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The Oil Search Ltd (ASX: OSH) share price shot up 3.51% in early trading Tuesday. This follows the oil and gas company releasing its first-half results for FY21 before the market open.

At the time of writing, Oil Search shares are residing at $3.83. All eyes will be on the $7.7 billion Papua New Guinean oil producer as the market comes to life today. In the past month, the Oil Search share price has struggled as it moves towards a merger with Santos Ltd (ASX: STO).

Oil Search share price in focus after swinging back into profit

Below are the highlights of the Oil Search’s results:

• Revenue up 7% to US$668 million, benefiting from oil price recovery
• Total production of 13.5 million barrels of oil equivalent in the first half
• Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation and exploration (EBITDAX) of US$488.8 million, down 8% on the prior corresponding period
• Net profit after tax of US$139 million, swinging from a loss of US$266 million in 1H FY20
• Interim dividend of US 3.3 cents per share, exceeding analyst expectations of 1.8 cents.
• Basic earnings per share (EPS) of US 6.7 cents

What happened in 1H FY21 for Oil Search

The Oil Search share price is in the crosshairs of investors on Tuesday after reporting its first-half results for FY21. Positively, the ASX-listed oil and gas giant exceeded the expectations of analysts at Goldman Sachs across a number of metrics.

According to the company’s release, Oil Search delivered US$668 million in sales revenue for 1H21 – representing an increase of 7% from the prior corresponding period.

This robust performance was helped along by the improving price of oil during the reporting period. Specifically, the realised price for oil and gas condensate increased 80% from the prior year. Meanwhile, realised prices for LNG and gas were down 5% compared to 1H20.

Furthermore, reductions in expenditure alleviated the company of its loss-making status. A 90% decrease in exploration costs, a 25% fall in finance costs, and a decrease in production costs meant Oil Search became profitable during the half.

The company reported a profit of US$139 million, compared to analysts’ expectations of US$107 million. This was in stark contrast to the US$266 million loss that Oil Search had made this time last year.

Although revenue and profits increased, production fell year-over-year to 13.5 million barrels of oil equivalent (mmboe). This represented an 8% reduction compared to 1H20. Similarly, sales volume dipped 2% to 13.3 mmboe.

What did management say?

Commenting on the result, Oil Search Acting Chief Executive Officer Peter Fredricson said:

Oil and LNG markets have continued to recover from the initial economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic led by a robust demand rebound in Asia. We have seen a significant increase in core earnings, reflecting higher realised oil prices and a sustained focus on reducing underlying costs, whilst a lower net debt position has contributed to a significant improvement in the company’s overall financial strength.

Additionally, regarding the company’s step towards net-zero carbon emissions, Mr Fredricson said:

In support of our ambition to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2050, we have implemented a carbon abatement program and commenced programs that aim to deliver a 30% reduction in GHG intensity across our operated facilities by 2030.

What’s next for Oil Search?

Looking ahead, Oil Search suggested that strong performance is expected to carry into the second half. This will be underpinned by PNG LNG and barring major COVID-19 impacts on operations. Additionally, the full extent of the higher oil price tailwind is expected to occur in the second half due to the lagging nature of LNG pricing.

Regarding guidance, the company estimates FY21 production between 25.5 mmboe to 28.5 mmboe. On the same note, FY21 unit production costs are expected to be in the range of $10.50 to $11.50 per boe.

Oil Search share price snapshot

The Oil Search share price has performed reasonably well over the past year. As the price of oil recovered from the COVID-induced crash, so did the company’s value.

Compared to the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO), Oil Search delivered a return of 23.3%, versus a gain of 22.2% from the Aussie benchmark.

The post Oil Search (ASX:OSH) share price rises on $139m profit for first-half appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• What happened to the Oil Search (ASX:OSH) share price last earnings season?
• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Thursday
• Santos (ASX:STO) share price slumps following half-year results
• This leading fund manager thinks these ASX shares might be buys
• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Thursday

Motley Fool contributor Mitchell Lawler has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has 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 Afterpay Ltd (ASX: APT) share price has shown tremendous strength on the charts since the end of July.

