Tag: Motley Fool

The National Australia Bank Ltd (ASX: NAB) share price is underperforming those of its peers on Tuesday following the release of the bank’s quarterly trading update.

The bank’s stock has recovered slightly after opening 3.7% lower at $29.56.

The NAB share price is currently $29.69, 3.32% lower than it was at Monday’s close.

For context, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is up 0.04% right now while the S&P/ASX 200 Financials Index (ASX: XFJ) has slumped 0.96%. Most of the major ASX 200 bank shares are also in the red today, slipping between 0.3% and 1.4%, aside from Macquarie Group Ltd (ASX: MQG), which is posting a 0.81% gain at the time of writing.

Let’s take a look at the news weighing on the NAB share price today.

NAB share price falls on quarterly update

The NAB share price is sliding despite the bank posting higher profits and cash earnings for the three months ended 30 June than it did in the same period of 2021.

However, as The Motley Fool Australia’s James Mickleboro reported earlier today, the bank revised its financial year 2022 cost growth guidance once again. It now expects its cost growth to come in at around 3% to 4%.

The bank also revealed its net interest margin (NIM) was “slightly lower” last quarter, driven downwards by markets and treasury. Excluding markets and treasury, it was up slightly amid higher interest rates.

UBS analyst John Story was quoted by The Australian as saying the bank’s NIM “may be a bit disappointing in the context of some banks which have already reported, but the underlying margin trend is as expected”.

Story also reportedly said the update was “very much in line with consensus with few surprises”.

NAB reported $1.85 billion of unaudited statutory profit for the quarter – a 12% increase on that of the prior corresponding period (pcp).

It also boasted $1.8 billion of cash earnings – a 6% lift – and a CET1 ratio of 11.6%.

The post NAB share price lags other ASX 200 banks following quarterly update appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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More reading

• NAB share price in focus following $1.8bn Q3 cash profit and cost growth revision
• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Tuesday
• Here is the RBA interest rate outlook according to ASX 200 banks
• Is the NAB share price a buy ahead of next week’s quarterly update?
• How are ASX 200 bank shares responding to the RBA rate increase?

Motley Fool contributor Brooke Cooper 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 recommended Macquarie Group 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 CSL Limited (ASX: CSL) share price is edging higher following the completion of the company’s latest acquisition.

In earlier trading, shares in the global biotech reached $298.49, up 0.96% on yesterday’s closing price. They have since fallen back to $295.70, up 0.02%.

In contrast, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is hovering 0.03% down at 7,018 points.

CSL adds Vifor Pharma to its books

After receiving all the required regulatory clearances last week, CSL has effectively taken over Vifor Pharma AG.

The acquisition comes after CSL announced a lengthy delay back in May due to some antitrust issues.

However, with the deal now settled, CSL currently holds more than 97% of Vifor shares. At the same time, these shares will soon be removed as management will apply to delist them post-close.

The remaining 3% os stock is expected to be cancelled in accordance with Swiss takeover rules.

With the $16 billion deal completed, CSL has access to Vifor Pharma’s iron deficiency, dialysis, and nephrology & rare products divisions.

CSL’s upcoming results are scheduled to be released on Wednesday 17 August. Of course, they won’t include any earnings from Vifor Pharma.

However, adding a global pharmaceuticals company will undoubtedly boost CSL’s financial profile in the H1 FY23 period.

CEO of Vifor Pharma Abbas Hussain commented:

…I am full of confidence that Vifor Pharma will have a successful future as part of a larger, global organization. This will allow us to accelerate growth and to successfully drive multiple product launches as we continue to help even more patients around the world live better, healthier lives.

It’s worth noting that CSL will hold a dedicated market briefing on 17 October. Management will discuss Vifor Pharma’s growth strategy and provide insights into its product portfolio as well as its financials.

CSL share price review

Following a broader recovery on the ASX, the CSL share price climbed 2.7% in the past month.

When looking at year-to-date, CSL shares are down 0.09%.

CSL is the third-largest company on the ASX. Its market capitalisation is $142.41 billion.

