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The Medibank Private Ltd (ASX: MPL) share price is in the green today amid news the company will soon require nearly all its staff to be vaccinated against COVID-19.

Previously, only Medibank’s front-line employees had to be vaccinated against COVID-19.

Medibank released the potentially divisive announcement yesterday and many media outlets reported on the changes after the ASX closed.

At the time of writing, the Medibank share price is $3.55, 0.85% higher than its previous close.

That’s relatively in line with the broader market’s performance this morning. Right now, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) has gained 0.2%. Meanwhile, the All Ordinaries Index (ASX: XAO) is up 0.3%.

Let’s take a closer look at the latest news from Medibank.

Medibank extends employee vaccine mandate

The Medibank share price is gaining today amid headlines most of its staff are facing vaccination deadlines.

It follows fellow ASX-listed companies Crown Resorts Ltd (ASX: CWN) and Qantas Airways Limited‘s (ASX: QAN) decisions to do the same. Qantas declared all its staff must have a COVID-19 vaccination in August, while Crown mandated vaccination for employees last month.

Employees working in Medibank’s retail or offices will soon need to be at least partially inoculated against COVID-19 to attend their workplaces or work events.

Those working in Medibank’s retail segment must have had 2 doses of a COVID-19 vaccine by 15 December. All other employees face a deadline of 31 January 2022.  

Additionally, its executive leadership team and board of directors will be fully inoculated against COVID-19 by mid-October.

Employees who work completely from home are exempt from the mandate, as are those who can’t get vaccinated for medical reasons.

Previously, Medibank required its frontline health workers to have at least one jab by 1 November, while those working in residential aged care had to have had their first dose by mid-September.

Commentary from management

Medibank’s CEO David Koczka commented on the company’s new vaccine mandate, saying:

As a company with more than 1,400 health professionals and a broader team focused on health and wellbeing each day, there is widespread understanding of the benefits of COVID vaccination across our business…

We’ve made this decision to help keep our people and customers safe and to support the immense effort of the nation’s healthcare workers.

Medibank share price snapshot

The Medibank share price has been performing well on the ASX lately.

It has gained 16.6% since the start of 2021. It is also 36.8% higher than it was this time last year.

The post Medibank (ASX:MPL) share price lifts as staff vaccine mandate hits headlines appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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• Here’s why the Medibank (ASX:MPL) share price is up 12% in the last 3 months
• NIB (ASX:NHF) share price lower despite ACCC authorisation
• Medibank (ASX:MPL) share price slips as customers hit 3.7 million

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 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 Australian Taxation Office (ATO) has indicated that it’s going to be paying closer attention to investors with ASX ETFs (exchange-traded funds).

There is a concern by the ATO that investors are not correctly reporting their income correctly.

Aussies own billions of dollars of ETFs like Vanguard Australian Shares Index ETF (ASX: VAS), iShares S&P 500 ETF (ASX: IVV) and Vanguard MSCI Index International Shares ETF (ASX: VGS).

Why is the ATO worried about ASX ETF investors?

According to reporting by the Australian Financial Review, investors (particularly ones new to ETFs) may not be aware of what they should be reporting on their annual tax return and therefore could be incorrectly misreporting what their income is. They may also not be keeping good enough financial records.

The ATO believes that over 46,000 taxpayers may have incorrectly reported their capital gains tax liability, so it asked the taxpayer to review the return. In this modern world, the ATO is collecting more information from several locations such as registries, stockbrokers and managed funds, which reports data to the ATO.

The AFR quoted the ATO assistant commissioner, Tim Loh, who said:

ETFs generally do not pay their own tax. This is the responsibility of each investor. Due to the way taxpayers report income from ETFs, we cannot differentiate which capital gains, income or dividend amounts were realised from ETF investments by looking at a tax return.

What should investors know?

There are several different elements that investors may need to report on their tax return. Even if they don’t sell the ASX ETF, each ETF can distribute different forms of income which all need to be reported on the tax return in different boxes such as dividends, franking credits, interest, foreign income and capital gains.

To help investors, ETFs do provide a distribution statement each year that should show taxpayers which labels to report the different income amounts in. Some of those different labels include foreign income and Australian income, net capital gains and non-taxable amounts.

