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The team at Morgans has been busy looking at the plethora of results that have been flooding in this month.

Two ASX shares that it believes performed strongly are listed below. Here’s why it was impressed enough to put buy ratings on their shares:

Corporate Travel Management Ltd (ASX: CTD)

This corporate travel specialist could be an ASX share to buy according to Morgans. It was impressed with the company’s strong performance during FY 2022 and notes that it beat its guidance. Overall, the broker has seen enough to keep the company as its top pick in the travel sector.

Morgans also sees plenty of upside for its shares. In response to its FY 2022 results, the broker has retained its add rating and $25.65 price target on the company’s shares. This compares favourably to the latest Corporate Travel Management share price of $20.66.

Its analysts explained:

CTD’s FY22 result beat its guidance, our forecast and consensus following a particularly strong 4Q22 recovery. Unlike its peers, CTD was profitable at the bottom line (NPAT and not just EBITDA). Strong cashflow, a strong balance sheet (no debt) and a final dividend (sign of confidence) and were other key highlights.

4Q22 trends bode well for strong earnings growth in FY23 despite macro uncertainty, restricted airline capacity and question marks over when China will reopen. Our forecasts are largely unchanged. CTD remains our key pick of the travel sector.

Super Retail Group Ltd (ASX: SUL)

Morgans remains positive on this retail conglomerate. It was pleased with Super Retail’s full year results and believes that it should have a strong first half to FY 2023.

In response to its results, the broker has retained its add rating with an improved price target of $13.00. This implies major upside from the latest Super Retail share price of $10.07.

The broker commented:

SUL surprised the market by reporting much more resilient earnings in FY22 than had been forecast. EBIT of $397m was 15% higher than our estimate due to 4% higher sales and 110 bp higher margins.

With no signs yet that the consumer is pulling back in Australia, it looks likely that 1H23 earnings will be resilient, especially against lockdown-affected comps. We still model a 17% y/y decline in PBT in FY23, but we have pulled that number up by 6% after today’s strong result.

The post Morgans names 2 ASX shares to buy today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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More reading

• Corporate Travel share price slides despite earnings beat
• Here are the top 10 ASX 200 shares today
• Why Brambles, Challenger, Nearmap, and Super Retail shares are rising today
• 3 ASX 300 shares having a cracking session today
• Why are ASX 200 retail shares having such a stellar run today?

Motley Fool contributor James Mickleboro has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has positions in and has recommended Super Retail Group Limited. The Motley Fool Australia has positions in and has recommended Super Retail Group Limited. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Corporate Travel Management Limited. 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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Are you looking for exchange traded funds (ETFs) to buy? If you are, then the two listed below could be worth looking at closely.

Here’s why experts say these ETFs could be in the buy zone:

ETFS Battery Tech & Lithium ETF (ASX: ACDC)

If you’re interested in gaining exposure to the decarbonisation megatrend, then the ETFS Battery Tech & Lithium ETF could be worth considering.

As its name implies, this ETF gives investors exposure to a number of companies that are involved in battery technology and lithium mining. This includes the likes of BYD, Mineral Resources Limited (ASX: MIN), Nissan and, Pilbara Minerals Ltd (ASX: PLS).

Jessica Amir from Saxo Markets is a fan of the ETF. She believes it could be a good option for investors that aren’t keen on stock picking in the lithium industry. Earlier this year she said:

If [lithium] stock picking is not for you, and if you believe, like we do, that the electric vehicle industry and the critical minerals/ commodities will continue to see rising demand, and policy support, and also benefit from the world striving to be carbon neutral by 2050, then you could invest or trade in Global X Lithium & Battery Tech ETF (LIT) or ETFS Battery Tech & Lithium ETF (ACDC) that invests in about 30 of the biggest EV and battery technology companies in the world.

VanEck Vectors MSCI World ex Australia Quality ETF (ASX: QUAL)

If you’re interested in bolstering your portfolio with some high quality companies, then it would be hard to look beyond the VanEck Vectors MSCI World ex Australia Quality ETF.

This popular ETF gives investors easy access to a portfolio of high quality shares that are listed outside of Australia. To be included, the companies must have low leverage, high growth rates, and high returns on equity. Among the companies that tick these boxes you will find giants such as Apple, Microsoft, Nike, and Nvidia.