The post CSL share price climbs as $16 billion Vifor acquisition becomes effective appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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More reading

• ‘Excited about the pipeline’: Why Wilson says the CSL share price is in the buy zone right now
• 3 ASX 200 shares to buy for a post-COVID resurgence: experts
• Up 8% in July, is there more upside in the CSL share price this earnings season?
• Why Citi just became even more bullish on the CSL share price
• What’s going on with the CSL share price on Tuesday?

Motley Fool contributor Aaron Teboneras 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 CSL Ltd. 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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Is there anything more important than profit, when it comes to judging a company’s performance and prospects?

It is, at the end of the day, what’s left over for shareholders. And the higher the better, thank you very much!

Even those companies currently burning cash are aiming for a profitable future, as are their shareholders.

If money makes the world go ‘round, profits make the journey much more satisfying!

Accounting might be the language of business, but profits are its love language.

The financial statements are English, but earnings are pure French!

Aren’t they?

Of course they are.

But, what if…

What if those profits are just some selective – creative? – accounting?

You know, throw in some depreciation, a decent whack of amortisation, perhaps the reversal of some previous provisions for bad debts and capitalise some IT spending…

It reminds me of the old joke about the accountants going for the job. When asked ‘What’s two plus two?’, most answered ‘Four’. The guy who got the job replied “What do you want it to be?”

That’s a little unfair, of course. Most companies are on the level.

But there’s still a good chunk of – let’s call it ‘discretion’ – when it comes to deciding what numbers go where in the Profit & Loss Statement.

So, it’s worth being careful.

“Ah”, you say,” I already knew that. Cash is king!”

And you’re right.

Sort of.

Let’s take a company that spends up big every 10 years to replace some really expensive machinery.

In that 10th year, there’s a massive cash deficit. In the other 9, a good cash surplus.

So which number should you rely on?

Some sort of mix of both?

Then congratulations – we’ve just re-invented ‘accrual accounting’ and we’re back at the same problem I just mentioned when it comes to profits.

Why am I telling you all this?

Well, because it’s ‘earnings season’, and we’re in the middle of an onslaught of results from almost every ASX-listed company.

And because forewarned is forearmed.

See, we’re already seeing – and we’ll see a lot more – companies telling us what happened over the last 6 or 12 months.

And they’re telling us what they want us to hear.

Profit.

Underlying earnings.

Normalised earnings.

Cash profit.

And then there’s the acronyms:

EBIT, EBITDA, NPAT, NOPAT, EPS…

You’d almost be forgiven for thinking they just want us to be so bamboozled that we swallow whatever they want us to hear, huh?

Now, I’ve had some fun with it.

But I’m serious.

I’m no cynic – I’m a believer in the power of democratic capitalism, and the mechanism of the market as the best (or least worst) way for companies to raise capital, and for us all to share in the march of progress.

But I also think it pays to be sceptical.

Many CEOs and boards are on the level – telling it how it is, and treating shareholders as owners and partners.

But some… well, let’s just say the incentives and self-delusion are powerful at the pointy end of capitalism.

No CEO gets there without a very significant helping of self-confidence and self-belief.

No investor relations flack gets a bonus by telling the boss to stop spinning the results.

Few board members want to ‘fess up to bad news, preferring to tell us all about the exciting plans for the future.

And so it goes.

A tiny, tiny minority are outright crooks.

A few are suspending their own disbelief in the crusade for the holy grail.

Some are trying to get the share price up, believing that’s what shareholders want (and they’re often right!), despite the reality of their businesses.

Some are going to call it straight – telling us, in Warren Buffett’s words, what they’d want to know if our positions were reversed.

The hard part?

Think about this: The CEO gilding the lily (to one extent or another) is often more persuasive than the person telling the unvarnished truth.

Why?

Because that’s how they get the job in the first place. The board falls for the charismatic executive with a silver tongue and big plans.

And hey, it’s not a lie if you believe it, I guess…

That’s the challenge of analysing management, when it comes to investing.

It’s something that our investment team spends a lot of time thinking and talking about.

Some people love meeting management teams. It feels good to have access and to ask the hard questions. It can convince you that you’re more informed than you were before.

But, again, few CEOs are poor salespeople. And they almost all believe fervently in their mission.

So it’s a rare analyst or investor who leaves a meeting with management less impressed than when they went in.

Which doesn’t mean it’s necessarily a bad thing – just that you need to be mentally and emotionally prepared.

