The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) ended the day down 0.03% to 6,013 points. However, just before the Victorian press conference the ASX 200 was at 6,066 points.

Metro Melbourne has gone back to stage 3 restrictions. People will only be allowed for shopping for food and other essentials, medical purposes and caregiving, work and study if it can’t be done at home and exercise.

Here are some of the highlights from the ASX 200 today:

Afterpay Ltd’s (ASX: APT) big update

Afterpay was able to provide an update with the final quarter of FY20 finishing last week.

The buy now, pay later business said it has seen a strong performance across the business and delivered underlying sales of $11.1 billion in FY20, which was up 112% on the prior corresponding period.

Underlying sales in the fourth quarter of FY20 rose by 127% to $3.8 billion. This was the highest quarterly performance ever, which Afterpay said reflected the accelerating shift to e-commerce to spending since the impacts of COVID-19 emerged globally.

Afterpay said that margins were pleasing. Merchant revenue margins for FY20 are expected to be in line with or better than both the first half of FY20 and FY19.

The net transaction loss (NTL) for FY20 is expected to be up to 55 basis points. The Australia and New Zealand NTL has remained at historically low levels and the NTL within the US and UK regions has improved in the second half compared to the first half of FY20. There has been improving risk performance and historically high payment recovery rates.

The net transaction margin (NTM) for FY20 is expected to be approximately 2%, underpinning a pathway to longer term profitability for the overall business.

The ASX 200 share is expecting earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA), excluding significant items, for FY20 to be between $20 million to $25 million.

Active customers rose 116% to 9.9 million at the end of FY20. Active merchants rose by 72% to 55,400. Afterpay expects to expand into Canada in the first quarter of FY21. It’s also expecting to expand to in-store in the US this quarter as well.

Afterpay also announced a $800 million capital raising and a sell down by the co-founders where each of them will sell 2.05 million shares.

Magellan Financial Group Ltd (ASX: MFG) funds under management (FUM) announcement at June 2020

Magellan today announced its FUM for June 2020. The global fund manager said its FUM at the end of FY20 was $97.2 billion, down from $98.5 billion at 29 May 2020.

The ASX 200 fund manager experienced net inflows of $249 million, which included net retail inflows of $173 million and net institutional inflows of $76 million.

Average FUM for FY20 was $95.5 billion, an increase from $75.8 billion in FY19.

Magellan said it’s entitled to estimated performance fees of approximately $81 million for FY20.

Sezzle Inc (ASX: SZL) share price soars 24.6%

It was a big day for the buy now, pay later sector on the ASX today.

Sezzle announced that its underlying merchant sales (UMS) jumped 58% quarter on quarter to US$188 million. This was an increase of 349% year on year.

Active consumers rose 28% quarter on quarter to 1.48 million. Active merchants increased by 27% quarter on quarter to 16,112.

The BNPL businesses also said that its repeat usage improved by more than 10 percentage points to 87.5%, compared to 77.2% in June 2019. Older cohorts are using Sezzle more each year. The 2018 Sezzle cohort is now purchasing approximately 15 times a year.

More reading

• These ASX shares are swept up by the new Victorian COVID-19 lockdown
• Magellan share price rises on increased funds under management
• Why brokers have just downgraded BHP and these ASX stocks today
• These 2 ASX medical shares are on the rise after major announcements
• You’re probably a customer of these 3 ASX shares. Should you own them too?

Motley Fool contributor Tristan Harrison has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. 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.

The post ASX 200 drops on return of lockdown in Melbourne appeared first on Motley Fool Australia.

from Motley Fool Australia https://ift.tt/2ACc0En

I love investing. I enjoy the chase of the research and the cut and thrust of the markets. It really is a process like no other.

For years I have actively manged my own ASX portfolio. But after adding two young boys to the mix, most of the ‘active management’ I do now involves naps and nappies! Try as I do, I just don’t have the time to dig deep and scrutinise the 12-20 companies required to construct a diversified portfolio right now.

A great solution for me has been to set up a ‘core-satellite’ portfolio. This is an approach to stay diversified while still holding shares in my favourite companies like Pushpay Holdings Ltd (ASX: PPH) and Xero Limited (ASX: XRO).

What is a core-satellite portfolio?

In a core-satellite portfolio, the majority of your money is allocated to passive, low-cost funds, with smaller ‘satellite’ amounts of money allotted to specific investments that you keep a close eye on.

The ratio of core-to-satellite is up to you, but it might be something like an 80:20 mix of ETFs to satellite holdings. The mix will depend on how much energy you have to keep track of individual companies.