Sarah Gonzales from Apt Wealth is a positive on the ETF in the current environment due to its focus on quality. She recently told Livewire:

My preferred ETF is the VanEck MSCI International Quality ETF. I think it provides exposure to that quality factor, which tends to outperform in market downturns. It does focus on factors like return and equity, year-on-year growth of earnings and also levels of debt. These are proxies for profitability, earnings variability, and the level of debt of companies. Particularly if we are going into a recession,  I think these are really the factors that I think we should focus on.

The post Experts say these top ETFs are buys right now appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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More reading

• Expert names one of the best ETFs for ASX investors to buy now
• Here are 2 high quality ETFs named as buys by analysts

Motley Fool contributor James Mickleboro has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. 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 Scott Phillips.

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Investors looking for income options might want to check out the two ASX dividend shares listed below.

Both of these shares have just been tipped as buys with attractive forecast dividend yields. Here’s what brokers are saying about them:

Healthco Healthcare and Wellness REIT (ASX: HCW)

The first ASX dividend share to look at is the Healthco Healthcare and Wellness REIT. It is a real estate investment trust with a focus on hospitals, aged care, childcare, life sciences, and primary care properties.

Analysts at Goldman Sachs are very positive on the company. They recently responded to its full year results by putting a conviction buy rating and $2.08 price target on its shares. The broker said:

[T]he REIT remains one of our top picks in the sector given 1) its net cash position with over $450mn of liquidity, providing flexibility for near term opportunities, 2) its diversified mix of strong tenant covenants in sub-sectors that are majority government-backed across the care spectrum, mitigating potential tenant credit risks, 3) Healthcare and childcare assets valuations have remained resilient, 4) the expansive forecast future demand for assets across the care spectrum, underpinning development opportunities, and 5) inexpensive valuation.

In respect to dividends, Goldman expects dividends per share of 7.5 cents in both FY 2023 and FY 2024. Based on the current Healthco Healthcare and Wellness REIT unit price of $1.77, this will mean yields of 4.2% for investors.

QBE Insurance Group Ltd (ASX: QBE)

Another ASX dividend share that could be in the buy zone right now is insurance giant QBE.

In response to the company’s recent half year results, the team at Morgans retained its add rating with a $14.93 price target on its shares. The broker commented:

With strong rate increases still flowing through QBE’s insurance book, investment yields improving and further cost-out benefits to come, we expect QBE’s earnings profile to improve strongly over the next few years. The stock also remains relatively inexpensive trading on ~10x FY22F PE. ADD maintained.

As for dividends, its analysts are expecting a 41.5 cents per share dividend in FY 2022 and then a 76.5 cents per share dividend in FY 2023. Based on the latest QBE share price of $12.05, this equates to yields of 3.4% and 6.3%, respectively

The post Brokers name 2 ASX dividend shares to buy appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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More reading

• Brokers name 2 ASX dividend shares to buy now
• Why Block, Lake, Mirvac, and QBE shares are racing higher
• QBE share price lifts despite $840 million income hit
• 5 reasons to buy this ASX healthcare share: Goldman Sachs
• Brokers name 2 top ASX dividend shares to buy

Motley Fool contributor James Mickleboro has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. 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 Scott Phillips.

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It’s Friday — you made it to the finale of a rather eventful week of earnings season. However, unlike the last couple of days, today’s roster of ASX shares reporting is relatively concise.

Here’s a quick summary of what to expect today so you have a jump on the market.

ASX shares slated to report today (smallest to largest)

Inghams Group Ltd (ASX: ING), $1.10 billion

Latitude Group Holdings Ltd (ASX: LFS), $1.65 billion

AGL Energy Limited (ASX: AGL), $5.49 billion

Cleanaway Waste Management Ltd (ASX: CWY), $5.59 billion

Stockland Corporation Ltd (ASX: SGP), $9.10 billion

TPG Telecom Ltd (ASX: TPG), $12.46 billion

Cochlear Limited (ASX: COH), $14.09 billion

Newcrest Mining Ltd (ASX: NCM), $16.67 billion

(Market capitalisations as of 18 August 2022)

What to expect

Plenty of eyes will be on energy retailer AGL Energy today after a disastrous full-year result from Origin Energy Ltd (ASX: ORG) yesterday. Shocking the market, AGL’s competitor revealed a considerable $1.43 billion loss for FY22.