Whereas the S&P/ASX 200 index (ASX: XJO) has climbed 1.2% from July 30 until today, Afterpay shares are 38% in the green.

Moreover, Afterpay is pencilled in to report its FY21 earnings on Wednesday. Given these facts, it’s worthwhile checking the rear-view mirror to see how the Afterpay share price fared after its last earnings report back in February.

What did Afterpay deliver back in February?

Afterpay outlined several investment highlights in its half year results, including:

• A 106% increase in sales to $9.8 billion; $10.1 billion on a constant currency basis
• Total income growth of 114% to $385.2 million in constant currency terms
• Mammoth 521% growth in EBITDA to $47.9 million
• Loss after tax of $79.2 million.

Afterpay explains its recognised loss of almost $80 million on the bottom line stemmed primarily from the net loss in fair value on its financial liabilities of about $65 million from its Clearpay business.

Conversely, the company grew its number of active customers to 13.1 million, an 80% increase year over year.

How did the market react?

Firstly, after its report was released, Afterpay announced a trading halt on its shares to undertake a capital raise.

Next, investors were less than impressed regarding the company’s net loss after tax back in February, so it seems.

Perhaps many expected the company would turn a net profit; nonetheless, on the day of resuming trade, Afterpay shares immediately sunk 14% and closed at $119.52. That was a 21% drop into the red from the week prior.

Following this, the Afterpay share price continued its descent until April, partially reclaiming the losses sustained over the month prior.

The Afterpay share price has not recovered to its all-time high just prior to its earnings release in February. To illustrate, the Afterpay share price is still around 12.5% off its record high, despite its recent run on the charts.

Doubtlessly, there have been other catalysts along this time that have added further downward pressure on the company’s share price.

However, Afterpay shareholders will no doubt be hoping for a different reaction when the buy now pay later company reports its FY21 earnings on Wednesday.

Especially as the Afterpay share price has gained 25% over the last month.

Afterpay share price snapshot

The Afterpay share price has climbed around 13% this year to date, after a choppy period from February to July.

This extends the previous 12 month’s gain of 61%, which has far outpaced the broad index’s return of about 25% over the past year.

Afterpay has a market capitalisation of $38.5 billion at the time of writing.

The post The Afterpay (ASX:APT) share price fell 14% last time the company reported 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. owns shares of and has recommended AFTERPAY T 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 Kogan.com Ltd (ASX: KGN) share price is being sold off after the release of its full year results.

At the time of writing, the ecommerce company’s shares are down 8% to $12.10.

Kogan share price sinks after results release

• Gross sales increased 52.7% to $1,179 million
• Revenue jumped 56.8% to $780.7 million
• Gross profit rose 61% to $203.7 million
• Adjusted net profit after tax up 43.2% to $42.9 million
• Reported net profit after tax down 86.8% to $3.5 million
• Kogan.com active customer base up 46.9% to 3,207,000, Mighty Ape up to 764,000
• Cash balance of $12.8 million and no final dividend
• Outlook: No guidance but poor start to FY 2022

What happened in FY 2021 for Kogan?

As you would see from looking at the Kogan share price performance over the last 12 months, FY 2021 was a difficult year for Australia’s leading ecommerce company. Despite delivering a 56.8% increase in revenue, inventory management issues ultimately led to the company reporting an 87% reduction in net profit after tax to just $3.5 million.

In respect to the latter, management notes that excess inventory significantly increased storage costs, driving a 123% increase in variable costs to $44.9 million. It also led to an increase in marketing costs through promotional activity to rebalance inventory levels.

Positively, management believes the worst is behind the company now. It notes that following the end of the second half, inventory is approaching the right level for the business. As a result, it expects improved operating leverage moving forward, especially since growth in sales has resumed in FY 2022.

Nevertheless, that wasn’t enough for the company to continue paying a dividend. The Kogan Board has decided to conserve cash for business investment and growth purposes and has paused dividends. This news could be weighing on the Kogan share price today.

What did management say?