Most CEOs are likeable. They tell a good story. A convincing story. Usually (almost always) because they believe it themselves.

But history shows that some of the most confident company bosses still deliver terrible – or just mediocre – results.

In other words… be careful of who and what you listen to.

Weigh it appropriately. Discount it, knowing you’ll be prone to believing what you hear.

And look for a few things:

Candour with good and bad news.

Alignment with shareholders.

Track record.

That’s not a fail-safe formula. You’ll still be disappointed in the results, sometimes.

No-one is perfect, and your investment may not work out – for any number of reasons.

But remember, investing is a probabilistic pursuit.

You want to be right as often as possible, of course, but your measurement is the overall portfolio result – not an arithmetic ‘strike rate’.

After all, I’d rather be right six times out of ten, and earn 15% per annum, overall, than be right 9 times out of 10 and earn 6.5% p.a.

I hope you would too.

One of the best ways to do that? Keep the, ahem, BS filter finely tuned.

Especially during earnings season.

Fool on!

The post Don’t believe everything the CEO says appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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More reading

• CSL share price climbs as $16 billion Vifor acquisition becomes effective
• Are AMP shareholders heading for a $1 billion pay day?
• Why Polkadot, Solana, and Cardano are 3 altcoins in focus today
• Why is the Incannex share price spiking 8% on Tuesday?
• News Corporation share price flies 6% higher on  FY22 earnings surge

Motley Fool contributor Scott Phillips 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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Could AMP Ltd (ASX: AMP) shareholders be heading for a $1 billion payday?

Maybe, according to analysts at broker Ord Minnett.

They noted that following major asset sales in FY22, AMP shareholders could benefit from buybacks after the financial services company has paid down debt.

A billion dollars in capital returns?

In April this year, AMP shares got a big lift when the company sold its funds management branch, formerly AMP Capital and rebranded to Collimate Capital.

Collimate was divested in two parts.

International digital infrastructure firm DigitalBridge acquired Collimate’s international infrastructure equity business for some $699 million.

In turn, Dexus Property Group (ASX: DXS) acquired Collimate’s real estate funds management and domestic infrastructure equity businesses.

As the Motley Fool reported at the time, the combined sales were expected to bring AMP a net capital increase of around $1.1 billion.

The company stated it intended to return most of the funds to shareholders through a capital return as well as pay down some of its debt.

Commenting on the logic behind the divestments, AMP CEO Alexis George said:

Post completion of the two sales, AMP Limited will be a more focused entity, concentrated on driving our core banking and retail wealth businesses in Australia and New Zealand, with a core objective of accelerating our strategy and increasing our competitiveness.

Analysts at Ord Minnett (as reported by The Australian) estimate that REA will use around $400 million of the $1.8 billion it garnered from asset sales to pay down its debt. That leaves the lion’s share of the funds available for capital returns through a share buyback.

Ord Minnett estimated AMP will have a net tangible asset value of $1.35 per share after the recent asset sales. It’s currently trading for $1.17 per share.

How have AMP shares been tracking?

After a difficult few years, AMP shares have outperformed the benchmark this past year.

Over the past 12 months, the AMP share price is up 9% compared to a 7% loss posted by the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO).

The post Are AMP shareholders heading for a $1 billion pay day? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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More reading

• Here are the top 10 ASX 200 shares today
• Up 13% in July, can the AMP share price maintain its momentum?
• Here’s the good news about bear markets
• The AMP share price has surged 9% so far this month. Can it keep going?
• ‘Ready to compete’: Will AMP seek out new opportunities or stick to its knitting?

Motley Fool contributor Bernd Struben 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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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.

What happened

Today’s price action among various altcoins that have outpaced the broader market by a wide margin are grabbing attention. As of noon ET, Polkadot (CRYPTO: DOT), Solana (CRYPTO: SOL), and Cardano (CRYPTO: ADA) are tokens that are gaining steam, surging 7.2%, 5.1%, and 2.7%, respectively, over the past 24 hours. 

Amid a range of bullish catalysts that have taken the cryptocurrency sector higher, many investors remain focused on Ethereum‘s upcoming Merge. With this update set to revolutionize the world’s largest decentralized finance (DeFi) ecosystem via a move to proof-of-stake consensus validation, other proof-of-stake altcoins are starting to pick up steam as Ethereum alternatives.