However, analysts are suspecting AGL will fare better with its own financials. Estimates from Bloomberg have the company’s net profit after tax (NPAT) pegged at $323.8 million.

Another ASX share packaging up its full-year numbers for today is hearing solutions company, Cochlear. Analysts at Citi expect NPAT to come in at $299 million. This figure would represent a nearly 9% reduction in its statutory earnings from the prior year.

No doubt Latitude will pique the interest of those interested in the buy now, pay later space. The financial solutions provider is set to release its half-year results today following an outstanding performance from fellow BNPL company, Sezzle Inc (ASX: SZL) yesterday.

Lastly, investors will be dialing in today to hear how teleco giant TPG has performed in the latest half. Estimates are suggesting a dividend of 9 cents per share is possible.

Don’t forget to check back in throughout the day to see all the latest results from your favourite ASX shares.

The post Earnings preview: Here’s which ASX shares are reporting today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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More reading

• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Friday
• 2 blue chip ASX 200 shares tipped as buys by experts
• Hoping to pounce on AGL shares? Here’s what to watch when the energy giant reports this week
• Here are the top 10 ASX 200 shares today
• Guess how much AGL has paid in dividends over the past 5 years?

Motley Fool contributor Mitchell Lawler has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has positions in and has recommended Cochlear Ltd. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Cochlear Ltd. and TPG Telecom Limited. 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 Australia and New Zealand Bank Group Ltd (ASX: ANZ) share price will be on watch this morning.

This follows the release of an update on the banking giant’s recent equity raising.

Why is the ANZ share price on watch?

The ANZ share price will be on watch after the bank revealed that it has completed the retail component of its fully underwritten pro-rata accelerated renounceable entitlement offer to raise a total of approximately $3.5 billion.

This follows the institutional component of the entitlement offer, which was completed on 20 July and raised gross proceeds of approximately $1.7 billion.

According to the release, eligible retail shareholders subscribed for approximately 60.8 million new shares, raising approximately $1.15 billion.

This represented a strong participation rate of approximately 64% of the new shares offered under the retail entitlement offer to eligible retail shareholders. ANZ advised that approximately 217,000 applications were received from shareholders who elected to partially or fully take-up their entitlements.

The remaining entitlements not taken up by eligible retail shareholders or from ineligible retail shareholders, which account for approximately 36.4 million new shares, will be offered for sale for the benefit of those shareholders in the retail shortfall bookbuild.

Why is ANZ raising funds?

ANZ launched the equity raising to fund the acquisition of Suncorp Bank from Suncorp Group Ltd (ASX: SUN) for a purchase price of $4.9 billion.

ANZ CEO Shayne Elliott believes the acquisition will “a cornerstone investment” for the bank. He previously explained:

The acquisition of Suncorp Bank will be a cornerstone investment for ANZ and a vote of confidence in the future of Queensland. With much of the work to simplify and strengthen the bank completed, and our digital transformation well-progressed, we are now in a position to invest in and reshape our Australian business. This will result in a stronger more balanced bank for customers and shareholders.

We have admired the transformation that has occurred under the leadership of Steve Johnston and Clive van Horen and believe Suncorp Bank is a natural fit with ANZ given its culture, risk appetite and customer focus.

The post ANZ share price on watch following equity raising update appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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More reading

• Can ANZ’s latest acquisition help it catch up to the other ASX 200 bank shares?
• 2 ASX 200 dividend shares analysts rate as buys
• Could the ANZ share price really offer more than 20% upside?
• Why did the ANZ share price have such a stellar run today?
• Here are the top 10 ASX 200 shares today

Motley Fool contributor James Mickleboro has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. 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 Scott Phillips.

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Zip Co Ltd (ASX: ZIP) shares are in focus as buy now, pay later (BNPL) companies look to improve their businesses. Block Inc (ASX: SQ2) shares are also in the spotlight as the company plans for growth.

Different businesses can reach in different ways, as they think about the best way to traverse the difficult economic situation that is happening with inflation and rising interest rates.

As reported by my colleague Mitchell Lawler, Zip is working on its ‘Operation Blue Sky’ plan. This looks to reduce business costs and make Zip economically viable without needing external capital.

What are the goals of this plan?

They include “the removal of $30 million in employee costs, stepping back global expansion, conducting more stringent lending scrutiny, and holding off on new product launches,” as my colleague put it.

How is Zip going with profitability?