Kogan’s Founder and CEO, Ruslan Kogan, said: “Over the past 12 months, Kogan.com turned 15 years young, surpassed $1 billion in Gross Sales for the first time ever, surged past three million Active Customers, had record-breaking Black Friday sales, and made our largest ever acquisition to accelerate our expansion into New Zealand. And those are just the highlights.”

“While we recently celebrated our 15th birthday, we feel like we’re just getting started. Over the next year we’ll be rolling out new and exciting projects to further support our loyal Kogan Community with Kogan First membership rewards, new and improved delivery solutions, and further enhancements to the online shopping experience.”

“Over the past 18 months we have witnessed a massive swing towards the eCommerce retail revolution, one Kogan.com has been ready and waiting for, for well over a decade. We look forward to continuing our quest to delight our customers by making the most in demand products and services more affordable and accessible,” he concluded.

What’s next for Kogan?

Another key thing that could be pulling down the Kogan share price today was its poor start to FY 2022.

In July, the company reported gross sales growth of 5.1% but an ~80% decline in EBITDA to $2.1 million. Management notes that the latter reflects higher operating costs, which are gradually reducing.

It also revealed that it had inventory of $215.4 million at the end of July. This comprises $177.9 million in warehouse and $37.5 million in transit. As a comparison, the company ended FY 2020 with inventory of $112.9 million, comprising $32.5 million in transit and $80.4 million in warehouse. So there’s still more than double the inventory in its warehouses since this time last year.

And while its performance has improved month on month, no comparison has been provided for the same period last year. Instead, the company has provided a comparison against July 2021’s performance for selective metrics.

The first 18 days of August 2021 have seen gross sales increase 24.5% and gross profit lift 25% over the same period in July. No EBITDA figure has been provided to help with comparisons.

The Kogan share price is now down 45% over the last 12 months.

The post Kogan (ASX:KGN) share price sinks 8% after FY21 results and weak start to FY22 appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Tuesday
• These are the 10 most shorted ASX shares
• Here’s how the Kogan (ASX:KGN) share price responded last reporting season
• ASX 200 Weekly Wrap: Miners drag ASX back to earth
• These were the best performing ASX 200 shares 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 shares of and has recommended Kogan.com ltd. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of and has recommended Kogan.com 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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Along with pretty much the entire ASX banking sector, the Westpac Banking Corp (ASX: WBC) share price has been having a pretty decent month over August so far. Since the end of July, Westpac shares are up 5.14%, based on yesterday’s closing Westpac share price of $25.78.

At this share price, Westpac is now offering a trailing dividend yield of 3.45%. That dividend comes fully franked, so this yield grows into 4.93% grossed-up with franking credits.

That yield figure comes from Westpac’s last two dividend payments. They would be the final dividend of 31 cents per share that the bank paid out in December last year, and the interim payment of 58 cents per share that investors received back in June.

This is certainly heading in the right direction for investors. But it’s also a stark reminder of what has happened to Westpac’s dividends over the past 2 years. Back in 2019, this ASX bank was paying a biannual dividend of $1.92 a share (or two payments of 96 cents apiece).

That’s a long way from the payments investors have enjoyed over the past 12 months. And remember, Westpac actually missed its interim payment in 2020, the only big four bank to do so. That was the first time Westpac hadn’t paid two dividends in one year in decades.

The major ASX banks’ dividends compared

A trailing dividend yield of 3.45% is a whole lot more in annual yield than you can expect from a Westpac savings account or term deposit these days (or any other ASX bank for that matter). But how does it compare to Westpac’s rival ASX bank shares? Let’s take a look.

On recent pricing, Westpac’s current yield is pipped by Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA). CBA’s dividend, which has been recently hiked, is now offering a yield of 3.49%, just squeaking in ahead of Westpac.

But what of National Australia Bank Ltd (ASX: NAB) or Australia and New Zealand Banking GrpLtd (ASX: ANZ)?

Well, at yesterday’s closing price, NAB shares are offering a yield of 3.29%, slightly below Westpac. Meanwhile, ANZ shares are carrying a yield of 3.71%, which tops the major ASX banks. So Westpac’s 3.45% is actually right in the middle of what the major banks are offering right now.

