Kleos is observing it in the ‘radio frequency’ part of the spectrum using antennas”.

By using its satellites in conjunction with each other, it can identify where radio signals are coming from on the Earth. It’s a sort of “reverse GPS”, as the company describes the technology.

In this way, Kleos can determine whether signals it receives are coming from legitimate activity, or activity that might indicate an illegal operation, particularly in the maritime space. Thus, Kleos can assist with finding illegal fishing, smuggling and trafficking operations, and monitoring national borders. It sells this data as a service to governments and companies.

Fly me to the moon

Kleos has been progressing its scouting satellites program over the past month. This program aims to deliver commercially available data as well as demonstrate the company’s technology, underpinning plans for future expansion.

Kleos has a ride-share contract with the US-based Spaceflight Inc., and has four satellites at  ‘mission-ready’ status, where they have been since since the middle of 2019. They were ready to go at the launch site in February 2020, with the launch planned for March before the coronavirus pandemic delayed launch operations.

However, back in September, Kleos told investors that it has a new tentative launch date for early November, which saw a jump in the Kleos share price at the time. Today, this has been reaffirmed. Kleos told the markets this morning that it expects the launch to take place on Saturday 7 November. This will be the first phase of the satellite’s lifecycle, known as “the Launch and Early Orbit Phase”.

According to today’s announcement, this “is a critical phase of the mission, covering launch, deployment and in orbit commissioning to handover to the Mission Operations Team to enact day to day operations and data generation activities.”

It’s estimated that this phase will last 9–12 weeks. After that, the satellite will undergo a handover to the Missions Operations Team for the next stage.

Judging by the enthusiastic reaction of the markets this morning to the news, investors appear to be relieved to have some firm dates from Kleos. 

More reading

• Which small cap ASX shares were the best performers in October?

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. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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The Westpac Banking Corp (ASX: WBC) annual result has divided ASX analysts on the bank’s future. On one hand, the stockbroker, Morgans, is optimistic on the Westpac share price and retains a ‘buy’ recommendation. On the other hand, Bell Financial Group Ltd (ASX: BFG) head of research, TS Lim, believes Westpac “possibly came close to having a near-death experience in fiscal 2020”. However, most analysts have maintained a ‘buy’ on the Westpac share price. This includes UBS Group AG (NYSE: UBS) who reiterated it as a ‘buy’ with a $20.50 price target, after the bank announced what some would call a multi-year turnaround report card.

Testing the Westpac share price

While the bank has announced a multi-year turnaround plan, there are a number of headwinds it is working against. For instance, The Australian explains how the further reduction in the cash rate by the Reserve Bank of Australia to 0.1% reduces revenues. Meanwhile, non-bank lenders are providing further competition to the bank’s core mortgage and commercial lending business. 

Morgans also noted the average increase of full time employees (FTE) by 8% between the first and second half of FY20. Although, it does expect the FTE number to reduce as customers come off COVID support. Furthermore, Westpac CEO, Peter King, explained that mortgage processing issues emerged due to the pandemic in India and the Philippines, thus resulting in some duplication of work. He further announced during the results webcast that jobs would be brought back into Australia, reducing the overall headcount and increasing efficiency. 

Small business lending is another looming issue for the bank. Mr King noted that there had been a high non-response rate as the 6 month deferral period is coming to an end. He further commented:

“On small business, we’re at the end of the six-month period. A lot of people are indicating they’re going to commence repayments, but I do want to see it.”

Turning around the battleship

During the presentation, Westpac CFO, Michael Rowland, highlighted the negative growth in mortgages over both halves of FY20. According to Mr Rowland, in the second half of FY20, this was largely attributable to the issues in offshore call centres, along with the pandemic’s impact on demand. However, these reasons do not explain the fall during the first half of FY20. Mr King said:

“Mortgage growth has been a problem for us this year, we have not kept up with the market.”

Mr King and Mr Rowland, both acknowledged the effort it would take to improve the mortgage business. As part of its multi-year turnaround plan, the bank has dedicated much spending to fixing and simplifying IT infrastructure and people. In IT, the company plans to replace human steps by using digital and data.

In addition, there was an admission of poor processes contributing to the fall in mortgage growth. Indeed, this was also a recommendation from the Hayne Royal Commission into financial services. In December 2019, Westpac’s then CEO, Brian Hartzer, resigned. This came after AUSTRAC applied to the Federal Court for civil penalty orders against Westpac for deficient oversight of its anti-money laundering and terrorism financing obligations.

At the time, the Westpac share price was trading at $27.17 per share. Today, at the time of writing, it is asking $17.38.

Further improvements

As part of the company’s broad sweep, Mr King announced a range of additional measures. For instance, the bank would be simplifying the products and services offered in an attempt to reduce complexity. In addition, the company has decided to exit non-core businesses as well as introducing an end-to-end “line of business” service model to increase accountability.

The bank is targeting mortgage growth in line with major banks by the second half of FY21. However, while the remainder of the big four banks are spending on growth, Mr King has to devote 47% of his $1.7 billion investment bill to fixing issues of risk and compliance.

The light on the horizon

One issue that Morgans dwelt on, as did both Mr King and Mr Rowland, was the CET1 ratio. This measures a bank’s capital against its assets. Westpac has worked during the year to bring this to 11.2%, which Morgans believes is a strong pro-forma ratio.