Polkadot’s surge appears to be tied to recent reports that the Web3 Foundation exceeded 400 project grants on Polkadot. This suggests that Polkadot’s ecosystem growth rate could be better than many investors expect. 

Solana has moved higher, brushing off concerns around a controversial report released this past weekend that indicated much of the DeFi growth the Solana ecosystem may have seen over the past year was fraudulent. Investors are instead seemingly choosing to focus on the positives with Solana today, including bullish commentary from a Solana Labs co-founder around the future of the non-fungible token sector, and where Solana fits into this future.

Finally, Cardano has continued to battle headwinds of its own, tied to delays with the network’s Vasil hard fork. However, data showing a surge in Cardano wallets (to more than 3.5 million), and developer interest in the Cardano blockchain (which makes this among the most developed blockchains in the world), is prompting buying interest from investors today.

So what

Polkadot, Solana, and Cardano are three projects that have been called “Ethereum killer” projects in the past, due to the ecosystem growth they have seen over time. Despite broad-based token price declines in the crypto sector, activity on these blockchains has certainly enticed investors to stay invested during this period of volatility. If activity is any gauge, these altcoins could be poised for outsize strength during the next crypto rebound, which may or may not be underway right now.

That said, concerns around the quality of the data currently being published on the crypto sector does provide investors with some pause. Reports that Solana developers may have been able to fake total value locked metrics makes differentiating crypto projects with “real” growth versus those with exaggerated growth more of a task.

Now what

This risk-on rally we’ve seen play out in recent weeks has led to impressive rallies across a number of select cryptocurrencies. The extent to which this crypto rally, which has more than kept pace with the rise in stocks of late, can continue remains to be seen.

That said, these three projects are ones worth keeping on the radar. For long-term investors looking for growth, these cryptos are ones with growth data that appears to support a growing valuation over time. 

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

The post Why Polkadot, Solana, and Cardano are 3 altcoins in focus today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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More reading

• Bitcoin or Cardano: which crypto is most widely held among Aussies in 2022?
• Why is the Solana price sinking today?
• Why crypto and Coinbase dropped on Thursday
• Solana Foundation slapped with class action lawsuit alleging SOL is a security
• Does this crypto rally have legs?

Chris MacDonald has positions in Ethereum and Solana.  The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has positions in and has recommended Solana. 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.

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

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The Incannex Healthcare Ltd (ASX: IHL) share price has jumped from the opening gate on Tuesday.

At the time of writing, Incannex was trading nearly 8% higher at 28 cents a share following the release of a company presentation.

It’s a welcome gain for the medicinal cannabis company which has seen its share price plunge 55% over the past few months.

The chart below shows the Incannex share price plotted against the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) for the past 12 months of trading.

What did Incannex release?

The company posted an overview of its assets, operations, and unique value proposition in the presentation released today.

Incannex described its intellectual property’s “six categories of opportunity”.

The company said it covers a potential $290 billion addressable market estimate for its lead drug candidates and $2 billion per year in potential revenue from psychedelic treatment therapies.

One of Incannex’s lead drug candidates is IHL-42X, indicated in the treatment of obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA).

The OSA devices market is valued at US$10 billion, Incannex said, and it’s projected to grow at 6.2% annually.

The drug candidate has made inroads in providing a novel solution to OSA, with data from clinical trials holding up well from a safety and efficacy standpoint.

So much so, the patent application for the drug “was considered ‘novel and inventive’ by [the] international patent examiner”, Incannex said.

Incannex also noted it had a cash position of $37.5 million as of 30 June 2022 after raising $24 million in an equity raising in Mary 2022.

Those shares were issued at 35 cents a piece, a decent notch above the company’s current share price.

The Incannex share price has clipped a 4% gain these past 12 months.

The post Why is the Incannex share price spiking 8% on Tuesday? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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More reading

• ‘World’s largest portfolio’: Why this ASX cannabis share is up 36% in August
• Why Core Lithium, European Lithium, Incannex, and Qantas shares are pushing higher
• The Incannex share price has plunged 70% so far in 2022. What’s gone so wrong?
• 3 ASX All Ordinaries shares going great guns on Thursday
• Green shoots or just weeds? The outlook for ASX cannabis shares in FY23

Motley Fool contributor Zach Bristow 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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The News Corporation (ASX: NWS) share price opened 6% higher today after posting big jumps across the company’s top line and bottom line for FY22. 

