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Shares in media and entertainment company HT&E Ltd (ASX: HT1) are going gangbusters today. At the time of writing, the HT&E share price is trading 30.61% higher at $1.92, having earlier reached a high of $1.99.

This comes after the company announced a final resolution to a tax dispute it was embroiled in.

Here’s what we know.

What was announced?

HT&E – which stands for Here, There & Everywhere – advised it has reached a binding heads of agreement with the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) to settle a taxation dispute. The news appears to be having a positive impact on the HT&E share price, which has been well in the green all day so far.

The dispute refers to a New Zealand branch of the company from the financial years ended December 2009 to December 2016. It has been running since 2018 when the ATO first commenced proceedings.

Specifically, the matter involved $102.5 million of tax adjustments, $49 million of penalties, and interest payable of $43 million, amounting to a total of $195 million.

Even though the company felt its treatment of the branch matters was in keeping with tax legislation, it felt the settlement of $71 million was “in the best interests of shareholders”.

HT&E arrived at the $71 million figure after lengthy consultations with its tax advisors and considers it a fair outcome for the company, per the release.

The release also notes HT&E intends to pay the remaining balance of its settlement using its existing cash reserves.

Importantly, the company advised that its balance sheet remains in a strong position after the settlement.

Furthermore, the resolution of the “historic tax dispute removes the potential liability for a substantial amount of tax, interest, and penalties”.

It allows HT&E and its shareholders to look forward with certainty, per the release.

HT&E share price snapshot

HT&E share price has had a difficult year to date, so today’s gains are a welcome boost for shareholders. Since January 1, it has posted a return of just 4.8%. However is still up 28% in the last 12 months.

That’s a slight step ahead of the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index (ASX: XJO)’s gain of around 25% over the past year.

The post Here’s why HT&E (ASX:HT1) share price is rocketing 31% today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Why is the Airtasker (ASX:ART) share price falling on Friday?
• Here’s why the Rhythm Biosciences share price (ASX:RHY) is jumping higher today
• What’s sending the Seven West Media (ASX:SWM) share price up 6% on Friday?
• Morgans tips Zip (ASX:Z1P) share price to jump 30%
• Why did the Minbos Resources (ASX:MNB) share price leap 18% today?

The author Zach Bristow has no positions 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 Airtasker Ltd (ASX: ART) share price is currently down by more than 2% as the ASX tech share delivered its quarterly update for the three months to September 2021.

Airtasker is a business that aims to match up people who want to work with people who need work doing.

First quarter of FY22

The marketplace company explained that it demonstrated “solid” performance in the first three months. Its gross marketplace volume (GMV) went up 6.2% to $35 million. That was achieved despite the lengthy lockdowns in both Melbourne and Sydney which were for (substantially) all of the quarter. Other markets also experienced lockdowns in different parts of the quarter.

International growth

The international part of the Airtasker business remains a small part of the overall picture, but it continues to grow rapidly.

International GMV saw a rise of over 100% thanks to growth in the UK. It is making progress in the US as well, with launches in Dallas, Kansas City and Miami after the Zaarly acquisition.

However, the company said that whilst Australia is benefiting from seasonal growth, the northern hemisphere marketplaces in the US and UK are now entering winter, which represents a seasonally slower period.

Cashflow

The company said that this result showed the underlying growth and resilience of the marketplace. Receipts from customers were up 2.3% to $6.5 million in the first quarter.

The overall operating cash outflow was $4 million.  This outflow was higher compared to the fourth quarter of FY21 due to an increase of international marketing investment in line with expectations, annual bonuses triggered by FY21 revenue outperformance compared to the target, one-off payroll tax payments relating to historical equity awards which crystallised after the initial public offering (IPO), and timing differences.

Airtasker said that it has spent $5.8 million of the $16.1 million of funds that were raised. Offer costs amounted to $2.7 million, with $1.6 million spent on marketing and $1.5 million on product development.

