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The Ethereum (CRYPTO: ETH) price is down 4% over the past 24 hours, currently trading for US$2,631 (AU$3,682).

That sees the world’s number 2 crypto by market cap, shed 31% of its value so far in the new year. 

And it gets worse. The Ethereum price is now down 46% from its all-time 16 November highs of US$4,892, according to data from CoinMarketCap.

But it’s not just Ether that’s fallen hard this year and plummeted from 2021’s record highs.

Year-to-date, all 20 of the top cryptos by market valuation are deep in the red, in an event being dubbed a new ‘crypto winter’.

Is the crypto winter good for the Ethereum price longer term?

For investors who bought Ether in recent months, watching the Ethereum price spiral lower is unlikely to be perceived as a good thing.

Yet Vitalik Buterin, co-founder of the Ethereum blockchain, points to the longer-term benefits of the big pull back in cryptos.

According to Buterin (quoted by Bloomberg):

The people who are deep into crypto, and especially building things, a lot of them welcome a bear market. They welcome the bear market because when there are these long periods of prices moving up by huge amounts like it does – it does obviously make a lot of people happy – but it does also tend to invite a lot of very short-term speculative attention.

With the Ethereum price down by almost half since November, and in a case of what could be the crypto cream rising to the top, Buterin said, “The winters are the time when a lot of those applications fall away and you can see which projects are actually long-term sustainable, like both in their models and in their teams and their people.”

Cryptos moving in step with risk assets

The falling Ethereum price and losses among other cryptos are in line with the selloff witnessed among tech shares and other high risk assets. 

According to Buterin:

It does feel like the crypto markets kind of flip the switch from being this niche group that’s controlled by a very niche group of participants and it’s fairly disconnected to traditional markets into something that behaves more and more like it is part of the mainstream financial markets

The post Ethereum price down again today as founder touts benefits of ‘crypto winter’ appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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• The Ethereum (CRYPTO:ETH) price tanked this week while this crypto rallied 25%
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• How this tech giant could ‘put booster rockets’ under crypto: expert
• Why is the BetaShares Crypto Innovators ETF (ASX:CRYP) leaping 5% today?

The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns and has recommended Ethereum. The Motley Fool Australia owns and has recommended Ethereum.  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 Dicker Data Ltd (ASX: DDR) share price won’t be going anywhere on Monday.

This morning the IT distributor requested that its shares be placed in a trading halt.

As such, Dicker Data shares are frozen at $14.40. It’s worth noting the company’s shares have gained more than 8% in value in the past month.

Why is the Dicker Data share price halted?

Prior to the market opening, the company requested the Dicker Data share price be halted while it prepares an announcement.

According to the release, the company is planning to make an announcement regarding an acquisition.

Dicker Data has requested that the trading halt remains in place until the release of the announcement or the commencement of trade on Wednesday 23 February, whichever comes first.

What happened?

At this stage, details remain unconfirmed about the company’s latest takeover.

A report from the Australian Financial Review indicates that Dicker Data is set to purchase the security and information technology (SIT) business division from ASX-listed Hills Ltd (ASX: HIL).

Founded in 1945, Hills is a distributor that sources security and network solutions to provide end-to-end solutions for its clients.

While Dicker Data will buy just the Australian business unit, the estimated sale figure is rumoured to be around $20 million.

In FY21, Hills’ SIT division generated $133.7 million in revenue. This comprises security and IT products such as video systems, surveillance, access control, intrusion protection, Wi-Fi, and firewalls.

The latest buy will see Dicker Data become the largest distributor in the segment, acquiring over 50 new vendors.

About the Dicker Data share price

Since this time last year, Dicker Data shares have gained more than 26% in value.

However, in 2022 the company’s shares are down by about 3% following heavy losses on the S&P/ASX All Technology Index (ASX: XTX). The latter has fallen 21% year to date.

Based on valuation grounds, Dicker Data has a market capitalisation of roughly $2.48 billion, with approximately 172 million shares on issue.

