The Resolute Mining Limited (ASX: RSG) share price has avoided the market selloff and is edging higher today.

In afternoon trade, the gold miner’s shares are up 1% to 65 cents.

Why is the Resolute share price rising?

Investors have been buying Resolute shares for a couple of reasons on Friday.

One is the heightened demand for safe haven assets because of the market selloff, the other is the release of its full year results this afternoon.

In respect to the latter, Resolute reported revenue of US$618.3 million and underlying earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) of US$269.7 million. This represents a 15.4% and 87% increase, respectively, over the prior corresponding period.

This was driven by a 2.7% increase in production to 395,136 ounces, a small reduction in its all-in sustaining cost (AISC) to US$1,074 per ounce, and a 16.2% jump in the average price received to US$1,562 per ounce.

It is, however, worth noting that this was well short of its original guidance of production of 500,000 ounces with an AISC of US$980 per ounce. Which goes some way to explaining why the Resolute share price is trading just a touch above its 52-week low right now.

On the bottom line, Resolute record a small net profit after tax of US$5 million. This compares to a loss of US$78.5 million a year earlier.

Management commentary

Resolute’s Interim CEO, Stuart Gale, was pleased with the performance given the numerous challenges it faced in 2020.

He said: “I’m very proud of the way that the team at Resolute has responded to the 2020 challenges of COVID-19, a Malian political Coup d’Etat and industrial action at Syama. We have kept our operations running safely and are now well positioned to capitalise on the investments in our assets to deliver on 2021 production targets, focus on operational efficiencies and generate cash flows.”

“Balance sheet improvement remains a key objective for us and cash flows from operations together with proceeds from asset sales will be prioritised to repay debt. Pleasingly, we were able to complete a number of corporate transactions during 2020 which reduced net debt by $92 million and simplified the balance sheet.”

Outlook

Unfortunately, the company isn’t expecting to grow its production or cut costs in FY 2021.

It is forecasting total gold production of 350,000 ounces to 375,000 ounces at an AISC of US$1,200 to US$1,275 per ounce.

Once again, this probably explains why the Resolute share price is down a disappointing 42% over the last 12 months.

More reading

• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Wednesday
• These are the 10 most shorted shares on the ASX
• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Friday
• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Thursday
• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Wednesday

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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iCar Asia Ltd (ASX:ICQ) shares are languishing in mid-afternoon trade following the release of the company’s full-year results. In earlier trade, the iCar Asia share price was trading nearly 5% higher at 34 cents. However, at the time of writing, the company’s shares have retreated back to 32 cents, flat for the day with around an hour of trade remaining.

Let’s take a look at how the car listings company performed over the period.

Why is the iCar Asia share price stuck in neutral?

The iCar Asia share price is going nowhere today as investors seem ambivalent about the company’s latest results.

According to its release, iCar Asia finished the year strongly after rebuilding momentum throughout 2020.

But for the six months ending 31 December 2020, iCar Asia reported revenue of $14 million, a decline of 5% year on year. The reduced earnings reflected a slowdown during most of the year due to government-mandated lockdown measures caused by COVID-19.

iCar Asia stated that all operating countries were faced with some kind of challenges. In light of this, iCar Asia launched new product innovations and focused on customer relationship management to minimise the negative impact.

As a result of the implemented initiatives, along with the gradual recovery, iCar Asia achieved its highest ever monthly revenue for December. Unaudited revenue for the month reached $1.8 million which represented a 27% increase on the prior corresponding period (pcp). Furthermore, the fourth quarter as a whole grew to monthly average revenue of $1.405 million. This is compared to $1.195 million in Q3, $899 million in Q2, and $1.186 million in Q1.

The group also undertook cost-containment measures to limit the damage from the pandemic. This included a drop in headcount, voluntary pay reductions, hiring freezes, and a cutback in marketing spend. From the stringent actions taken, iCar Asia recorded operating expenses at $19.2 million, a 9% reduction on the pcp.

However, while savings were made across the business, earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) came to a loss of $6.4 million. This was a 5% improvement on FY19’s result which saw EBITDA at $6.7 million in the red.

iCar Asia closed the year with a balance of $2.2 million in cash and equivalents. Around $13 million worth of undrawn facilities are available should the company wish to tap into its line of credit.