News Corp shares are going for $25.755 apiece at the time of writing, 6.12% higher than yesterday’s closing price of $24.27 a share.

Let’s check the media giant’s full-year results. 

What did News Corp report? 

The ASX-listed news media publishing company pulled in total revenue of $10.39 billion, an 11% increase on FY21. Excluding one-off items like acquisitions, divestitures, and foreign currency impact, revenue rose by 8%. 

A stellar performance in News Corp’s digital real estate services (REA Group and Realtor.com) and financial news (Wall Street Journal and Barrons) segments were the key driving forces, posting increases in revenue of 25% and 18% respectively. 

The above segments offset a 2% fall in subscription video revenue. This was primarily due to a substantial dip in residential broadcast subscribers and Foxtel Now subscribers. 

On a segment level, total earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortisation (EBITDA) came in at $1.67 billion, a 31% lift on FY21. 

The same divisions spearheaded the surge in EBITDA. Digital real estate services and the financial news segments experienced improvements of 12% and 30% in EBITDA respectively. 

However, subscription video services fell flat in terms of EBITDA. 

Overall, News Corp’s net income for FY22 was $760 million, beating last year’s figure of $389 million by 95%. 

Management buoyed by results

There was much positive commentary about News Corp’s results for the year. However, I would treat the following comments with a degree of scepticism. 

News Corp CEO Robert Thomson said:

Foxtel’s renaissance continued, as streaming revenues from Kayo and BINGE offset broadcast declines during the year. While down slightly for the year due to currency fluctuations, both revenue and profitability were markedly higher on an adjusted basis.

Foxtel Now total subscribers and paid subscribers both dropped by 27,000 and 25,000 respectively. In the future, closer attention should be paid to these numbers. 

In addition, whilst Kayo and BINGE have recorded solid growth in subscribers, the battle for streaming eyeballs continues to heat up. 

The fall in Netflix (NASDAQ: NFLX) subscribers this year could be a telltale sign of the challenges facing streaming service providers. 

What’s next for News Corp? 

As reported in the Australian Financial Review, News Corp Chief Financial Officer Susan Panuccio advised investors the company would continue to work on cost control in light of supply chain and inflation pressures.

These comments were directed at the potential adverse impact on advertising revenue. Panuccio said: 

We will take necessary action to address those pressures including pricing adjustments, together with our ongoing focus on cost management. Visibility on advertising remains limited across the businesses and we continue to expect foreign exchange headwinds given the current spot rates for the Australian dollar and pound sterling compared to the prior year.

The clouded outlook for advertising makes it challenging to forecast future revenue. This is probably one reason for News Corp’s historically cyclical results. 

My thoughts on the News Corp share price

The News Corp share price has dropped 21% in the last 12 months, far underperforming the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO). Across the same period, the ASX 200 has declined by 6%. 

News Corp has been a benefactor of the digital media tailwind as people move away from physical news publications. As a result, gross margins have steadily risen in the last decade. 

However, margin and cost improvements can only take a company so far. Great companies often find ways to generate consistent and sustainable top and bottom line growth.

In News Corp’s case, advertising revenue is primarily dictated by macroeconomic forces. When times are good, businesses have more to spend on advertising but this quickly gets flipped when times are bad. 

These are some of the factors to consider when assessing the long-term outlook of News Corp. 

The post <strong>News Corporation share price flies 6% higher on  FY22 earnings surge</strong> appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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More reading

• Why is the Incannex share price spiking 8% on Tuesday?
• Megaport share price rises as revenue lifts 40%
• Guess how much Woolworths shares have paid in dividends over the last 5 years
• AGL share price down amid Fortescue Future Industries hydrogen hub news
• Why US growth stocks jumped today

Motley Fool contributor Raymond Jang 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 Netflix. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Netflix. 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 Megaport Ltd (ASX: MP1) share price is jumping today on the back of the company’s FY22 results.