The post Why is the Dicker Data (ASX:DDR) share price frozen today? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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• Why CBA, Computershare, Dicker Data, and Temple & Webster shares are on fire today
• Here’s why the Dicker Data (ASX:DDR) share price is having such a great week

Motley Fool contributor Aaron Teboneras owns Dicker Data Limited. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns and has recommended Dicker Data Limited. The Motley Fool Australia owns and has recommended Dicker Data Limited. 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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At lunch on Monday, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is on course to start the week with a decline. The benchmark index is currently down 0.6% to 7,180.6 points.

Here’s what is happening on the ASX 200 today:

AGL takeover offer rejected

The AGL Energy Limited (ASX: AGL) share price is jumping today after it received and rejected a takeover approach. AGL received an unsolicited, preliminary, non-binding indication of interest from a consortium led by Brookfield Asset Management and Atlassian co-founder Mike Cannon-Brookes’ private investment firm, Grok Ventures. However, at $7.50 per share, AGL believes the offer undervalues the company. It intends to push ahead with its demerger plans instead.

Altium shares sink on half year results

The Altium Limited (ASX: ALU) share price is sinking today after the release of its half year results. The electronic design software provider reported a 28% increase in revenue to US$102 million and a 38% lift in net profit after tax to US$23 million. It appears to be the company’s guidance that has disappointed. While management now expects to hit the high end of its revenue guidance, it only expects to achieve the low end of its margin guidance.

A2 Milk half year update

The A2 Milk Company Ltd (ASX: A2M) share price is charging higher today following the release of its half year results. Although the infant formula company reported a 53.3% decline in its net profit to NZ$56 million, management’s upbeat commentary appears to have offset this. It commented: “The Company’s outlook for 2H22 revenue has improved. It is still expected to be significantly higher than 2H21, and with growth now expected on 1H22 and for FY22, ahead of initial expectations due mainly to growth in China label and English label IMF.”

Best and worst ASX 200 performers

The best performer on the ASX 200 on Monday has been the AGL share price with an 11% gain following its takeover approach. Going the other way, the worst performer has been the Altium share price with a 10% decline following its half year update.

The post ASX 200 (ASX:XJO) midday update: AGL rejects takeover offer, A2 Milk shoots higher appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Altium (ASX:ALU) share price sinks 9% on half-year results
• AGL (ASX:AGL) share price up 9% amid takeover approach from Atlassian co-founder and Brookfield
• A2 Milk (ASX:A2M) share price on watch after half year earnings collapse
• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Monday
• These were the best performers on the ASX 200 last week

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. owns and has recommended Altium. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended A2 Milk. 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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Motley Fool Australia Chief Investment Officer Scott Phillips joined Weekend Sunrise on Sunday to discuss the outlook for interest rates and whether it might be time to fix your mortgage. Plus, he talks about Bunnings’ unusually flat results.

The post Time to fix your mortgage? And has Bunnings got the blues? Scott Phillips on Weekend Sunrise appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• ASX 200 (ASX:XJO) midday update: AGL rejects takeover offer, A2 Milk shoots higher
• Ampol share price (ASX:ALD) slips despite highest earnings since 2018 and record sales
• Borders just reopened so why is the Flight Centre (ASX:FLT) share price falling today?
• Super Retail (ASX:SUL) share price crashes 10% after profits plunge
• Why Bitcoin, Ethereum and Dogecoin plunged this weekend

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 owns and has recommended Wesfarmers Limited. 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 Ampol Ltd (ASX: ALD) share price is sliding today after the petroleum company released its results for the 12 months ending 31 December 2021.

At the time of writing, the Ampol share price is down 2.08% at $30.60. Let’s take a closer look.

Ampol shares slide on record fuel sales

Key takeouts from the period in Ampol’s report today include:

• Replacement cost of sales operating profit (RCOP) EBIT up 57% to $631 million delivered against the COVID-19 backdrop; highest result since 2018
• Record total sales volumes of 22.04 billion litres; strong international growth
• Historical cost of operating sales profit (HCOP) profit (statutory profit) of $560 million compared with a loss of $485 million in FY 2020
• Declared a final dividend of 41 cents per share (fully franked), taking the total dividend to 93 cents per share
• Leverage at 1.2 times RCOP earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amotisation EBITDA; $479 million returned to shareholders

What else happened this year for Ampol?