The AFR reported that when an investor disposes of ASX ETFs, the standard distribution statement (SDS) will show the capital gains or losses made from the sale of the shares which also need to be included in a tax return.

It was also pointed out that distributions that were re-invested should also be reported as income.

Mr Loh said:

Generally speaking, taxpayers will typically need to declare distributions despite not withdrawing any money from their account.

Most people recognise that they must pay tax on any money earned from selling shares. But many don’t realise that tax also applies to dividends and distributions, even if they are automatically reinvested into a reinvestment plan.

The ATO also points out that investors need to correctly calculate their capital losses or gains and record them in the tax return. Capital losses only happen when a sale actually happens, not when an investment falls but the investor still owns the share.

Capital losses can be used to offset capital gains, but not other income.

ASX ETF tax records to keep

The AFR included a handy list from the ATO of records that investors should keep to correctly report income on their tax return:

• The date of purchase/reinvestment.
• The purchase amount/value.
• Details of any non-assessable payments that could affect the amount of any capital gain, or loss, when the fund is sold.
• The date and amount of any call options (if shares were partly paid).
• The date of sale and sale price (if they are sold).
• Any brokerage costs or commissions paid to brokers.
• Details of events such as share splits, share consolidations, returns of capital, takeovers, mergers, demergers and bonus share issues.
• Details of capital losses made in previous years – investors may be able to offset these losses against future capital gains.
• Dividend or managed investment distribution statements (standard distribution statements).

The post Own ASX ETFs? Why the ATO might be focusing on you 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 Vanguard MSCI Index International Shares ETF. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Vanguard MSCI Index International Shares ETF and iShares Trust – iShares Core S&P 500 ETF. 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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Despite the National Australia Bank Ltd (ASX: NAB) share price succumbing to the “September effect”, the big four banking constituent experienced a relatively strong quarter.

Kicking off the new financial year, the first quarter saw the bank’s share price climb 6.14%.

Meanwhile, the other big four contenders struggled to keep up with the NAB share price during that time. For comparison, Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA), Australia and New Zealand Banking Grp Ltd (ASX: ANZ), and Westpac Banking Corp (ASX: WBC) added 4.47%, 0.4%, and 0.74% respectively.

Following the strong quarterly performance, NAB shares are now back above their November to February pre-pandemic levels.

Let’s take a look at what had investors so optimistic during the last quarter.

What’s going on with the NAB share price?

NAB’s first quarter of the new financial year (July to September) swung into action with its hefty $2.5 billion share buyback. This capital return was announced at the end of July as part of its effort to stay in its Common Equity Tier 1 (CET1) target range of 10.75% to 11.25%.

Commenting on the buyback at the time, NAB group chief executive officer Ross McEwan said:

Our support for customers and colleagues continues through ongoing lockdowns and as the COVID-19 situation evolves. At the same time, NAB’s strong financial performance, combined with the divestment of MLC Wealth, has created an opportunity for NAB to reduce our surplus capital while retaining a strong balance sheet during these uncertain times.

Thereafter, the NAB share price rose an impressive 11.3% from 30 July before reaching its peak on 6 September. However, the bank made another notable announcement in between these two points in time.

On 9 August, the third-largest Aussie bank revealed an agreement to acquire Citigroup’s Australian consumer business. This entails NAB paying a $250 million premium to the business’s net assets to acquire the Aussie segment of the American investment bank. NAB plans to use the acquired business to deliver on its strategic growth ambition for its personal banking business.

Quarterly update

Another catalyst during the period involved the release of NAB’s quarterly update. The update highlighted an unaudited statutory net profit of $1.65 billion. Meanwhile, cash earnings growth was up 10.3% compared to the prior corresponding period. These positive results were driven by better credit conditions, reducing the level of impairments.

Evidently, investors were pleased with this update as the NAB share price climbed higher for weeks following its release.

Unfortunately, with the weight of the September effect, shares in the bank dragged lower in the last month. Although, shares have rebounded to some extent so far in October. As a result, the NAB share price is fetching $27.70 apiece at the time of writing.

Based on the current price, NAB commands a market capitalisation of $91 billion.