Management commentary

iCar Asia managing director and CEO Hamish Stone commented on the latest results. He said:

2020 was a year full of unprecedented challenges due to COVID-19. iCar Asia is pleased that we have managed these challenges well, as shown in the results for 2020.

With the recovery from COVID-19 gathering momentum and with access to more than adequate funding to grow the business, iCar Asia remains optimistic of ongoing growth in 2021 ahead and to continue to be the leading partner to the recovery of the ASEAN automotive markets.

Foolish takeaway

Management further noted that negotiations surrounding the non-binding proposal from Autohome Inc. to acquire iCar Asia are still ongoing. Autohome had put forward a proposal to purchase iCar Asia’s entire issued share capital at 50 cents apiece.

The offer is subject to a number of conditions as well as court approval. iCar Asia stated it will update the market accordingly when further details arise.

The iCar Asia share price has risen nearly 7% over the last six months but has shed more than 11% over the past year.

More reading

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• Why is the Mesoblast (ASX:MSB) share price frozen?
• Dalrymple Bay (ASX:DBI) share price stays afloat despite no earnings surprises
• Brokers name 3 ASX shares to buy right now
• The Weebit Nano (ASX:WBT) share price dips on widening losses

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 Damstra Holdings Ltd (ASX: DTC) share price is out of form on Friday and tumbling lower.

In afternoon trade, the integrated workplace management solutions provider’s shares are down over 11% to $1.18.

Why is the Damstra share price down 10%?

There have been a couple of catalysts for today’s decline in the Damstra share price.

The first and main catalyst is the market selloff, which has been particularly severe in the technology sector.

So much so, the S&P/ASX All Technology Index (ASX: XTX) is down almost 5% this afternoon. This compares to a 2% decline by the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO).

What else happened?

In addition to this, this morning Damstra released its half year results, which may have fallen short of some investors’ expectations.

For the six months ended 31 December, Damstra reported a 29.6% increase in revenue to $13.3 million.

However, despite this strong top line growth, the company’s pro forma earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) declined by 4% to $2.5 million. This was driven by the company’s acquisition of the loss-making Vault Intelligence business during the half.

This ultimately led to Damstra posting a loss after tax of $5.5 million for the half.

At the end of the period, the company had a cash balance of $7.5 million and no debt.

Management commentary

Damstra’s CEO, Christian Damstra, commented: “Damstra has performed very well in the first half of FY21, despite some external challenges, and we continue to execute on our strategic growth agenda. We are particularly pleased with the benefits from the Vault acquisition. What was a loss-making business has been seamlessly integrated with minimal impact on our underlying financial performance.”

“Our Gross Margin increased to 75% and EBITDA margin was maintained above 20% (at 21% compared to 25% in the PCP), demonstrating earnings leverage from increased scale. This was most clearly shown during Q2 where the rate of increase in costs was less than half the rate of increase in revenue. Looking forward, we are confident that structural costs will continue to rise at a rate of less than half that of revenue.”

Outlook

Mr Damstra revealed that the company’s growth has accelerated since the end of the half.

“Pleasingly, we are now seeing growth accelerating, building on our positive Q2 momentum. January unaudited revenue was up 61% on PCP and we expect this positive trend to continue. COVID did impact some of our client operations, particularly in the northern hemisphere, which in some instances slowed contract signing and onsite installation of our product solutions. Importantly we did not lose any clients as a result of COVID and activity levels are beginning to return.”

Despite today’s decline, the Damstra share price is up 21% over the last 12 months.

More reading

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• Why the Damstra (ASX:DTC) share price is racing higher today

James Mickleboro has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of and recommends Damstra Holdings Ltd. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Damstra Holdings Ltd. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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Mesoblast Limited (ASX: MSB) shares have been halted in their tracks on Friday. On a day when it is likely fortunate to be missing the action, the Mesoblast share price won’t be going anywhere after the company requested the trading halt prior to market open this morning.

Let’s take a look at why the biotech company requested the pause in trading.

Why did Mesoblast request a trading halt?

Mesoblast shares are on hiatus today as the junior healthcare company prepares to raise capital via a private placement to a “targeted industry investor”.

The Mesoblast share price is expected to remain in a trading halt until such time as the company makes a further announcement or, at the latest, Tuesday next week.

The company did not provide any insights into why it is seeking to raise capital.