Chief product officer appointment

Airtasker said that it continues to strengthen its leadership bench with the appointment of former Zip Co Ltd (ASX: Z1P) chief technology officer Patrick Collins. Mr Collins has been appointed as the new chief product officer.

The Airtasker CEO Tim Fung commented:

Patrick brings to Airtasker more than two decades of product leadership experience developed in leading Silicon Valley and Australian technology companies including Fifth Finger and Zip Co. We’re very excited to bring him on board as we scale internationally and continue to invest in a world class customer experience.

Lockdowns ending

Post-lockdown activity could have an impact on the Airtasker share price.

Both Sydney and Melbourne are exiting their months-long lockdowns. Airtasker said that it has experienced a sharp bounce back. This is seen in its latest weekly GMV of $3.6 million. If you turn that into an annualised number, it’s $185 million on an annualised run rate basis.

Airtasker says that it’s heading into its strongest southern hemisphere seasonal growth period.

The post Why is the Airtasker (ASX:ART) share price falling on Friday? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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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. owns shares of and has recommended ZIPCOLTD FPO. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has recommended Airtasker Limited. 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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Shares in medical diagnostics company Rhythm Biosciences Ltd (ASX: RHY) are edging higher in afternoon trade today.

At the time of writing, Rhythm Biosciences shares are changing hands at $1.59 apiece, which is an almost 3% gain from yesterday’s close.

What’s up with Rhythm Biosciences share price today?

Rhythm Biosciences is on the move as the company released its quarterly activities and earnings report for the period ending 30 September 2021.

In its report, Rhythm outlined several investment highlights concerning ColoSTAT – the company’s “simple, low-cost blood test for the early detection of colorectal cancer, aimed at global mass market screening”.

For instance, it formed a ‘100% owned’ entity in the US, known as IchorDX, Inc., which “provides optionality and a visible pathway for ColoSTAT in one of the world’s largest diagnostic markets”.

It also remains on track for its CE Mark application and approval out of Europe to be completed by the end of this year, per the release.

Meanwhile, in Australia, the company also “successfully submitted the first two key steps for Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) approval”.

Already, the TGA has accepted Rhythm’s manufacturers evidence documentation, according to the release.

The next step for Rhythm in this process is to list on the Australian Register of Therapeutic Goods (ARTG), but not before compiling the necessary onboarding documentation and evidence. Rhythm expects this to be completed by 2H FY22, as per the announcement.

Aside from this, the company also successfully recruited the first 815 people into its upcoming ColoSTAT clinical trial – Study 7.

It also left the quarter with $5.28 million in cash on its balance sheet, with another $2.4 million coming from an R&D refund.

What’s next for Rhythm Biosciences?

Rhythm is adamant that it is “well funded to execute its development and commercial plans outlined in (its) FY22 strategic plan”.

It also expects a reduction in variable costs over the remainder of FY22, and as mentioned, expects to receive CE Mark submission later in CY21.

The company also is set to “progress and finalise regulatory requirements for TGA submission and confirm commercialisation pathways for ColoSTAT in various jurisdictions”.

Rhythm Biosciences share price has soared over 677% in the last 12 months, after gaining a further 82% since January 1.

The post Here’s why the Rhythm Biosciences share price (ASX:RHY) is jumping higher today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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• Why is the Rhythm Biosciences (ASX:RHY) share price up 11% on Monday?
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The author Zach Bristow has no positions 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 Seven West Media Ltd (ASX: SWM) share price is set to finish the week in positive territory following the company’s latest announcement.

During the early afternoon trade, the media company’s shares are up 6.02% to 44 cents. This means that in the past month, the Seven West Media share price has risen by almost 13%.

What did Seven West Media tell the ASX today?

Judging by today’s gains, investors are pleased with the company’s efforts to improve its balance sheet position.

According to its release, Seven West Media advised it has refinanced its debt facilities into one new facility. This will deliver lower funding costs as well as more flexible terms for the company. The loan’s maturity date has also been extended until October 2024.