The post What happened for the NAB (ASX:NAB) share price in the FY22 first quarter? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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• How does the Westpac (ASX:WBC) dividend compare to the banking sector?
• How did the NAB (ASX:NAB) share price perform in September?

Motley Fool contributor Mitchell Lawler owns shares of Commonwealth Bank of Australia. 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 Xref Ltd (ASX: XF1) share price is on the move during Wednesday morning. This comes after the human resources technology company provided investors with a quarterly trading update.

At the time of writing, Xref shares are up 5.77% to 55 cents apiece.

How did Xref perform for Q1 FY22?

According to its release, Xref advised of a robust first quarter into the new financial year, underpinned by new sales opportunities.

Sales jumped 126% to $5.4 million against the prior corresponding period. The company stated that what is traditionally the lowest sales period of the year, new client acquisitions grew 78%. This accounted for 19% of Xref sales and the average deal size increased by 45% when compared against Q1 FY21.

New notable clients introduced during the quarter included The Arnotts Group, Fortescue Future Industries and Ozcare in Australia. International additions consisted of Kiwibank in New Zealand, Maybourne Hotels and H&M Group in the United Kingdom, and more.

Revenue ticked up 77% to $3.9 million, predominately driven by Xref’s credit usage which doubled in the quarter. The company has more than 30 live integrations with channel partners.

Cash flow surplus came to $1.2 million for the period, with cash in the bank totalling $9.4 million at 30 September.

Management commentary

Xref executive director and CEO, Lee-Martin Seymour said:

Companies are starting to witness the effects of what has been coined ‘The Great Resignation’. Millions of workers around the globe calling time on their employers. Sector, Geographical and Role changes are contributing to what is sure to be one of the biggest migrations of talent ever seen.

We are witnessing this through record lead flow, which is, in turn, feeding growth in new client acquisition. We are soon to launch our new platform, which will be 100% self-service and subscription-based. It is expected to increase our addressable market tenfold, positioning us well for growth. The whole Xref team are super excited about the opportunities that lie ahead.

About the Xref share price

Over the last 12 months, Xref shares have accelerated by almost 250%, with year-to-date up around 60%.

Based on today’s price, Xref presides a market capitalisation of roughly $104.82 million and has about 182 million shares outstanding.

The post Xref (ASX:XF1) share price surges 5% on achieving 126% sales growth appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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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. owns shares of and has recommended Xref Limited. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Xref 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 EMvision Medical Devices Ltd (ASX: EMV) share price has spent the morning in the red. It is currently changing hands for $2.91, down 5.21%.

EMvision’s shares are on the move today after it announced an important update regarding a device application in the United States.

Here’s what we know.

What did EMvision announce?

For context, EMvision is currently on the tools developing a portable medical imaging device that uses electromagnetic microwave imaging.

Its primary purpose is to diagnose the serious and complicated brain condition known as a stroke. However, it will diagnose other conditions as well.

EMvision advised it had received feedback from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on its recent application for a Breakthrough Device Designation (BDD) in the US.

Under the Breakthrough Devices Program, applicants get priority review of their proposed therapy or intervention. This includes “interactive communication across the device development and validation path,” per the release.

The release notes that preliminary evidence supports the use of its technology to “differentiate and localise” both types of stroke in patients.

However, the company reports that the FDA requires more clinical study data to support the case. It will need this before EMvision’s device can get approval for the market.

As a result of the FDA feedback, EMvision advised it “has not been granted the BDD at this time.”

It’s not all over, though. The company still intends to go after the BDD once it has the clinical data on hand. EMvision will “generate [data] through further clinical development.”

Importantly, the company emphasises that its pursuit of the “FDA De Novo regulatory marketing authorisation pathway” for its 1st Gen portable brain scanner product remains unaffected.

EMvision itself didn’t appear to be fazed by the rejection. The medical tech company opting to take the feedback on board instead and get the ball rolling again.

Speaking on the announcement, EMvision CEO Dr Ron Weinberger said the company was “grateful for the quality feedback” provided by the FDA.

The decision has done little to deter the company’s growth vision. Weinberger confirmed the marketing authorisation “remains unchanged, as does (its) preparation for expanded future clinical studies.”