In the fourth quarter of FY22, Zip said its cash transaction margin remained “strong” at 2.4%. This is up from 2.3% in the third quarter.

The company has been focused on improving its unit economics. It’s been taking action to deliver better credit outcomes across credit decisioning, portfolio management, and collections.

In the United States, Zip’s actions have helped it trend towards short-term targets despite “further deterioration in consumer confidence and the external environment”.

Zip US saw loss rates decrease to 2.7% of total transaction value (TTV). It exited the quarter with an expected loss rate of 2.2% for the late June cohort.

Management expects continued fine-tuning and optimisation will mean losses go below the target of 2% on a cohort basis before the end of 2022.

In Australia, the company experienced “a peak” in losses, with previous actions taken now “positively” impacting performance. This has resulted in a decrease in arrears roll rates, which is a forward indicator of losses. Zip expects the losses to trend down over the course of FY23.

Zip also decided not to go ahead with the acquisition of Sezzle Inc (ASX: SZL) so it would reach breakeven faster and earlier than anticipated.

Profitability could be important for Zip shares to regain some of their lost ground in 2022.

How does Block plan to deal with this environment?

For Block, which owns Afterpay, the business has three areas of focus. These are designed to allow Block to both grow and be resilient through what’s happening.

Block chief financial officer Amrita Ahuja explained:

There’s three top strategic investments for the Square business for some years now and into 2022. [These] are growing up market with larger sellers, who we’ve seen generally have greater resilience through macro volatility, growing our omni channel capabilities, which obviously again helps us navigate shifts in spending patterns across channels; and growing globally, which enables us to see a broader range of sellers, including outside of the United States.

And ultimately, it’s that breadth of these systems, including the Square ecosystem, which has enabled us to be resilient through macro changes as we’ve seen, even during the pandemic, which obviously impacted the Square business particularly, and has enabled us to grow at a pace faster than the broader industry.

Foolish takeaway

Zip shares are down 75% in 2022. Time will tell whether the BNPL player is able to recapture investor positivity.

Zip is working hard on improving its profitability, so we’ll see how successful it is at that.

Zip will report its full-year FY22 results on 25 August.

The post How does Zip’s ‘Operation Blue Sky’ stack up against Block’s battening down of the hatches? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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More reading

• Why is the Zip share price behaving so strangely on the ASX today?
• Here are the top 10 ASX 200 shares today
• Why is the Zip share price tumbling 6% on Tuesday?
• Could Block’s ‘superpower’ be an Achilles’ heel for Zip shares?
• These are the 10 most shorted ASX shares

Motley Fool contributor Tristan Harrison has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has positions in and has recommended Block, Inc. and ZIPCOLTD FPO. The Motley Fool Australia has positions in and has recommended Block, Inc. 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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On Thursday, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) snapped its winning streak with a small decline. The benchmark index fell 0.2% to 7,112.8 points.

Will the market be able to bounce back from this on Friday and end the week on a high? Here are five things to watch:

ASX 200 expected to rise

The Australian share market looks set to end the week on a mildly positive note. This is despite it being a poor night of trade on Wall Street. According to the latest SPI futures, the ASX 200 is expected to open 10 points or 0.15% higher this morning. In afternoon trade in the United States, the Dow Jones is down 0.3%, the S&P 500 is down 0.1%, and the Nasdaq is trading flat.

Oil prices push higher

Energy producers such as Beach Energy Ltd (ASX: BPT) and Woodside Energy Group Ltd (ASX: WDS) could have a good finish to the week after oil prices strengthened overnight. According to Bloomberg, the WTI crude oil price is up 2% to US$89.91 a barrel and the Brent crude oil price is up 2.3% to US$95.83 a barrel. Traders were bidding oil higher after data showed that US crude stocks fell materially more than expected last week.

Cochlear results

The Cochlear Limited (ASX: COH) share price will be one to watch on Friday. This morning the hearing solutions company is scheduled to release its full year results. According to a note out of Citi, its analysts are expecting the company to report a net profit after tax of $299 million. This is ahead of the market consensus estimate of $287.9 million.

Gold price edges lower

Gold miners including Newcrest Mining Ltd (ASX: NCM) and St Barbara Ltd (ASX: SBM) could have a reasonably subdued finish to the week after the gold price edged lower overnight. According to CNBC, the spot gold price is down 0.3% to US$1,771.50 an ounce. A stronger US dollar appears to be weighing on the precious metal. In other news, Newcrest is scheduled to release its results today.