The new facility funding costs have been cut in half due to a negotiated rate of 2.25% above BBSY. The terms BBSY is the bank bill swap bid rate, which is the interest rate used for debt financing.

Seven West Media stated that the consolidated facility marks an important milestone in managing its debt profile. This includes reducing the company’s net debt by 57% ($158 million) to $240 million during FY21. The net debt leverage ratio stood at 0.95x.

During August, Seven West Media reported an underlying net profit after tax (NPAT) of $125.5 million.

Originally, the old facility was tied to COVID-era restrictions such as constraints on capital management. However, this has now been erased, giving Seven West Media greater flexibility to pursue growth opportunities.

Seven West Media share price snapshot

The Seven West Media share price has surged by 22% in 2021. If we zoom out a bit, the share price has done even better, accelerating by 160% since this time last year.

Seven West Media has a market capitalisation of $655 million and approximately 1.58 billion shares on its registry.

The post What’s sending the Seven West Media (ASX:SWM) share price up 6% on Friday? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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• Morgans tips Zip (ASX:Z1P) share price to jump 30%
• Why did the Minbos Resources (ASX:MNB) share price leap 18% today?
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• PointsBet (ASX:PBH) share price extends losses on Friday, down 25% this week
• The biggest risk to global growth and ASX 200 returns in 2022

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 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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It has been another largely disappointing month for the Zip Co Ltd (ASX: Z1P) share price.

Since the start of October, the buy now pay later (BNPL) provider’s shares have fallen 7.5% to $6.53.

This means the Zip share price is now down 55% from its February high of $14.53.

Can the Zip share price rebound?

Thankfully for shareholders, one leading broker believes the Zip share price can rebound strongly from here.

According to a recent note out of Morgans, its analysts have retained their add rating but trimmed their price target on the company’s shares slightly to $8.56.

Based on the current Zip share price, this implies potential upside of 31% for its shares over the next 12 months.

What did the broker say?

Morgans felt that Zip delivered a reasonably solid first quarter update last week. Though, it does acknowledge that the company’s growth will need to accelerate in order to reach consensus estimates.

The broker said: “We saw 1Q22 group sequential revenue growth of 8% as a reasonable outcome (in Z1P’s seasonally weakest quarter) and highlighting continued momentum. However, with the FY22 consensus revenue forecast ($689m) implying +71% growth on pcp, Zip’s sales growth trajectory needs to improve meaningfully over Q2-Q4 to hit this level.”

“Our other key quarterly takeaways were; 1) while Z1P’s ANZ net bad debt ratio of 2.43% was largely in-line with pcp, it has risen from 1.87% at 4Q21; 2) revenue margins in the US were called out as still being around 7%; and 3) transaction value per average customer continues to decline in Australia (A$90), being roughly half of the pcp level, reflecting the impacts of Tap and Zip functionality,” it added.

Outside this, the broker reiterated that sees significant potential if Zip delivers on its bold plans and notes that the Zip share price trades at a huge discount to rival Afterpay Ltd (ASX: APT).

Morgans concluded: “We continue to see longer term upside if Z1P can execute on its ambitions of becoming a global payments player. Noting the stock continues to trade at a significant discount to peer APT (~6x sales versus ~25x), we maintain our ADD recommendation.”

The post Morgans tips Zip (ASX:Z1P) share price to jump 30% appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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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 shares of and has recommended AFTERPAY T FPO and ZIPCOLTD FPO. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of and has recommended AFTERPAY T FPO. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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The Minbos Resources Ltd (ASX: MNB) share price is on the rise today.

At the time of writing, shares in the Australian-based phosphate specialist are swapping hands for 18 cents apiece, up 5.88%. In early trade, they were as high as 20 cents, which represents a 17.6% gain on the previous closing price.

This comes after the company announced a key update regarding the production of nitrogen fertiliser and green ammonia in Angola.

Here are the details out of the Minbos camp today.

What was announced?