EMvision share price snapshot

The EMvision share price has had more than a choppy year so far, and has lagged the major benchmarks with a year-to-date loss of 5.81%.

Despite this, it’s rallied 4% this past month, and is still 14% in the green over the past year.

Nonetheless, the EMvision share price has lagged the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) gain of around 21% in the 12 months.

The post EMvision (ASX:EMV) share price slides 5% following FDA update appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• What happened for the NAB (ASX:NAB) share price in the FY22 first quarter?
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• ASX 200 bank shares fall flat amid flurry of new regulations
• Here’s what happened to the Bitcoin price in September
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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. owns shares of and has recommended EMvision Medical Devices 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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ASX 200 bank shares are waking up to a number of new rules and reforms from regulators, the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) and the Australian Banking Association (ABA) on Wednesday.

At the time of writing, all four major banks are underperforming the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) which is up 0.11% to 7,256.1.

Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA) has retreated 2.28% to $103.095. National Australia Bank Ltd (ASX: NAB) is 0.22% lower to $27.72. Westpac Banking Corp (ASX: WBC) is down 0.46% to $25.69. Australia and New Zealand Banking GrpLtd (ASX: ANZ) is also lower, down 0.29% to $27.75.

ASX 200 bank shares underperform as new regulations revealed

APRA tightens lending rules

The Australian housing market is rising at its fastest annual pace since June 1989 with home prices surging more than 20 per cent over the past year.

APRA announced new measures on Wednesday to further de-risk lending practices by increasing the minimum interest buffer banks use to assess the serviceability of home loans.

In a letter to banks, APRA told them to increase the buffer by 0.50 percentage points from 2.5 per cent to 3.0 per cent above the loan product rate.

APRA Chair Wayne Byres said this is a targeted and judicious action designed to reinforce the stability of the financial system. 

The move was designed at ensuring “heavily indebted borrowers” could meet the debt they were taking on today and, more importantly, in the distant future.

“More than one in five new loans approved in the June quarter were at more than six times the borrowers’ income, and at an aggregate level the expectation is that housing credit growth will run ahead of household income growth in the period ahead,” said Byres.

ASX 200 banks hit by swathe of new reforms

Also weighing on ASX 200 bank shares is a sweeping set of reforms from the ABA to improve financial services and strengthen the protection for customers.

Chief executive officer at the ABA Anna Bligh said that this month’s changes represent a major step forward for all stakeholders following the 2018 Royal Commission.

Six new reforms will be introduced this week, including:

• Anti-hawking laws: banks are banned from unsolicited selling of financial products to customers
• Add-on insurance laws: a cooling-off period between calls or contact for add-on insurance products so customers can make informed purchasing decisions
• Design and distribution obligations: ensures products are better targeted to the right customers
• Faster complaint resolution: customer complaints will need to be resolved faster, with clear reasons for the outcome reached
• Better reference checking: mortgage brokers and financial advisers will require better reference checking to ensure consistent practices throughout the industry
• Increased breach reporting requirements: banks will need to report more information about non-compliance and misconduct to regulators

“Two and a half years ago, the banking industry put its hand up and said we must do better, and looking back now, we have made strong progress,” said Bligh.

The post ASX 200 bank shares fall flat amid flurry of new regulations 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. 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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Bitcoin (CRYTPO: BTC) investors were holding on through another volatile month in September.

That kind of volatility remains par for the course, even for the world’s first and still biggest crypto by market cap.

How did the Bitcoin price move in September?

To give you an idea of the price swings, on 7 September Bitcoin was trading for US$52,700. By 22 September, it had tanked to US$40,600, a loss of 23% in 15 days, according to data from CoinMarketCap.

For cryptocurrency investors who held on throughout the month, the outcome wasn’t quite that bad.

Bitcoin kicked off September trading for US$47,150. On 30 September it was worth US$43,450, down 8% for the month.

What moved the price over the month?

There were a number of factors both pushing and pulling on the Bitcoin price in September.

Enthusiasm was high around El Salvador’s official launch of its crypto trading platform, Chivo, part of the move that makes the digital token legal tender in the Central American nation.