Xero remains a buy

According to analysts at Goldman Sachs, the Xero Limited (ASX: XRO) share price remains good value following the cloud accounting company’s trading update. This morning the broker retained its buy rating with a slightly trimmed price target of $111.00. While the broker acknowledges that its UK subscriber weakness persists, it expects the issues causing this to be resolved soon.

The post 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Friday appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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More reading

• 3 ASX 200 shares inking new multi-year highs today
• Why did the Coles share price just smash its all-time high?
• Here are the top 10 ASX 200 shares today
• Why Blackmores, Codan, Lake Resources, and Xero shares are falling today
• Here are the 3 most heavily traded ASX 200 shares on Thursday

Motley Fool contributor James Mickleboro has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has positions in and has recommended Cochlear Ltd. and Xero. The Motley Fool Australia has positions in and has recommended Xero. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Cochlear Ltd. 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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Looking for some small cap shares to add to your portfolio? Then have a look at the two listed below.

Here’s why analysts think they could be in the buy zone:

Readytech Holdings Ltd (ASX: RDY)

The first highly rated small cap ASX share to look at is ReadyTech. It is an enterprise software company serving market verticals including higher education and local government.

ReadyTech has been growing at a strong rate for several years and continued this trend in FY 2022. Earlier this week, the company reported a 56.5% in revenue to $78.3 million and 45.5% jump in underlying EBITDA to $28.6 million.

Another positive was that the company’s recurring revenue increased to 76% of total revenue from 65% a year earlier. This bodes well for the future and helped underpin an increase in the company’s FY 2026 organic revenue target to over $160 million. This is more than double its current revenue.

In response to the update, the team at Goldman Sachs reiterated its buy rating with a $4.30 price target. Goldman believes that ReadyTech “remains materially undervalued relative to profitable SaaS peers.”

Serko Ltd (ASX: SKO)

Another small cap ASX share to consider is Serko. It is the online travel booking and expense management provider behind Zeno Travel and Zeno Expense platforms.

The company’s Zeno Travel platform provides artificial intelligence-powered end-to-end travel itineraries, cost control, and travel policy compliance to corporate customers. Whereas the Zeno Expense platform allows businesses to automate and streamline their expense administration function, identify out-of-policy expense claims, and prevent fraud.

It also has a game-changing deal with travel booking giant Booking.com which is beginning to take shape now COVID headwinds are easing. It is partly for this reason that Citi is very positive on Serko.

So much so, it currently has a high risk buy rating and $5.10 price target on its shares.

The post 2 exciting small cap ASX shares that analysts rate as buys appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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More reading

• ReadyTech share price slips despite earnings increase
• 2 exciting ASX tech shares to buy now according to analysts
• ‘The smaller you get, the worse the performance has been’: Should ASX small-cap shares be avoided right now?
• Experts name 2 exciting small cap ASX shares to buy with huge upside potential
• Experts name 2 ASX growth shares to buy

Motley Fool contributor James Mickleboro has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has positions in and has recommended Readytech Holdings Ltd and Serko Ltd. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Readytech Holdings Ltd and Serko Ltd. 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 market may have closed lower today but that has not stopped three ASX 200 shares from hitting new multi-year highs.

The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) slipped 0.2%, with most sectors closing in the red on Thursday.

But it isn’t all bad news – especially not for the Brambles Limited (ASX: BXB) share price. Shares in the logistics group jumped 3.6% to a two-and-a-half-year high of $12.84.

Strong results pushing this ASX 200 share to a high

Brambles continued to bask in the afterglow of its pleasing full-year results, which were released yesterday. Not only did it manage to deliver a 9% constant currency increase in sales to US$5.6 billion, but it also delivered fatter margins.

The global supply chain indigestion could not derail the company’s growth – showing how defensive its business is.

How important Brambles is to its customers is also evident in the fact that it could push through price increases during these volatile economic times.

Burning bright ahead of profit results

Another ASX 200 share that reached for the sky today was the Whitehaven Coal Ltd (ASX: WHC) share price.

Shares in the coal miner gained 2.2% to $6.93 – which is a more than 10-year high. Investors are banking on great things when it hands in its profit results later this month.

Expectations are set high as energy prices have soared following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. A coal shortage in China is giving the miner an extra boost too.