Will the Westpac dividend keep growing?

One broker who thinks there is a fair chance of this happening is investment bank Goldman Sachs. Goldman is currently rating Westpac shares as a ‘buy’ with a 12-month share price target of $29.93 a share.

But more pertinently, the broker is also forecasting Westpac to pay another 58 cents per share final dividend for FY21 (an FY21 total of $1.16 per share). Goldman is also forecasting this to increase to a total of $1.28 per share for FY2022 and $1.41 per share for FY2023.

That may not be back to the glory days of 2018, but it’s certainly going in the right direction if Goldman’s predictions are on the money.

At the current Westpac share price, this ASX bank has a market capitalisation of $94.5 billion.

The post Westpac (ASX:WBC) share price is now trading on a forecast 3.5% fully franked dividend yield appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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• How is the NAB (ASX:NAB) share price performing against the banking sector?
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• Is the ANZ (ASX:ANZ) share price a buy right now?
• Here’s what has been moving the ANZ (ASX:ANZ) share price in August 2021
• What’s moving the ASX 200 Index (ASX:XJO) on Monday?

Motley Fool contributor Sebastian Bowen owns shares of National Australia Bank Limited. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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The Boral Limited (ASX: BLD) share price is on watch this morning after the company’s latest full-year results.

Boral share price on watch as revenue falls

Some of the key takeaways from the 2021 financial year (FY21) result include:

• Revenue from continuing operations down 6% to $2.92 billion
• Earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) excluding property up 11% to $157 million
• Underlying earnings per share (EPS) from total operations up 42% to 20.6 cents
• Return on funds employed (ROFE) down 50 basis points (bps) to 8.3%
• No final dividend declared

The Boral share price is one to watch in early trade following its latest update.

What happened in FY21 for Boral?

Boral noted challenging market conditions in FY21 after reporting a 3% decrease in Roads Highways Subdivisions & Bridges (RHS&B) revenue. There was also a 7% decrease in the company’s other engineering revenue during the year.

There was the arm wrestle again Seven Group Holdings Ltd (ASX: SVW) as the Aussie conglomerate lobbed a takeover bid for the Aussie building materials company.

Boral reported 201,000 total housing starts in FY21, up 16% from the prior year. That included double digit percentage growth across NSW, Queensland, South Australia and Western Australia.

What did management say?

Boral CEO and Managing Director, Zlatko Todorcevski, commented on the Group’s progress during the year:

We have made substantial progress in our strategy to transform Boral into a stronger, better performing, more customer-focused organisation, with a core portfolio of businesses that deliver value throughout the cycle.

Our full-year FY2021 results reflect the mixed market conditions we are continuing to experience in Australia during the pandemic.

As we finished the last financial year there were encouraging signs of improving demand. However, the new financial year has started with early challenges as a result of pandemic-related lockdowns.

We expect that FY2022 market conditions will be mixed. Infrastructure activity, particularly road construction, is expected to improve slightly in the second half of FY2022 and moving into FY2023.

What’s next for Boral and its share price?

Uncertainty and “mixed” market conditions were a theme of today’s results. Boral said the impact of COVID disruptions in the first quarter of FY2022 may total around $50 million.

The Aussie building materials company is targeting FY2022 transformation benefits of $60 million to $75 million net of inflation, with capital expenditure of around $300 million.

The Boral share price has surged 37.8% in 2021 amid the ongoing takeover bid from Seven and is outpacing the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) this year.

The post Boral (ASX:BLD) share price on watch as revenue falls appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• The Boral (ASX:BLD) share price fell 8% last time the company reported
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• Boral (ASX:BLD) share price falls as Seven wins takeover and outs chair
• Boral (ASX:BLD) share price struggles as Seven waits to take over

Motley Fool contributor Ken Hall 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 Mineral Resources Limited (ASX: MIN) share price has enjoyed strong gains, up 74% since this time last year. This comes as the mining services company experienced sky-high prices for iron ore and lithium throughout 2021 until of late.