Building a solid ‘core’ portfolio

The ‘core’ of the core-satellite portfolio is often made up of very low-cost exchange-traded funds (ETFs) which track the returns of major indexes. 

For example, I could put half of my core allocation in the Vanguard Australian Shares Index ETF (ASX: VAS). This ASX listed index fund provides good local exposure and aims to track the return of the S&P/ASX 300 Index. Like all good Vanguard funds, the fees are low. At the time of writing, the fund had a tiny 0.10% per annum management fee.

The other half I could allocate to the iShares S&P 500 ETF (ASX: IVV). This fund tracks the United States S&P 500 Index and also has a ridiculously low management fee of just 0.04% per annum. A worthy addition in my view.

Juicing returns with market beating ‘satellites’

The ‘satellites’ that surround the core are investments in companies that you think have a good chance of outperforming the wider market. In my case, because I think Xero has strong long-term prospects, I would want to hold some of its shares as a ‘satellite’.

However, it’s worth being mindful of not doubling up. For example, CSL Limited (ASX: CSL) makes up almost 8% of the holdings in the Vanguard ASX ETF. Adding CSL shares as a satellite as well might create more exposure to this one company than you want.

One kind of solution to one kind of problem

Now, you may be thinking ‘why don’t I just own a portfolio full of market beating satellites and be done with it?’. Remember that the problem I was trying to solve was to free up time. For me, this has been a way to keep a close eye on what is happening in the investing world, while still juggling naps and nappies.

More reading

• Where to invest $1,000 in ASX tech shares today
• Why CSL and these ASX 200 shares could be fantastic buy and hold options
• 3 of the best ASX tech shares to buy in July
• 2 ASX shares I would buy for growth and income
• 3 ASX tech shares to buy and hold

Regan Pearson owns shares of PUSHPAY FPO NZX and Xero.

You can follow him on Twitter @Regan_Invests.

The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of CSL Ltd., PUSHPAY FPO NZX, and Xero. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended PUSHPAY FPO NZX. 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.

The post How to beat the market with 2 kids and no time appeared first on Motley Fool Australia.

from Motley Fool Australia https://ift.tt/2ZMWoGm

The Mineral Commodities Limited (ASX: MRC) share price leapt by 13.64% on Tuesday following the release of positive drill results at the company’s Tormin Inland Strands Project. MRC is a global mining and development company predominantly focused on the mineral sands and battery minerals sectors but also with interests in other mining tenements.

The company’s three key projects in its mineral sands and battery minerals sector include the Skaland Graphite Operation, the Munglinup Graphite Project and the Torman Mineral Sands Operation:

The Skaland operation is the largest crystalline graphite producer in Europe and the fourth largest producer globally outside of China. Accordingly, it accounts for around 2% of global, annual, natural-flake graphite production.
The Munglinup project lies along the border of the shires of Esperance and Ravensthorpe in Western Australia. The most recent estimation of total mineral resource at the site was 7.99 million tonnes.
Tormin Mineral Sands, the project at the centre of today’s announcement, is ∼360kms north of Cape Town on the west coast of South Africa. The site hosts some of the richest grades of naturally occurring zircon, ilmenite, rutile, magnetite and garnet in the world.

What moved the MRC share price?

The company announced very high grade results from its newly granted S102 Mining Right. This includes total heavy mineral (THM) grades from three separate drill holes on the Western Strandline (shoreline) as defined below.

• 73.1% at 5 metres
• 68.6% at 5 metres and
• 65.2% at 7 metres

The strandline is a concentration of high-grade Valuable Heavy Minerals including zircon, rutile, anatase, ilmenite, garnet, and magnetite. Therefore, the Western Strandline deposit is now clearly defined to the point where the company will commence immediate mining.

Management commentary

MRC Executive Chairman, Mark Caruso said:

“The Company is now underpinning the known potential of one of the highest grade global mineral sands prospects … We will be stepping up our efforts to target additional resources that will further underpin the growth…at the Inland Strand at Tormin”.

MRC share price

By the close of Tuesday’s trade, the MRC share price was up by 13.64%. Accordingly, this values the company at $113.77 million with a price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 9.35. At the current price, the company has a trailing 12 month dividend yield of 5.2%.

Although MRC saw decreases in overall demand during the COVID-19 crisis, China’s demand for high-grade, non-magnetic, zircon rutile concentrates continued unabated. I believe this holds the MRC share price in good stead moving forward. 

More reading

• Mineral Commodities share price tumbles 15% on COVID-19 trading update

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.

The post MRC share price up 13% on high grade results appeared first on Motley Fool Australia.

from Motley Fool Australia https://ift.tt/3gBF7Xs