It was a strong 12 months for Ampol, with fuels and infrastructure delivering RCOP EBIT of $417.6 million, representing an increase of 170% on last year.

The company said the result was “underpinned by a strong operating performance at Lytton and earnings growth in our international business”.

For the year, Australian sales volumes totalled 13.05 billion litres in FY21, 4% behind FY20’s result. Ampol says this reflects “the full-year impact of COVID-19 on jet volumes, the impact of rolling lockdowns on Australian retail market demand in the second half, as well as competitor supply chain decisions earlier in the year that adversely impacted net buy/sell volumes”.

Although Australian sales volumes declined, this was offset by growth in international sales to roughly 9 billion litres and, as a result, total group sales volumes notched a record of 22.04 billion litres.

Ampol’s board also declared a fully franked final dividend of 41 cents per share, taking the total dividend to 93 cents per share – an increase from 48 cents per share in FY20.

The company is completing the dividend on a 61% payout ratio of the full-year RCOP net profit after tax (NPAT), to be paid in March 2022.

Management commentary

Speaking on the announcement, Managing Director and CEO of Ampol Matt Halliday said:

Ampol’s strong financial results and record fuel sales reflect the ability of our people to thrive under challenging conditions and demonstrates how our business and earnings can respond to the market recovery. Throughout the year, we focused on managing what we can control. The safety and wellbeing of our people has been paramount during this time, and I am pleased that during a period of ongoing disruption and uncertainty, we have achieved industry top quartile performance for personal safety. Our customers are responding well to the successful return of the iconic Australian Ampol brand, with rebranded sites outperforming our control sites across key performance indicators. As we look ahead, we have a clear strategy to maximise the value of our existing businesses during the energy transition and to diversify and grow our international earnings through the Z Energy acquisition while we prepare for a low carbon future.

What’s next for Ampol?

Regarding its outlook, the company noted that “[g]lobal refining fundamentals have improved through increasing demand for refined products and the structural decline in capacity caused by refinery closures”.

It added that the Lytton refinery is “well positioned to benefit from expansion in refiner margins, with reduced earnings downside through the Fuel Security Services Payment, should the Government Margin Marker fall below a certain level”.

The company also added it is well on track to complete the first steps of the Z Energy Ltd (ASX: ZEL) acquisition and will realise cash flow to earnings in the second half.

“During 2022, we will focus on the three key projects: commencing the rollout of EV charging stations to over 100 sites, a targeted pilot of an Ampol branded electricity offer and deepening our understanding of the hydrogen supply chain”, the company concluded.

Ampol share price snapshot

The Ampol share price has climbed 16% in the last 12 months, rallying 3.5% this year to date. However, in the past week, it has dipped almost 4% into the red.

The company has a market capitalisation of approximately $7.3 billion at its current share price.

The post Ampol share price (ASX:ALD) slips despite highest earnings since 2018 and record sales appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

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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 Bruce Jackson.

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The Flight Centre Travel Group Ltd (ASX: FLT) share price is in the red in morning trade.

Flight Centre shares are down 0.8% to $20.38 per share, having closed Friday at $20.54 per share.

But wait, aren’t Australia’s international borders opening back up today for the first time in almost 2 years?

Travellers are coming back Down Under

The Flight Centre share price is under pressure today despite what should be good news for the travel industry.

Today marks the lifting of Australia’s seemingly interminable international pandemic border closure. Unless you’re trying to travel to or from Western Australia. In which case that will be on 3 March.

Qantas Airways Limited (ASX: QAN) CEO Alan Joyce was encouraged by the development.

As The Australian reported, the airline will see 8 international flights arrive in Australia today. It expects some 14,000 international passengers to fly into Australia’s airports on its planes this week.

According to Joyce, “We can clearly see from the Australian government’s announcement that people are very keen to come back to Australia, and we continue to see strong bookings out of the US and UK, as well as South Africa and Canada.”