In news possibly fuelling the Minbos Resources share price, the company has received support from the Angolan Ministry of Agriculture to produce green ammonia and nitrogen fertiliser in the country.

This came after Minbos submitted a letter of intent (LOI) to several departments in the Angolan cabinet seeking approval.

The LOI contained a proposal to “develop a nitrogen fertiliser facility using green ammonia produced from hydroelectric power from the Capanda Hydroelectric Dam”.

For reference, the Capanda Hydroelectric Dam is located on the Kwanza River, Angola. It generates a total installed capacity of 520 megawatts from four turbines.

Minbos intends to produce nitrogen fertiliser from green ammonia by adding nitrogen to phosphate from its Cabinda Phosphate project. It will sell the fertiliser locally to what the company claims is one of the world’s most prospective agricultural regions.

Pleasingly, the Ministry has agreed to provide the necessary support to Minbos to ensure the implementation of the project.

The proposed location of the facility is strategically located “within trucking distance to the Malange agricultural corridor and major regional mining projects”.

This should reduce transport and distribution costs, ensuring a competitive cost advantage, the company says.

From its discussions with the Ministry of Energy in Angola, Minbos confirms 100 megawatts of hydropower is available for the project. It can also make a submission for a “staged tariff structure to offset high fixed costs during the market development phase”.

Speaking on the announcement likely driving the Minbos Resources share price, CEO Lindsay Reed said:

Green ammonia is a natural progression for Minbos and its NPK for Angola strategy and a great opportunity for Angola to establish a competitive sustainable fertiliser industry to underpin the development of its agricultural sector. We are excited about advancing this project with the support of the Angolan Government.

Minbos Resources share price snapshot

The Minbos Resources share price has been an absolute star on the ASX these past 12 months. It has climbed around 350% during that time, and 370% this year to date.

That’s a galaxy away from the S&P/ASX 200 index (ASX: XJO)’s gain of around 25% in the last 12 months and 10% year to date.

The post Why did the Minbos Resources (ASX:MNB) share price leap 18% today? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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The author Zach Bristow has no positions 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 Apple Inc (NASDAQ: AAPL) stock price had a very decent day of trading over on the US markets last night (our time). Apple ended up closing the normal trading day at US$152.57 a share, up a healthy 2.5% for the day. That puts Apple’s stock price within a few dollars of its all-time high of US$157.26 a share. But Apple’s after-hours trading this morning told a rather different tale. Apple ended up closing at a far lower US$147.19 in after-hours trading, down a nasty 3.53%.

That might have something to do with the quarterly earnings report Apple released after market close.

So how did Apple do?

Well, the company posted revenues for the 3 months ending 25 September (Apple runs on a strange calendar) of US$83.4 billion, up 29% from the US$64.7 billion from the same quarter last year.

Operating income came in at US$20.55 billion, also up substantially from the US$12.67 billion posted in last year’s quarter. That translates into US$1.25 in basic earnings per share (EPS), up from 74 cents in EPS last year.

Apple reports growth across the board

In terms of revenues, iPhone once again proved its dominance in Apple’s product stable. US$38.87 billion in revenue came from iPhone sales over the quarter, up 47% from the US$26.44 billion from 2020’s September quarter.

Services revenue rose 25.6% from US$14.55 billion last year to US$18.28 billion in this quarter. iPad revenue was up 21.3% to US$8.25 billion, while Wearables, Home and Accessories rose 11.55% to US$8.79 billion. Mac sales were comparatively flat, rising 1.6% to US$9.18 billion.

Turning to dividends, and Apple declared a cash dividend of 22 cents per share, to be paid on 11 November, the same payout investors enjoyed over the previous quarter.

Apple CFO Luca Maestri had this to say on these results:

Our record September quarter results capped off a remarkable fiscal year of strong double-digit growth, during which we set new revenue records in all of our geographic segments and product categories in spite of continued uncertainty in the macro environment…

The combination of our record sales performance, unmatched customer loyalty, and strength of our ecosystem drove our active installed base of devices to a new all-time high.