However, glitches in Chivo when it was rolled out on 8 September promptly saw the Bitcoin price crater by 11% on the day. Those glitches have since been fixed, and you can now buy your Big Mac in El Salvador with however many Satoshis it costs.

(You can split your Bitcoin into 100 million Satoshis.)

September also revealed a surprising shift in the makeup and number of Aussies investing in (or planning to invest) in cryptos. Inflation concerns were among the top reasons that respondents gave in the CoinSpot survey.

We also learned in September that cryptos are far from immune from the forces that impact share markets. Like the massive debt woes of Chinese property giant China Evergrande Group (HKG: 3333).

News that Evergrande could collapse, leaving debt holders out many tens of millions of dollars, roiled global share markets. That news also saw the price of Bitcoin tank 8% on 21 September.

“Quite often there is negative news out of China and we see this impact the price of Bitcoin to varying degrees, and the fallout from Evergrande is following a similar pattern,” said Jonathon Miller, managing director of Australian cryptocurrency exchange Kraken.

October, if you’re wondering, has been a better month for the token. Currently trading at US$51,560, it’s up 19% so far this month. Of course, those gains can evaporate as quickly, or faster, than they materialise.

Invest with care.

The post Here’s what happened to the Bitcoin price in September appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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• Will Ethereum overtake Bitcoin?

The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of and has recommended Bitcoin. 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 Santos Ltd (ASX: STO) share price has continued its positive run and is pushing higher on Wednesday.

In morning trade, the energy producer’s shares are up 3% to $7.47.

This means the Santos share price is now up over 20% in the space of a month.

Why is the Santos share price up 20% in a month?

As well as getting a boost from a positive reaction to its merger plans with Oil Search Ltd (ASX: OSH), investors have been bidding the Santos share price higher in recent weeks after oil prices surged.

In fact, oil prices continue to rise and hit multi-year highs overnight.

According to CNBC, on Tuesday night the Brent crude oil price settled 1.6% higher at US$82.56 per barrel and the West Texas Intermediate (WTI) oil price settled 1.7% higher at US$78.93 per barrel. The latter was its highest level since 2014.

The catalyst for this was OPEC’s meeting this week. At the meeting, the oil cartel resisted calls to increase supply quicker and stuck to its gradual production increase plans. OPEC is reportedly concerned that a fourth global wave of COVID-19 infections could hit the demand recovery.

Is it too late to buy shares?

The good news is that one leading broker believes there’s still a lot of value left in the Santos share price.

According to a recent note out of Morgans, the broker has an add rating and $8.55 price target on the company’s shares.

Based on the current Santos share price, this implies potential upside of 14.5% over the next 12 months.

Morgans commented: “We expect the resilience of STO’s growth profile and diversified earnings base see it best placed to outperform against a backdrop of a continuing broader sector recovery. STO remains our top preference amongst our large-cap energy universe. With early indications supportive of our view that material synergies and enhanced growth plans will result from the OSH merger. While in good shape, we expect STO to continue gaining investor support as it executes on the opportunistic OSH merger.”

The post Santos (ASX:STO) share price up 3% as oil surge continues appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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• Oil Search (ASX:OSH) share price gains 18% in 14 days. Here’s why
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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. 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 Aroa Biosurgery Ltd (ASX: ARX) share price is climbing in early trade this morning as the company released its preliminary half-year results.

At the time of writing, the surgical technology company’s share price is up 14.81% from the market open and changing hands at $1.24 a share.

After a robust first half, Aroa also announced it had also signed a contract extension.

Here are the details on both advancements.

Aroa Biosurgery share price lifts on strong preliminary sales growth in first half

Aroa came out of the reporting period with a healthy set of results, with preliminary unaudited sales revenue of around NZ$17 million.

That represents an approximate 108% year on year growth when neutralising exchange rate effects.

After changes the company made to its sales team to drive more product turnover, the company claims to have grown its earnings substantially over the half-year.

On these two factors, Aroa updated its FY22 product sales guidance and now expects to be at the upper end of previous guidance of NZ$30 million to NZ$33 million.

Aroa will “further assess its FY22 product sales revenue guidance” once it confirms its H1 FY22 revenue, including “the quarterly revenue share from TELA Bio”.

Aside from this progress, Aroa also announced it had signed a contract extension for its Myriad products.