More turbulence ahead for the Flight Centre share price?

While Joyce rightfully points to the immediate lift in numbers from the reopening, there appears to be a long way to go before international tourist numbers return to their pre-COVID days.

According to ABC News, January 2020 saw 2.26 million overseas arrivals in Australia. And it could be 3 years before we see those kinds of numbers again.

Margy Osmond, CEO of Tourism and Transport Forum Australia, highlights the long road ahead for the tourist industry. Issues which could throw up more tailwinds to the recovery of the Flight Centre share price.

According to Osmond (quoted by ABC News):

It’s really critical to understand we may never go back to what were pre-pandemic levels. The world of travel has changed globally, it’s not just about Australia, and travel confidence is not what it once was.

Regarding a timeline for the potential return to pre-pandemic levels, Osmond said, “Realistically speaking, I can’t see it as being at a level that there was anything like we were pre-pandemic until two or three years from now.”

Osmond also highlighted issues of a loss of skilled labour in the industry along with stiff competition from other nations.

“This is a completely cutthroat global market now, every country in the world is looking to get those particularly high-yield leisure tourists back,” she said. Osmond added, “We’ve lost a whole generation of some of the most important and skilled workers in the industry.”

Some other unwanted potential turbulence for the Flight Centre share price is the possibility of a shooting war in eastern Europe where tensions between Russia and Ukraine remain high.

And then there’s soaring energy costs. With jet fuel prices hitting decade highs, this could see airlines forced to up their ticket prices, which in turn could impact international tourist numbers.

Flight Centre share price snapshot

The Flight Centre share price has performed strongly in 2022, as domestic travel resumed and investors eyed the return to international travel. Share are up 9% year-to-date compared to a 6% loss posted by the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) in that same period.

Flight Centre shares remain down 42% since 14 February 2020.

The post Borders just reopened so why is the Flight Centre (ASX:FLT) share price falling today? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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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 Flight Centre Travel Group Limited. 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 Super Retail Group Ltd (ASX: SUL) share price is plummeting after the company released its earnings for the first half of financial year 2022.

At the time of writing, the Super Retail Group share price is $11.59, 9.81% lower than its previous close.

Super Retail Group share price plunges alongside profits

• $1.7 billion of sales, excluding Boxing Day – 4% lower than the first half of financial year 2021
• Statutory net profit after tax (NPAT) of $110.8 million – 35% lower
• Earnings per share (EPS) of 49.9 cents – down from 76.7 cents
• Segment earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortisation (EBITDA) of $329 million – down from $418 million
• Fully franked 27 cent interim dividend announced – down from 33 cents

Super Retail Group struggled over the first quarter, and a rebound towards the end of the first half of financial year 2022 wasn’t enough to ensure its recovery.

The spread of COVID-19‘s Omicron variant saw the company’s trade disrupted.

Super Retail Group’s cost of doing business also increased as it lifted its investments to support growth and relaxed cost containment measures.

It faced higher wage costs due to retaining staff during lockdowns and absenteeism, as well as increased digital costs.

Additionally, it has chosen to build a strong inventory position for the second half to ward off potential supply chain disruptions.

Its gross margin came to 46.7% – 100 basis points below the previous first half but 170 basis points above the first half of financial year 2020.

Its margin was weighed down by increased freight and transport costs, more home delivery sales, and normalisation of promotional activity in the second quarter.

Though, it was buoyed by improved sourcing, pricing, and tailored ranging of inventory.

Not to mention, over the period the company opened 15 new stores and completed 28 refurbishments and relocations.

Over the half, Super Retail Group’s operating cash flows came to $157 million – a drop of $370.2 million.

It ended the period with no bank debt and $94 million in cash.

What else happened in the half?

Over the 6 months ended 31 December, the company reported record online sales.

They increased 64% to come to $389 million worth. That represented 23% of the company’s total sales for the period.

Additionally, ‘click and collect’ sales increased 109% to $226 million, representing 58% of online sales.

3 of the company’s 4 major brands saw their sales decline last half.