The positive macroeconomic backdrop helped this ASX 200 miner achieve a record average coal price of $514 a tonne in the June quarter.

Whitehaven is expecting its FY22 earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) to hit around $3 billion. That’s 15 times what it made the year before!

The ASX 200 share that hit a record high

The Coles Group Ltd (ASX: COL) share price is the third ASX 200 share scaling new heights. The supermarket giant inched up 0.4% to hit a record high of $19.38 on Thursday.

Coles is yet to release its full-year results, but investors are feeling confident about a good outcome. While most companies are feeling the heat from high inflation, supermarkets benefit from higher prices. This is because they can charge more at the checkout, which means increased sales.

The March quarter sales update from Coles showed as much. Its supermarkets delivered a 3.9% increase in sales when compared to the same period last year.

Throw in the fact that consumer staple shares like Coles have defensive qualities, and you can understand the attraction given rising rates and a slowing economy.

The post 3 ASX 200 shares inking new multi-year highs today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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More reading

• Why did the Coles share price just smash its all-time high?
• Here are the top 10 ASX 200 shares today
• Here are the 3 most heavily traded ASX 200 shares on Thursday
• Why are ASX 200 coal shares having such a top run on Thursday?
• Why is the Zip share price behaving so strangely on the ASX today?

Motley Fool contributor Brendon Lau has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has positions in and has recommended COLESGROUP DEF SET. 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 NRW Holdings Limited (ASX: NWH) share price had a huge day today.

NRW shares lifted 6.25% to $2.38 before entering a trading halt. In late afternoon, the construction and mining contractor released an announcement related to a takeover plan.

Let’s take a look at what took place today.

What happened?

NRW entered a trading halt today pending a response to media speculation. Rumours emerged that NRW had launched a takeover offer of Maca Ltd (ASX: MLD), The Australian reported.

However, just before market close, NRW advised Maca had knocked back its proposal.

NRW confirmed it approached the board of Maca with a confidential merger proposal on 11 August. Under the deal, NRW would have acquired all of Maca’s shares for $1.085 per share.

However, NRW said Maca “does not consider the merger proposal as superior to the current conditional Thiess takeover offer”.

As my Foolish colleague Brooke reported at the time, Thiess launched a $350 million takeover bid at 1.025 per share in July.

Commenting on today’s news, NRW managing director Jules Pemberton said: “We are disappointed that the Board of MACA has indicated that it is not willing to entertain our compelling proposal.”

NRW share price lifts on earnings

Earlier today, NRW reported full-year financial results. Highlights included:

• Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) lifted 2% on FY21 to $272.4 million
• EBITA lifted 30.1% on the previous year to $157 million.
• Statutory net profit of $97.4 million, a 79.4% boost
• Normalised earnings per share of 22.5 cents, a 30.3% lift on FY21
• Fully franked dividend of 7 cents per share, a 40% lift in FY21

The EBITA result was higher than the previously forecast guidance of between $150 and $155 million.

Depreciation and amortisation fell 21% as a result of the sale of Boggabri assets in July 2021.

During the year, NRW secured “major order wins”, boosting the order book to a record $5.2 billion.

What did management say?

Commenting on the results, NRW managing director and CEO Jules Pemberton said:

These are the best results NRW have reported despite the challenging conditions the business has encountered over the last 12 months.

Apart from the earnings highlight, the strong cashflow underlines the quality of those earnings and our ability to deliver a disciplined approach to balance sheet management

What’s ahead?

NRW is predicting FY23 EBITDA in the range of $162 million to $172 million. This assumes projects will face current resource and supply chain pressures. NRW expects these pressures could ease during the 2023 financial year.

NRW has secured $2.3 billion worth of work for the FY23.

Share price snapshot

The NRW share price has soared nearly 43% in the past year and 35% in the year to date.

NRW has a market capitalisation of nearly $1.1 billion based on the current share price.

The post Results and trading halts: What went down for the NRW share price on Thursday? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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More reading

• 3 ASX All Ordinaries shares celebrating Friday with new 52-week highs
• NRW share price leaps 11% on guidance upgrade for FY22
• Why Appen, Centuria Industrial, NRW, and Sayona Mining shares are pushing higher
• Maca share price leaps 23% on Thiess takeover news

Motley Fool contributor Monica O’Shea has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. 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 Scott Phillips.

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