Even though Apple shares have fallen in after-hours trading, they have proven especially lucrative to own over the past few years. Apple is now up 17.9% year to date in 2021 so far, and up 32.3% over the past 12 months. The company has also given investors an eye-watering return of 461% over the past 5 years.

At Apple’s last closing stock price, this tech giant has a market capitalisation of US$2.52 trillion, with a dividend yield of 0.55%.

The post Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) reports quarterly results, how far from the tree did they fall? 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 shares of and has recommended Apple. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has recommended the following options: long March 2023 $120 calls on Apple and short March 2023 $130 calls on Apple. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Apple. 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 PointsBet Holdings Ltd (ASX: PBH) share price is down another 9% on Friday to $7.85 at the time of writing.

It was even worse in earlier trading with the PointsBet share price falling to a 12-month low of $7.73.

Shares in the sports betting darling have tumbled 24.4% in the past two trading sessions. This follows the company releasing its first-quarter trading update on Thursday morning.

Was the first quarter update really that bad?

The first-quarter update reads well at face value, with strong growth across all key operating metrics.

Group turnover increased 42% on the prior corresponding period (pcp) to $979.9 million.

The gross win margin (dollar amount received from clients’ losing bets less the dollar amount paid to clients’ winning bets, excluding promotional costs) improved to 11.9% from 10.2%.

Overall net win lifted 76% to $67.3 million (net win includes promotional costs).

The number of cash active clients continued its upwards momentum, bolstered by a 367% increase in US clients to 185,880.

From a financial perspective, however, PointsBet continued to burn through cash worth $38.1 million in the September quarter.

PointsBet has followed a “spend money to make money” narrative. Its FY21 results highlighted a 159% increase in revenue to $194.7 million, fuelled by a 314% increase in losses to $164.3 million.

Since its initial public offering in June 2019, PointsBet’s valuation has ballooned to $2.7 billion, even after this week’s sell-off.

During this time, the company has initiated three capital raisings to help fund its US growth plans.

As the company continues to burn through cash to capture market share in the lucrative US sports betting market, investors might finally be asking, “What’s the end game?”.

Another factor potentially weighing on the PointsBet share price is its failure to grab an Arizona licence.

According to the company’s earnings call, PointsBet CEO Sam Swanell said:

We thought we had a license and it was subsequently not – our partner was subsequently not included in the list of licenses that have been handed out.

PointsBet will be in Arizona. Any state that has 20 available licenses, PointsBet will get into that state. The question – the big question is when.”

An ugly year for the PointsBet share price

The PointsBet share price rallied almost 50% between January and mid-February, briefly hitting an all-time high of $17.60.

But things have only gone downhill from there.

Whether it’s the company’s immense cash burn, capital raising overhang or investors losing interest in its US growth story, PointsBet is now down 31% year-to-date.

The post PointsBet (ASX:PBH) share price extends losses on Friday, down 25% this week appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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

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The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is slipping in early afternoon trade, down 0.52%.

Still, the ASX 200 has been delivering historic gains as Australia and the rest of the world continue to recover from the early pandemic blows. Gains driven by strong economic growth across most developed nations.

Over the past 12 months the index is up 24%, setting a new all-time high on 13 August.

Year-to-date the ASX 200 is up 11%.

And that’s just the share price moves, mind you. These figures don’t include any dividend payouts.

While this indicates that many investors should have done well over the past year, the question now is, what to expect from the ASX 200 in 2022?

The almighty consumer

For the answer to that question, we turn to Ned Bell, Bell Asset Management’s chief investment officer.

Presenting at yesterday’s ‘Bell Asset Management – Global equities market update and outlook for 2022’ webinar, Bell offered some reasons for optimism, before turning to the biggest risk.

First, on the plus side for developed nations like Australia, is the strong consumer spending outlook.