Only Macpac recorded an increase. Its sales were boosted 4% to $65.5 million due to strong like-for-like sales and new store openings.

Meanwhile, Supercheap Auto’s sales dropped 6.9% to $616.1 million.

BCF also saw its sales fall 2.2% to $418.5 million.

Rebel saw its sales decline 2.9% to $605.6 million. Its fall was due to reduced CBD foot traffic during the peak Christmas trading period and delayed shipments of new season stock from key brands.

What did management say?

Super Retail Group CEO and managing director Anthony Heraghty commented on the company’s first half, saying:

We are pleased to have delivered a strong top line sales performance in the first half, despite the challenges of Omicron and a disrupted global supply chain.

After COVID-19 lockdowns disrupted trade in the first quarter, we delivered a fast finish to the half, achieving a record second quarter sales result.

Our omni-retail capability and execution has been key to meeting consumer demand, underpinning a record digital sales performance driven by uptake in Click & Collect.

We entered the second half with strong sales momentum, which has continued in the new calendar year. Looking forward, the group will continue to reinvest in the business, including digital, loyalty and network to execute our strategic priorities and grow our 4 core brands.

What’s next?

While the company didn’t provide guidance, it released a trading update for the first 6 weeks of the second half.

For the first 6 weeks of the second half, excluding Boxing Day, the company’s like-for-like sales increased 6%.

BCF is leading the charge, with a 12.2% increase to boast record January sales.

Supercheap Auto is also a top performer, with a sales increase of 9.3%.

Only Rebel is reporting fewer sales, recording a 2.4% drop.

“It has been a positive start to the year,” Heraghty said. “We have seen an encouraging uplift in sales momentum as the second half has progressed, with consumer caution starting to recede.”

“While COVID-19 continues to cause disruption to our customers, team members and trade partners, the group remains focused on executing our business strategy and investing for growth to deliver long-term value for our shareholders.”

Super Retail Group expects to report $125 million of capital expenditure for financial year 2022. That’s due to its store development program and investments in its omni, loyalty, and digital capability.

Additionally, it expects global supply chain disruptions to moderate over time, but they will impact its gross margins in the second half.

Super Retail Group share price snapshot

Today’s fall has plunged the Super Retail Group share price into the long-term red.

It is now 7% lower than it was at the start of the year. It is also 4% lower than it was this time last year.

The post Super Retail (ASX:SUL) share price crashes 10% after profits plunge appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Why Flight Centre, Macquarie, Super Retail, and Suncorp shares are racing higher
• ASX retail shares have slumped in 2022. Could there be more pain to come?
• Have your cake and eat it: These ASX shares have been paying regular dividends whilst growing their share prices
• 2 buy-rated ASX dividend shares with big yields and huge upside potential

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. owns and has recommended Super Retail Group Limited. The Motley Fool Australia owns and has recommended Super Retail Group Limited. 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.

What happened? 

Trading took a turn for the worse in the middle of the holiday weekend for the cryptocurrency market and most values are down. There wasn’t a lot of news, but the liquidity may be a little lower than normal on a long holiday weekend, causing values to fluctuate wildly.

The value of Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) is down 4.4% in the last 24 hours as of 3:20pm ET [US Eastern Time] on Sunday while Ethereum (CRYPTO: ETH) has fallen 4.2%, and Dogecoin (CRYPTO: DOGE) is down 2.6%. The market started turning at about 8:00pm ET on Saturday night and cratered until 4:00am ET on Sunday morning.

So what? 

Values started to fall on Saturday after UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson said financial sanctions on Russian companies should escalate. And the US seems to agree because Johnson said companies won’t be able to trade in “pounds and dollars”. Increasing tension around the conflict between Russia and Ukraine has affected the market as a whole in the last few weeks, and with crypto trading 24/7, this is the first place for investors to react.

It didn’t help that Ethereum’s largest NFT-trading marketplace, Opensea, had a hack or phishing attack, depending on who you ask, that drained hundreds of thousands of dollars from customers’ crypto wallets. The situation is ongoing, but it’s another black eye for some of the industry’s most visible projects. 