The network as a service (NaaS) company’s share price is currently trading at $8.95, a 9.54% gain. In contrast, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is up 0.05% today.

Let’s take a look at what Megaport reported to the market.

Megaport reports an overall loss despite revenue boost

Highlights of Megaport’s FY22 results include:

• Net loss of $48.5 million, a 12% improvement on the $55 million loss in FY21
• Revenue of $109.7 million, 40% more than last year.
• Monthly Recurring Revenue (MRR) leapt 43% on previous year to $10.7 million
• Normalised EBITDA loss of $10.2 million, a 23% improvement on the $13.3 million loss last year
• No dividend declared

What else did the company report?

The 40% revenue boost was driven by a boost in customers and service uptake. The highest growth was seen in North America, where revenue jumped 49% in FY22.

Megaport highlighted its MRR growth outperforming revenue growth shows “acceleration towards the end of the year”.

While EBITDA was a loss for the year, in the fourth quarter Megaport delivered EBITDA profit for the first time.

The total number of customers grew 16% on the previous financial year to 2,643.

The total number of services sold lifted 26% to 27,383, while total ports jumped 24% to 9,545.

Management has decided to reduce the workforce to lower costs and prepare for rising prices and inflation. A total of 35 positions have been made redundant at a cost of $1.6 million.

Management comment

In a letter to shareholders, chief executive officer Vincent English said:

A key indicator of the value of the Megaport platform for customers is service adoption. Average services per customer increased 9% in fiscal year 2022. We drive more value by delivering features that allow customers to take greater control of their traffic and ease the job of getting connected.

The team is highly aligned to grow our business through geographic expansion to key new markets, ongoing product innovation, and operational efficiencies. This will drive profitability, sustainability, and ultimately value to our shareholders, partners, and customers

What’s ahead

Megaport said the decision to reduce the workforce places the company in “the best possible position for revenue growth in FY23.

The company sees “strong momentum” heading into FY23.

Commenting on the future outlook, chairman Bevan Slattery said:

Our company’s innovation roadmap will continue to focus on automation and orchestration of network capacity, network function virtualization, and IT services discovery.

Megaport share price snapshot

The Megaport share price has descended 52% in the year to date and 48% in the past year.

But in the past month, Megaport shares have soared 37%.

For perspective, the benchmark ASX 200 index has lost 7% in the past year.

The post Megaport share price rises as revenue lifts 40% appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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More reading

• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Tuesday
• These are the 10 most shorted ASX shares
• Worried about how ASX 200 tech shares might perform this earnings season? Here’s what to watch
• Here are the top 10 ASX 200 shares today
• Why is the Megaport share price lifting 6% on Thursday?

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 positions in and has recommended MEGAPORT FPO. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended MEGAPORT FPO. 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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Woolworths Group Ltd (ASX: WOW) shares are well known to offer decent dividends.

Indeed, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) company has been paying out a portion of its profits to shareholders since it listed on the ASX in 1993.

And on top of paying out regular dividends, the supermarket operator’s stock has been a notably strong performer.

Over the last five years, the Woolworths share price has gained 68%, rising from $22.76 to trade at $38.34 today.

When considering that meteoric rise as well as the company’s dividends, how well have Woolies investors done over the last half-decade? Let’s take a look.

How much have Woolworths shares paid in dividends since 2017?

Here’s a recap of all the dividends Woolworths has offered its shareholders over the half-decade just been:

ANZ Dividend	Amount offered	Franking
September 2017	$0.50	100%
March 2018	$0.43	100%
September 2018 (including a 10 cent special dividend)	$0.60	100%
March 2019	$0.45	100%
September 2019	$0.57	100%
March 2020	$0.46	100%
September 2020	$0.48	100%
March 2021	$0.53	100%
September 2021	$0.55	100%
March 2022	$0.39	100%

All those dividends add up to a total of $4.96.

Considering the Woolworths share price has gained $15.58 in that time, long-term investors have fared remarkably well.

They’ve received more than $20 per share of various benefits over the years before considering last year’s spin-off of Endeavour Group Ltd (ASX: EDV).

The supermarket’s investors received one share in its drinks and hotels business for each stock they owned. Endeavour shares are currently trading for $7.87 apiece.

On top of that, all of Woolworths’ dividends in that time were fully franked. That means some investors may have realised additional benefits from the company’s payouts.