The contract is to be rolled over with “leading US group purchasing organisation (PGO)” HealthTrusts Purchasing Group, L.P.

According to the company, approximately 1,500 US hospitals and healthcare systems will have access to its Myriad products as a result of the extension.

To cover the announcement in more detail, Aroa is holding an investor presentation today.

What did management say?

Speaking on the announcement, Aroa Biosurgery CEO Brian Ward said:

It is pleasing to see the momentum that is developing across the AROA product portfolio. The changes we made to our sales team [are] delivering on our expectations for Myriad Matrix, Myriad Morcells and Endoform. We are also seeing growing demand from TELA Bio, Inc., AROA’s sales and distribution partner for OviTex products.

Regarding the company’s guidance figures, Ward went on to add:

Despite the constraints of COVID-19, the preliminary figures represent a strong revenue result for the half year, exceeding internal forecast expectations. Once unaudited revenue for H1 FY22 is confirmed and the outlook for COVID-19 becomes clearer, we intend to further assess our FY22 product sales revenue guidance.

Aroa Biosurgery share price snapshot

The Aroa Biosurgery share price has gained 16.5% in the past month, however, has had a difficult year to date.

It has only managed to climb 5.6% into the green during this time and is 5% in the red over the last year.

Both of these results have lagged the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO)’s return of around 25% in the past year.

The post Aroa Biosurgery (ASX:ARX) share price up 14% on strong half 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 Boss Energy Ltd (ASX: BOE) share price took off this morning before handing its gains back.

The surge coincided with the company’s release of a non-price sensitive update. The uranium-focused minerals exploration company updated the market on its uranium inventory, its Honeymoon Project, key appointments, and its prediction of future uranium prices.

At the time of writing, the Boss Energy share price is 24 cents, flat against its previous close.

However, the Boss Energy share price reached 25.5 cents earlier this morning – representing a 6.25% gain.

Let’s take a closer look at today’s news from Boss Energy.

Boss share price soars on market update

The Boss share price took off this morning as the company released a seemingly positive market update.

Firstly, Boss announced it has recorded a book profit of $21.81 million after the value of its uranium inventory soared.

Since Boss purchased its 1.25 million pound uranium stock in March, the price of the commodity has increased from US$30.15 per pound to US$41.25 per pound. That compares to Boss’ forecasted price of US$31.90 per pound.

In addition to its inventory’s increased cash value, Boss’ inventory has boosted the flexibility of project funding and offtake negotiations with customers as it prepares to restart production at its Honeymoon Project.

Boss has also received requests for tender proposals from 3 countries with nuclear energy. It says the requests indicate the growing strength of the uranium market and its Honeymoon Project’s industry status.   

The company is currently preparing for a final investment decision for the South Australian uranium project.

At the same time, it’s ramping up its exploration strategy with a staged approach.

The strategy has already expanded Honeymoon’s global JORC resource by around 433% to 71.67 million pounds since 2015.

Additionally, Boss is progressing its front-end engineering design studies. It’s expected to be finished in the first quarter of 2022.

Finally, the company has appointed several new team members. Among the new faces is Jonathan Owen, who will be project manager of Honeymoon’s restart.

Commentary from management

Boss managing director Duncan Craib commented on the update:

While the continued purchasing of U3O8 by the Sprott Physical Uranium Trust will have a positive impact on the market by sequestering significant quantities of uranium and strengthening the uranium price, we can expect to see continued volatility until more nuclear power utilities enter the market…

By continuing to advance Honeymoon on several fronts while growing the uranium inventory, we can ensure we can capitalise on the rapidly turning uranium market at the moment of our choosing.

Boss Energy share price snapshot

The Boss Energy share price has gained 140% since the start of 2021. It is also 242% higher than it was this time last year.

The post Boss Energy (ASX:BOE) share price wobbles after operational update appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Why has the Boss Energy (ASX:BOE) share price tanked 30% in 2 weeks?
• How did ASX uranium shares perform in September?
• A sea of red for ASX uranium shares. Is the run over?
• Are ASX uranium shares fully valued?
• Why the Boss Energy (ASX:BOE) share price is tanking 18% today

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 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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