According to coinglass.com, the drop in crypto values led to $208 million in liquidations over the last 24 hours. Bitcoin was the most affected with $80.3 million in liquidations followed by Ethereum at $54.9 million. 

Now what? 

The volatility in cryptocurrencies has been high on weekends, in part because traders are taking time away from the market. And this is a holiday weekend in the US, so there may be more absences than normal, increasing the volatility even more. 

What I think we’re broadly seeing is investors selling risky assets as fears of conflict erupt in Eastern Europe, and cryptocurrency is the first place from which they can pull money. While an armed conflict doesn’t seem to be particularly likely, outside of financial sanctions, markets don’t like any kind of uncertainty. 

Volatility will continue for cryptocurrencies short term, but the long-term picture remains the same. Investors should be watching for utility being built on top of blockchain technologies because that’s where the real value will be added long term. Ethereum is the leader out of these three, which is why it would be my pick to buy on this dip, but like all cryptocurrencies, it will be volatile with the market overall.

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

The post Why Bitcoin, Ethereum and Dogecoin plunged this weekend appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• The Ethereum (CRYPTO:ETH) price tanked this week while this crypto rallied 25%
• The Bitcoin price just fell 8%. What’s going on?
• Why Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Dogecoin plunged today
• How this tech giant could ‘put booster rockets’ under crypto: expert
• How this key metric bodes well for the Bitcoin price

Travis Hoium owns Ethereum. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns and has recommended Bitcoin and Ethereum. The Motley Fool Australia owns and has recommended Bitcoin and Ethereum. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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

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The Nuix Ltd (ASX: NXL) share price is trading lower on Monday following the release of its half year results.

In morning trade, the investigative analytics and intelligence software provider’s shares are down almost 7% to a new low of $1.32.

Nuix lower on half year results

• Revenue down 1.5% over the prior corresponding period to $84 million
• Annualised contract value (ACV) up 1.7% to $164.5 million with low churn of 4.1%
• Consumption ACV up 24.6% to $27.1 million
• EBITDA down 56.4% to $13.8 million
• Net loss of $2.3 million
• Net cash of $52.5 million

What happened during the first half?

During the six months ended 31 December, Nuix reported a 1.7% increase in ACV to $164.5 million.

The main driver of its growth was its North American business, which performed strongly thanks to a combination of upselling and new business. This includes large new deals and three key advisories renewed on multi-year deals. Pleasingly, Nuix’s US Government team recorded strong growth on key renewals.

This offset weakness in the EMEA segment, which had a challenging half. It reported lower new business and upselling compared with the prior corresponding period. Management notes that this was partly driven by important contract wins in the prior period.

Finally, in the Asia Pacific region, the company’s growth was driven by strong renewals, particularly in the Government sector, driven by Regulators and Defence. Strong SaaS revenue growth is also being experienced in the region.

One thing that weighed on its margins during the half was its increased spend on research and development (R&D). Total R&D spend rose 29% to $28.8 million, which represents 34% of revenue. This was driven partly by Nuix continuing to develop its integrated SaaS platform, as well as the incorporation of the Topos Natural Language Processing capabilities.

Management commentary

Nuix’s new CEO, Jonathan Rubinsztein, is optimistic on the company’s future.

He commented: “Since joining Nuix late last year, I’ve had the opportunity to meet with many of our people and customers. It’s clear that Nuix has great technology and talented people, and this has allowed us to solve a broad range of customer problems. The market potential continues to grow and expand into new industry sectors and use cases for our technology. We are continuing to evolve and improve our solutions and business models to capitalise on these expanded opportunities.”

Mr Rubinsztein highlighted three key focuses for the company that will aim to drive growth in the future.

The CEO explained: “We are focused on three horizons of change. Firstly, we will look to build on our strengths, with an immediate focus on driving competitiveness, commercial performance and customer relationships in our core business. Beyond that we have an opportunity for robust medium term growth through anticipating the needs of enterprise customers and building out our cross-solution platform to make the best of Nuix easily accessible. Lastly, over the longer term, we need to solve for the future. We will undertake longer-range investment and prioritise the innovation pipeline for new ways to use our technologies.”