Mesoblast share price soars on study results

Earlier this month, the Mesoblast share price surged after the company released promising results from a phase-3 clinical trial.

Prior to the announcement, the stem-cell research company had been conducting a six-year clinical trial on treatment to reduce lower back pain.  

According to Mesoblast, patients who had a single injection of its rexlemestrocel-L reported a reduction in their back pain. These patients, who suffered from inflammatory disc disease, reported no pain for at least two years and were compared to patients treated with a placebo.

Management has advised it intends to meet with the United States Food and Drug Administration to discuss potential approval pathways for rexlemestrocel-L.

How have Mesoblast shares been performing?

Mesoblast describes itself as a world leader in the development of regenerative medicines for inflammatory diseases. 

The company was a favourite among retail investors last year after it announced promising results for its Remestemcel-L (Ryonsil) treatment for COVID-19.

After hitting a six-year peak of $5.50 in September last year, the Mesoblast share price has more than halved. Mesoblast shares crashed from their highs late last year after the company reported a setback to its COVID-19 treatment trial.

Mesoblast cited that changes in the treatment regimens for COVID-19 patients were to blame for the trial’s failure.

Shares in Mesoblast have returned to being one of the most shorted on the ASX, with an 8.8% short interest. 

The Mesoblast share price last traded at $2.46, marking a 6.5% increase for the year to date.

More reading

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Motley Fool contributor Nikhil Gangaram 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 Dalrymple Bay Infrastructure Ltd (ASX: DBI) share price has inched up by 0.48% at the time of writing and is currently trading at $2.09 a share.

The movement follows release of the company’s earnings results for the period ended 31 December 2020.

Notably, Dalrymple Bay only listed on the Australian Securities Exchange in December 2020. Therefore, the statutory results reflect the listing date of 8 December 2020 to 31 December 2020.

Financial performance summary

Comparing the financial results to the statutory forecasts provided in Dalrymple prospectus, the company reported the following.

Dalrymple earned a total revenue of $23.4 million during the period compared to the $38.1 million posted in the prospectus.

The business posted a loss after tax of $113.2 million. The prospectus estimated a loss of $115.5 million.

Liquidity in the business as at 31 December 2020 comprised of $214 million in undrawn bank facilities, $139.1 million cash at bank and $36 million in restricted cash.

CEO comments and outlook

Dalrymple Bay Infrastructure Managing Director and CEO, Anthony Timbrell said:

2020 was pivotal for Dalrymple Bay Infrastructure as it became a publicly listed company. Our foundation asset, the Dalrymple Bay Terminal, continued to provide safe and efficient port infrastructure during 2020. The terminal remains a critical link in the global steel making supply chain and is a key asset in the Queensland and Australian economies. Despite the impacts of COVID on global economies, the terminal shipped 55mt of coal to 23 countries – 82% of which was metallurgical coal, up 1% on 2019.

The company advised that going forward, it will continue to focus on its core investment drivers. It aims to grow distributions per share by 1%-2% per annum for the foreseeable future.

Dalrymple further stated that it remains on track to deliver distributions of $45 million for the 6-month period to 30 June 2021.

Dalrymple Bay share price snapshot

The business has a market capitalisation of approximately $1 billion and there are presently 500.3 million shares outstanding.

The Dalrymple Bay share price has dropped 1.42% over the past month.

More reading

• Why the Damstra (ASX:DTC) share price is crashing 11% lower today
• Why is the Mesoblast (ASX:MSB) share price frozen?
• Brokers name 3 ASX shares to buy right now
• The Weebit Nano (ASX:WBT) share price dips on widening losses
• Top Shelf (ASX:TSI) share price pops on first earnings report

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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Australia’s top brokers have been busy adjusting their estimates and recommendations again, leading to the release of a number of broker notes.

Three broker buy ratings that have caught my eye are summarised below. Here’s why brokers think these ASX shares are in the buy zone:

Afterpay Ltd (ASX: APT)

According to a note out of Morgan Stanley, its analysts have retained their overweight rating but trimmed the price target on this payments company’s shares to $159.00. This follows the release of the company’s half year results this week. The broker was impressed with the increasing frequency that customers are using its platform. It also notes that its Afterpay Money app is due to be released later this year and its European expansion should commence from next month. One thing that did fall short of the broker’s estimates was its active customers. This came in at 13.1 million, compared to its estimate of 13.6 million. This has led to a reduction in the broker’s sales estimates. The Afterpay share price is trading at $119.94 today.