And finally, Goldman Sachs tipped Woolworths to pay out 96 cents in dividends in financial year 2022, as my Fool colleague James reported last month.

That assumably means the company’s final dividend is expected to be 57 cents.

The broker also believes the supermarket giant will offer $1.18 in dividends in financial year 2023.

The post Guess how much Woolworths shares have paid in dividends over the last 5 years appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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More reading

• 3 reasons this broker says Woolworths shares are a strong buy
• The Woolworths share price leapt 5% in July, what’s in store now?
• Does rising inflation put the Woolworths share price in the buy zone right now?
• Have Woolworths shares been a market-beating investment over the past 5 years?
• Broker names 2 ASX dividend shares to buy next week

Motley Fool contributor Brooke Cooper 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 Goldman Sachs. 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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The AGL Energy Limited (ASX: AGL) share price is down around 0.5% amid news of progress on the hydrogen hub with Fortescue Metals Group Limited (ASX: FMG).

The two ASX companies are working together to try to get a hydrogen hub up and running in NSW.

AGL and Fortescue are trying to get partners involved to make the hydrogen plans a reality.

According to reporting by The Australian, AGL has managed to bring some key Japanese partners on board. They have also brought on board a local energy giant.

Japanese energy giants

The newspaper reported that two of Japan’s largest energy companies, Inpex Corporation and Osaka Gas have joined an expanded feasibility study that is looking at creating a green hydrogen and ammonia hub at AGL’s Hunter Energy Hub. The plans are for a facility of up to 2GW at the site.

The local player is APA Group (ASX: APA), the owner of a large national pipeline. Distributor Jemma is also reportedly becoming a partner.

Each partner is looking at a different area of the project. The Japanese businesses want to know if cost-competitive green hydrogen is feasible. APA is reportedly thinking about renewable options and a transmission pipeline. Jemma will focus on “blending the fuel into its gas network”.

The hub’s location will be where the Liddell coal plant currently is. Lidell is due to close in the next few months. The nearby Bayswater power station is due to close by 2035.

Green plans

Fortescue Future Industries (FFI) and AGL announced in December that they were going to repurpose the infrastructure at these coal power plants to generate green hydrogen. On the day of the announcement, the AGL share price climbed 1.1%.

Liddell and Bayswater power stations account for more than 40% of NSW’s carbon dioxide emissions. NSW has a goal of halving its emissions by 2030.

Power for the electrolyser will come from new wind and solar. It will be supported by new pumped hydro and power, generated by FFI, AGL and other parties.

At the time of the announcement, FFI CEO Julie Shuttleworth said:

FFI’s collaboration with AGL is an exciting opportunity to explore how to harness existing infrastructure in the Hunter Valley region, fast tracking the production and use of green hydrogen.

Over the next 12 months we will undertake a feasibility study which will identify key operational and commercial projections for the project and enable the development of a production timeline.

The Australian reported on comments made on the expanded feasibility study.

AGL chief operating officer Markus Brokhof said:

The feasibility scope will focus on assessing the accelerated implementation of a large scale production facility from minimum 150MW and up to 2GW of hydrogen and preferred derivatives including ammonia for export and domestic use.

[This hub] will be the first of its kind in Australia and will be an example of how an energy hub can combine grid-scale batteries, solar thermal storage, wind and pumped hydro.

AGL share price snapshot

Over the past month, AGL shares have risen by more than 3%.

According to The Australian, some investors think AGL may need to do a capital raising of up to $1 billion.

It also reported that investors think the earnings outlook for FY23 is unclear because AGL “needs to pay out on energy contracts that it has not been able to fulfil because of outages”.

The post AGL share price down amid Fortescue Future Industries hydrogen hub news appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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More reading

• What’s driving the Fortescue share price to an 8-week high today?
• The iron ore price has slumped 10% in 5 days. Here’s how ASX 200 mining shares have responded.
• Up 5% in a month, is the current Fortescue share price a buy or a sell?
• Why was the AGL share price undercooked in July?
• ‘World’s greatest concern’: Can Fortescue really help the planet AND its profit margin?

Motley Fool contributor Tristan Harrison has positions in Fortescue Metals Group Limited. 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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