“I am excited about Nuix’s future. The strategies the organisation is currently putting into place are the right ones to leverage Nuix’s remarkable technology and people to drive growth,” he concluded.

I was fortunate to have the opportunity to talk to Mr Rubinsztein following the release.

The key takeaways from that chat were the sizeable total and serviceable addressable market opportunities the company has, the quality of its technology, and how the whole team at Nuix are aligned with the belief that its software can help create a better world.

All in all, Mr Rubinsztein is sounded optimistic on the future and confident that Nuix is back on the right track again.

The post Nuix (ASX:NXL) share price falls to new low on results but there are reasons for optimism appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Off the hook: Here’s why the Nuix (ASX:NXL) share price is leaping 10% higher 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 recommended Nuix Pty 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 Bruce Jackson.

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The Aussie Broadband Ltd (ASX: ABB) share price is on the rise this morning after the ASX 200 telecommunications provider reported its half-year earnings for the six months ending 31 December 2021 (1H22) today before market open.

Aussie Broadband shares opened at $4.49 this Monday after closing at $4.50 last week, and are going for $4.60 each at the time of writing, up 2.22%.

Aussie Broadband share price rises on solid first-half update

• Revenue up 46% from $157.4 million in 1H21 to $229.3 million in 1H22
• Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) up 7% from $8.5 million in 1H21 to $9.1 million for 1H22.
• Gross margins up 1% to 27%.
• Net profit after tax (NPAT) of $1.4 million, up substantially from the net loss of $10.5 million in 1H21.
• Total broadband services up by 45% to 494,803

What else happened in the first half?

Aussie Broadband managed to increase its market footprint substantially over the half year. The increase in broadband services helped push Aussie Broadband’s NBN market share to 5.66% from 4.23% in December 2020. The company also managed to increase the number of mobile services by 70% to 32,207 over the half. Business broadband services also rose, increasing by 67% to 45,483.

The company also highlighted its successful $134 million capital raise. Conducted in September last year, this saw the Aussie Broadband share price rise at the time.

What did management say?

Here’s some of what Aussie Broadband managing director Phill Britt had to say on the results:

It’s been another year of growth for Aussie, and I am extremely proud of the work the whole team has put in to create some great half-year results…

The year started with a huge amount of uncertainty due to the ongoing effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, but our growth in broadband services, for both residential and business segments, remained consistently strong.

We continued the fibre roll out with 63 sites complete at 31 December 2021; the remainder of the sites will be connected by end of FY22 when 1200km of Aussie fibre will be in the ground.

What’s next?

Looking forward, Aussie Broadband has given us an outlook and guidance. For one, it is expected that Aussie Broadband’s takeover of Over the Wire Holdings Ltd (ASX: OTW) will be completed following Federal Court approval in March 2022. The company has also announced that it is expecting full-year EBITDA for FY2022 to be in the range of $27 million to $30 million. That’s “before transaction costs and excluding any contribution from OTW”.

This performance is “expected to be driven by employee and administration costs being lower as a percentage of revenue, as well as continued growth in connections and services, and the completion of the white label migrations”. “Comparable marketing costs, lower promotional costs, and the benefit of a full half of revenue from 1H FY22 acquired customers” will also help.

Aussie Broadband is also anticipating broadband net additions of 85,000 to 95,000 for the second half of the 2022 financial year. That would bring its total broadband connections to between 580,000 and 590,000 by 30 June 2022.

Aussie Broadband share price snapshot

Although the Aussie Broadband shares have had a rough start to 2022 (still down by 4%), the company remains up a pleasing 70% over the past 12 months. Its gains since first listing in October 2020 now stand at almost 140%.

At the current Aussie Broadband share price, this company has a market capitalisation of $1.02 billion.

The post Aussie Broadband (ASX:ABB) share price rises on 46% revenue surge appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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Motley Fool contributor Sebastian Bowen has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns and has recommended Aussie Broadband Limited and Over The Wire Holdings Ltd. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Aussie Broadband Limited. 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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