According to Bell:

Pleasingly, consumer spending has been really robust this year. Particularly in the US, where the consumer effectively represents 70% of the economy. And that rebound that we’d expected has absolutely played out… To some degree the supply disruptions we’ve seen essentially have the effect of pushing some of that growth into next year.

Pushing some of the economic growth into 2022, Bell said, can be seen as a good thing.

However, he still expects global GDP growth to slow from 5.9% this year to 4.5% in 2022, noting there’s a real risk that this could be lower. And with lower economic growth, share markets like the ASX 200 are likely to offer lower returns.

The United States, the world’s biggest economy, is forecast to grow at 4%, down from 5.7% this year.

China, meanwhile, is forecast to see growth fall from 8.1% in 2021 to 5.5%, or less, next year.

And that, according to Bell, is the biggest risk to the global growth outlook for 2022.

The biggest risk to global growth and ASX 200 returns

Bell noted that GDP growth in the world’s second largest economy dropped from 7.9% in the second quarter of 2021 to only 4.9% in the third quarter just past.

China’s real estate woes are a particular worry for the global GDP growth outlook. Bell pointed out that property investment makes up roughly 30% of China’s GDP.

“It’s a big part of the Chinese economy,” he said. “As a reference point, the property market in the US, pre the GFC was about 18% at its high.”

Bell continued:

It’s no secret that China’s GDP growth has been a huge contributing factor to the global economy, particularly in the last 5 years. But one of the outcomes of what’s happening in the property market in China, as we speak, is that as that growth rate starts to moderate, it will eventually filter through to global GDP growth.

I’m not so much talking about China Evergrande Group (HKG: 3333) or the particular companies that have financial issues themselves. It’s more about to what extent that depresses growth [in major economies].

Most ASX 200 companies – think the big miners and banks – will perform better when global GDP is growing quickly, as it has been over the past 18 months.

So, it’s worth keeping an eye on how things play out in China over the coming weeks.

The post The biggest risk to global growth and ASX 200 returns in 2022 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 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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At lunch on Friday, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is on course to end the week with a disappointing decline. The benchmark index is currently down 0.55% to 7,389.1 points.

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

Macquarie delivers strong half year result

The Macquarie Group Ltd (ASX: MQG) share price is in a trading halt on Friday. This follows the announcement of a $1.5 billion capital raising along with its half year results. In respect to the latter, the investment bank reported a first half net profit up 107% to $2,043 million. A key driver of its strong performance was the Macquarie Capital business. It delivered a net profit contribution of $468 million, up significantly from a loss of $189 million in the first half of FY 2021.

ResMed’s Q1 results beats expectations

The ResMed (ASX: RMD) share price is charging higher today after delivering a first quarter result ahead of the market’s expectations. The sleep treatment focused medical device company reported a 20% increase in revenue to US$904 million and GAAP earnings per share of US$1.39. This compares to consensus estimates of US$860 million and US$1.24 per share, respectively.

NAB director appointment U-turn

The National Australia Bank Ltd (ASX: NAB) share price is trading lower than the rest of the big four banks today. This may relate to news that James Spenceley will no longer be joining the bank as a Non-Executive Director. NAB Chair Philip Chronican revealed that Mr Spenceley decided against the move after reconsidering his overall commitments following feedback from proxy advisors as well as a number of NAB investors.

Best and worst ASX 200 performers

The best performer on the ASX 200 on Friday has been the Reece Ltd (ASX: REH) share price with a 7% gain. This morning the plumbing parts company released its first quarter update and revealed sales growth of 13.2%. The worst performer has been the Pointsbet Holdings Ltd (ASX: PBH) share price with a 9% decline. Investors have been selling the sports betting company’s shares since the release of its quarterly update. Goldman Sachs believes this is a buying opportunity.

The post ASX 200 (ASX:XJO) midday update: Macquarie doubles profit, ResMed jumps appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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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 shares of and has recommended Pointsbet Holdings Ltd. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has recommended ResMed. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of and has recommended Macquarie Group Limited. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Pointsbet Holdings Ltd and ResMed Inc. 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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