Appen Ltd (ASX: APX)

Analysts at Ord Minnett have upgraded this artificial intelligence data services company’s shares to a buy rating with a reduced price target of $24.75. According to the note, Appen delivered a full year result the was largely in line with its estimates. And while it notes that trading conditions are tough, it believes its long term outlook is positive. This is thanks to the global trend of investment in artificial intelligence. In addition to this, following a pullback in its share price, it feels its shares are trading at an attractive level. The Appen share price is fetching $16.95 this afternoon.

Zip Co Ltd (ASX: Z1P)

A note out of Morgans reveals that its analysts have retained their add rating and lifted the price target on this buy now pay later provider’s shares to $12.10. This follows the release of its half year update. The broker appears surprised by Zip’s loss during the half but remains positive due to the strong momentum it is exhibiting across the business. Furthermore, Morgans believes its strong growth can continue for the foreseeable future. In afternoon trade the Zip share price is trading at $10.25.

More reading

• Why Afterpay, Kogan, Orica, & Service Stream shares are crashing lower
• Growth outlook fails to save the Aristocrat share price today
• ASX 200 down 2.3%: Afterpay & Kogan sold off, Orica smashed, AMP pushes higher
• Will Wall Street’s overnight tumble send ASX 200 shares down today?
• Why the Afterpay (ASX:APT) share price is sinking 14% today

James Mickleboro has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of Appen Ltd and ZIPCOLTD FPO. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of AFTERPAY T FPO. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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The Weebit Nano Ltd (ASX: WBT) share price is faltering after the company posted its first-half results for FY21.

The computer memory developer’s shares have been sliding over the last month, down approximately 39%.

‘Major progress’ fails to inspire the Weebit Nano share price

Firstly, revenues from operations remained at zero, with the company still seeking commercial agreements. Weebit Nano remains highly focused on continuing the development of its silicon-oxide ReRAM (resistive random-access memory) technology.

When you combine no revenue with company expenses and a big research and development (R&D) effort, the result is substantial losses. Weebit Nano’s loss in the first half came in at $7.24 million. This represents a 123% increase in losses from 1H FY20. However, $4.89 million of this half’s loss was from the company’s ramped-up R&D.

This expenditure aided in Weebit Nano improving its ReRAM tech with its long-term development partner CEA-Leti. The company was able to verify that its production process is repeatable and consistent in October, with more than 99% of its cells functional. This key requirement allows Weebit to begin transferring its tech to a production fabricator.

The company also filed 5 new patents during the half to ensure the protection of what all those millions have gone towards. Three of the patents pertain to ReRAM optimisation and multi-level storage (which Weebit holds exclusive rights to commercialisation). The other 2 patents relate to further improvements to the memory cells.

Looking to ink a deal

Multi-million-dollar losses are clearly not sustainable in the long-term. Weebit Nano no doubt knows this and is keen to arrive at a commercial agreement ASAP.

The board believes they are well-funded to continue the development of its memory and conduct commercialising activity. The source of this funding is the $15 million placement carried out in November. Weebit Nano’s cash balance was roughly $18.86 million at the end of December half.

CEO Coby Hanoch further commented on the company’s position:

Following the heavily supported placement share purchase plan, we are now funded to accelerate our planned development activities for the embedded, standalone and neuromorphic memory markets, as well as support ongoing improvements to our base ReRAM technology.

Importantly, our strong balance sheet enables us to accelerate our development of a selector for the standalone market, where we are targeting, as we previously committed, a working combined cell by September 2021 and a working array by Q1 FY22.

At the time of writing, the Weebit Nano share price was 0.42% lower, trading at $2.35. 

More reading

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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 Top Shelf International Holdings Ltd (ASX: TSI) share price is reacting well to the company’s inaugural earnings report today. The Top Shelf share price is up 0.25% at the time of writing to $2.04 a share.

That might not look like much of a top move. But considering the broader S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is currently down a hefty 1.96% today, its actually a pretty decent outperformance.

High spirits for the Top Shelf share price today

Top Shelf reported earnings for the first half of the 2021 financial year (1H21) this morning. This is Top Shelf’s first report as a listed ASX company since it only IPO-ed on the ASX back in December.