In addition, the bank has already seen strong growth in customer deposits. Mr Rowland also spoke of an increasing rate of home loan applications, but was not yet ready to call it a positive trend. Importantly, Westpac said it had $16.6 billion in Australian home loans on repayment pauses at 28 October, reflecting 41,000 accounts. That was down from $54.7 billion at the height of the pandemic.

Morgans, UBS, Bell Potter and others have maintained a ‘buy’ on the Westpac share price despite the troubled year it’s had, and its multi-year turnaround plan. 

More reading

• Leading brokers name 3 ASX shares to buy today
• ASX 200 finished 2% higher on Tuesday
• Rising jobs and house loans place these ASX shares in focus
• Here’s how much Westpac’s (ASX:WBC) new dividend is worth
• Glory days of ASX bank shares are gone: fundie

Motley Fool contributor Daryl Mather has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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Infomedia Limited (ASX: IFM) has signed a strategic pan-European contract with Ford Europe to provide the next generation (Next Gen) of its Microcat electronic parts catalogue (EPC) in the region. In trading so far today, the Infomedia share price has leapt up by 7.5%.

What’s moving the Infomedia share price?

Infomedia is a leading software provider in parts, service and data insights to the global automotive industry. Moreover, its software includes an electronic parts catalogue, a service-selling product, a lubricant selection product, and a CRM. The company has 180,000 users across 186 countries and 80% of its revenue is from outside Australia. Greater than 95% of the company’s revenue is recurring and its 10-year average operating margin is 43%.

The total contract value of this strategic win is approximately $14 million over 5 years; revenue will begin to ramp up from January 2021. Infomedia believes its EPC is mission-critical aftersales software. It identifies the precise part and accurate pricing of those parts for every vehicle, based on the vehicle identification number. This enables dealers to provide timely, efficient and cost-saving benefits to customers.

The company declared a profitable year in its FY20 annual report. Revenue was up by 12% against the previous corresponding period (pcp). In addition, earnings growth was up 15% pcp. Also, cash earnings before interest tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA), rose by 11% pcp. 

Infomedia has attributed this success to a range of reasons. On the sales side, it was the ability to do remote and hybrid installs while the world was locked down. In addition, an increased focus on debt collections. 

The Infomedia share price is currently trading at a price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 29.1, and has a trailing 12-month dividend yield of 2.16%.

Management commentary

Commenting on the deal, Infomedia CEO Jonathan Rubinsztein said:

This is a very significant achievement for Infomedia because it demonstrates that we are delivering on the strategic objectives we set for the business.

Over the last four years, we have been investing in our global platform to ensure our systems, architecture and resources would support global growth. The delivery of the Next Gen platform is the final stage of that strategy. The win with Ford Europe demonstrates how Infomedia will continue to take advantage of significant change impacting the global automotive industry with innovative technology solutions,

This is an exciting win for Infomedia and heralds in a new era for our Next Gen EPC platform, as the innovation and functionality of the platform differentiates Infomedia from its peers by taking an essential but siloed reference tool and turning it into an integrated parts selling platform.

More reading

• Analysts divided over future of Westpac (ASX:WBC) share price
• Gold explorer Tesoro Resources (ASX:TSO) jumps 25% on high-grade intercept
• The Nanosonics (ASX:NAN) share price is surging higher
• The Atomo (ASX:AT1) share price is up today. Here’s why.
• These were the best performing ASX 200 healthcare shares in October

Daryl Mather has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of Infomedia. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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The Tesoro Resources Ltd (ASX: TSO) share price has climbed more than 10-fold this year following increasingly promising exploration developments. Today, the gold explorer announced infill and drill hole results that showed high-grade gold intercepts. The Tesoro share price jumped as high as almost 30% on open before cooling down. It is trading at 36 cents, up 25.86%, at the time of writing.

About Tesoro 

Tesoro Resources was established with a strategy of acquiring, exploring and developing mining projects in the Coastal Cordillera region of Chile. This region is host to multiple world class copper and gold mines, has well established infrastructure, breadth of service providers and an experienced mining workforce.

Large areas of the Coastal Cordillera remained unexplored due to the unconsolidated nature of mining ownership, but Tesoro has been able to secure rights to a district scale gold project. It currently holds interest in the highly prospective El Zorro Gold Project that is favourably located and demonstrates significant scale and gold grades. 

El Zorro project milestones to date 

During the September quarter, Tesoro expanded its landholding from approximately 100sq km to 540sq km following a regional review which identified prospective geology for which Tesoro made successful applications. 

Tesoro is currently focused on delineating gold resources at El Zorro. In other words, determining the size, grade, extent and mineralogy of mineral resources. More drilling is under way following previous encouraging results. 

On 23 October, the company announced infill drilling results that continue to intersect multiple gold bearing zones.

Tesoro managing director Zeff Reeves commented:

The extensive and ongoing drill program is proving extremely beneficial in uncovering the extent of the Ternera deposit at El Zorro. We believe the project has huge potential, with Ternera being the first of five targets identified at El Zorro, and our confidence in the exploration model continues to increase. 

High-grade gold intercept today 

Today’s announcement is a continuation of Tesoro’s drilling results. All holes intersected multiple mineralised gold zones with significant results adding to the large-scale potential of El Zorro.

Mr Reeves said that every hole drilled at El Zorro continued “to deliver quality gold results further adding to the scale of the Ternera deposit … we are yet to find the edges of the mineralisation and every hole adds additional scale. This indicates to us that we have a significant discovery at El Zorro.” 

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