The company reported that revenues came in at $7.23 million, which was a 159% increase on the prior corresponding period’s (1H20) $2.3 million. That included branded sales growth of 168%. This follows the company’s launch of NED Whiskey in September last year, and the launch of Grainshaker Vodka in October.

That total revenue metric represented an increase of 1.7% for Top Shelf’s gross cash margin to 23.3%.

However, pro forma earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) went backwards. It fell 129% from a loss of $1.6 million in 1H20 to a loss of $3.6 million for 1H21. Statutory EBITDA fell from a loss of $1.6 million in 1H20 to a loss of $7.1 million in 1H21.

That lead to a proforma loss after income tax of $3.1 million, up 102% from 1H20’s loss of $1.5 million. The company’s statutory loss after income tax was $6.7 million, up 345% from the $1.5 million loss in 1H20.

Big investments from Top Shelf

Top Shelf tells us that these losses are the result of “continued investment in working capital”, which includes $1.6 million for facilities for maturing whiskey in a second whiskey lauter at its Campbellfield distillery. It also includes a $2.2 million cost of brand development for the formerly mentioned products. Over the period, Top Shelf’s whiskey inventory on hand increased from 105,000 litres of alcohol to 388,000.

The company also spent $2.2 million on acquiring the Eden Lassie agave farm in December (agave is used to make tequila).

As of 31 December, Top Shelf had a net cash position of $9.1 million.

Top Shelf CEO Drew Fairchild had this to say on the results today:

Top Shelf is focused on executing our growth plans in the second half of FY21 including accelerating the market penetration of our portfolio of distinctive Australian spirits brands…

… the continued build-out of the NED Whisky and GrainshakerVodkabrand and product portfolios…

… [as well as the] ongoing development of the Eden Lassie agave farm and agave market opportunity in dry north Queensland with the secure supply of 244,000 hardening plants in nursery, and the completion of the Agave Brand work and release to market of our Australian Agave spirit.

More reading

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• Here’s why the Coventry Group (ASX:CYG) share price is up 5% today
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• Vmoto (ASX:VMT) share price slips despite positive update
• Dubber (ASX:DUB) share price slides despite strong half year growth

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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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.

Spotify Technology‘s (NYSE: SPOT) Stream On event this week gave investors a peek into the company’s plans to continue building its podcast business.

Along with new content partnerships, the audio-streaming specialist shared details for new ad technology and podcast creator tools. All three areas are key building blocks in Spotify’s podcasting strategy, and they provide meaningful potential for operating leverage and margin expansion.

Investing in more marquee content

Spotify now counts over 2.2 million podcasts on its platform, but only a few dozen really draw listeners to the service. Spotify has made some big investments in original and exclusive podcasts to get users to use its player instead of the competition, and to a large degree it works.

Management says it saw an uptick in user additions, first-time podcast listeners, and engagement when The Joe Rogan Experience became an exclusive in December.

To that end, it announced several new high-profile names it’s adding to its podcast lineup, including former US president Barack Obama, Bruce Springsteen, Ava DuVernay, and the Russo brothers. It also revealed new podcasts from Barack and Michelle Obama’s Higher Ground production company and gave investors a look at the first podcast from its DC Comics partnership.

There’s still a lot of room for Spotify to increase podcast adoption on its platform. As of the end of 2020, 25% of listeners engaged with podcasts on Spotify.

What’s more, if those marquee titles are designed to get users to try podcasts, Spotify’s newly announced recommendation tools are designed to get them to keep listening.

With a growing library of hundreds of thousands of titles, Spotify has an opportunity to capitalise on the long tail of podcasts on its platform through its ability to recommend content based on everything it knows about its users. That’s a big advantage over competing podcast players.

Improving podcast advertising

Spotify is making it easier to buy ads across its entire platform with the introduction of the Spotify Ad Network. Marketers will be able to use Spotify’s ad tools to run a campaign that reaches listeners of Spotify’s own originals and exclusives, third-party podcasts hosted on Megaphone or Anchor, and its ad-supported music.

Spotify already has a large number of advertisers for its ad-supported music service. Being able to easily migrate them to podcast ad-buying should improve the direct monetisation of its own podcasts while increasing the number of ad offers for its monetisation tools in Megaphone and Anchor. That could help attract more creators to those platforms.

In a move to further increase ad demand in podcasts, Spotify also announced the ability to buy podcast ads through its self-serve platform. The idea is to make purchasing podcast advertisements as easy as buying ads for its core music offering.

Additionally, Spotify confirmed its plans to enable its streaming ad insertion technology on all Megaphone-hosted podcasts sometime this year.

New creator tools to expand the format

Spotify also showed off some new tools it’s working on to give creators more ways to engage and monetise their podcast audiences.

It partnered with WordPress to turn writers into podcasters and vice versa. It’s also opening up video for more podcasters this year after testing it with a limited set of creators last year. Podcasters will also have the ability to interact with listeners through polls and Q&A sessions integrated into Spotify’s Anchor podcast creation software.

Most interesting is Spotify’s plan to allow for subscription podcast content. There are already a lot of subscription podcasts using platforms like Patreon to process subscriptions. The membership platform recently made hosting a subscription podcast easier for creators via seamless integration with many podcast players, but Spotify’s platform isn’t compatible. Spotify’s popularity as a podcast player and a creator tool (Anchor) gives it an opportunity to capitalize on the growing trend and execute better than the competition. And the company could take a cut of subscription revenue while it’s at it.

Creating leverage

The important factor in Spotify’s podcast business is that content costs don’t scale with revenue like they do in its music business. Spotify pays out a certain percentage of its revenue from music listening to labels, musicians, and songwriters.

With podcasts, Spotify can pay for an original or exclusive once and keep all the revenue, producing operating leverage if it can successfully draw an audience to the content. With plans for 1 billion global listeners, it’s growing a large pool to draw an audience from for its podcasts.

Even more lucrative is the potential to act as a middleman between podcast creators, advertisers, and listeners. There Spotify can simply collect a fee and it has very low marginal costs once the technology is in place. It’s a three-sided network Spotify’s developing, and the announcements it made this week should help facilitate its growth with more podcast listening, more discovery, more podcast advertisers, and more third-party creators.

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

More reading

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• Brainchip (ASX:BRN) share price slides on bigger loss
• Vmoto (ASX:VMT) share price slips despite positive update
• Dubber (ASX:DUB) share price slides despite strong half year growth
• Openpay (ASX:OPY) share price tumbles 6% on increasing loss

Adam Levy has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of and recommends Spotify Technology. 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.

The post 3 ways Spotify’s investing in podcasts in 2021 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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The Coventry Group Ltd (ASX: CYG) share price has popped up 5.83% at the time of writing and is currently trading at $1.09.

The bounce follows Coventry’s release of its half-year results for the period ended 31 December (1H21).

Let’s take a look at how Coventry has been performing.

Coventry Group financial highlights

Coventry’s 1H21 revenue was up 12% compared to the prior corresponding period (pcp). Revenue for the period rang in at $137.8 million versus $122.6 million for 1H20.

The group reported a net profit after tax (NPAT) of $2.3 million, which was a bump up from the $2 million posted in the pcp.

Underlying earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) was $7 million, a 74.5% jump from $4 million in 1H20.

Group underlying earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) came in at $5.7 million, popping up from $2.6 million for 1H20. 

1H21 earnings per share (EPS) was 2.5 cents per share compared to the 1H20 EPS of 2.3 cents.

Including acquisitions, Coventry Group posted a 1H21 sales boost of 12.5%.

The company reported $103.8 million of total current assets at the end of 1H20, slightly up from $100.2 million held at the end of 1H21.

Acquisitions and future financing

On 1 December 2020, Coventry Group acquired H.I.S Hose Pty Ltd. For the 1-month period from 1 December 2020 to 31 December 2020, the acquired business contributed $802,000 of revenues and a net profit of $19,000 to the group.

Subject to final documentation, the business has entered a new 3-year financing arrangement with National Australia Bank Ltd (ASX: NAB). The deal includes a 3-year $45 million borrowing base facility and a $5 million senior secured ancillary facility.

Because of the uncertainties associated with the coronavirus, the company did not provide full-year guidance.

Coventry Group share price snapshot

Coventry Group is a distributor of industrial supply products such as fasteners, fluid hydraulics and cabinet hardware.

Over the past 6 months, the Coventry Group share price has zoomed up 37.3%.

The company’s market capitalisation is presently $92.7 million and there are 90 million 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.

The post Here’s why the Coventry Group (ASX:CYG) share price is up 5% today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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