At Monday’s market close, Mineral Resources shares finished the day up 0.51% to $51.31.

What’s going on with the Mineral Resources share price?

Investors have been relatively buoyant on the Mineral Resources share price despite its steep 16% drop over the past week.

The spot price for iron ore and lithium surged in the first half of 2021, which translated to bumper profits for Mineral Resources.

In its FY21 full-year results, the company reported revenue of $3.7 billion, up 76% over the prior corresponding period. The robust performance was driven by mining services growth and new external contracts, record commodities shipment, and strong spot prices.

This led to underlying earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) of $1.9 billion, up 148% compared to FY20.

However, as mentioned above, the Mineral Resources share price has taken a tumble since around the time the company revealed its FY21 scorecard.

The spot price for lithium and iron ore has been weighted down as China has cut its imports from Australia. In addition, the Asian country has ramped up domestic efforts to be more self-reliant in producing critical minerals and iron ore.

Since August 13, Mineral Resources shares have sunk from $61.52 to $51.31, representing a fall of 16.6%.

Mineral Resources dividend yield

Mineral Resources paid a fully franked interim dividend of $1.00 per share to shareholders in March. On top of this, the company rewarded shareholders with a final dividend payment of $1.75 this earnings season.

When factoring in the current share price along with its full-year dividend payment, this gives Minerals Resources a dividend yield of 5.35%.

Not a bad return for investors when factoring in the company’s share price over the past 12 months.

The post The Mineral Resources (ASX:MIN) share price is now trading on a 5.35% fully franked dividend yield appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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• What’s going on with ASX lithium shares today?
• Why the Mineral Resources (ASX:MIN) share price fell 15% this week

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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The SEEK Limited (ASX: SEK) share price is one to watch this morning after the human resources consulting company’s latest full-year result.

SEEK share price on watch as FY21 revenue falls flat

SEEK this morning reported its full-year results for the period ended 31 December 2021 (FY21). Some of the key takeaways include:

• Revenue up 1% on the prior corresponding period (pcp) to $1,591 million (+17% to $760 million from continuing operations)
• Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) up 15% to $474 million (+30% to $332 million from continuing operations)
• Net profit after tax (NPAT) excluding significant items up 58% to $141 million (+68% to $135 million from continuing operations)

The SEEK share price is one to watch this morning after the Board announced a final dividend of 20 cents per share, fully franked.

What happened in FY21 for SEEK?

SEEK reported Australia and New Zealand (ANZ) as its strongest market during the year. That coincided with record ad volumes in the second half of the year amid easing COVID-19 restrictions. SEEK reported its market position remained strong despite “intense” competition.

SEEK reported 40 million monthly site visits representing 10% growth on pre-COVID-19 levels. ANZ revenue grew 40% to $541 million thanks to a small and medium enterprise (SME)-led recovery.

The Aussie company also launched the SEEK Growth Fund with seed assets of $1,215 million. The fund’s purpose is on greater independence to enable long-term, aggressive investment decisions.

What did management say?

SEEK CEO and Managing Director, Ian Narev, had this to say about the results:

Market conditions in FY21 were unprecedented for SEEK. The year started in the depths of the first wave of COVID-19, which then gave way to a strong recovery in Australia, New Zealand, and many Asian markets.

Operationally, revenue in our core businesses grew 17% and EBITDA grew 30%.

The recovery in ANZ job ad volumes began in the second quarter of FY21, and then increased rapidly. By March of this year, job ad volumes exceeded pre-COVID-19 levels and were at all-time highs.

While we have observed an improvement in operating conditions from the COVID-19 lows of early 2020, we continue to experience volatility in hiring demand as our key markets react to localised outbreaks of COVID-19.

Despite these challenges, we will continue to focus on our key priorities to grow our core businesses over the long term and invest in our capabilities.

What’s next for SEEK and its share price?

SEEK provided FY22 guidance excluding significant items and the SEEK Growth Fund. That includes expected EBITDA of $425 million to $450 million and net profit after tax of $190 million to $200 million.

The Seek share price has climbed 54.8% in the last 12 months and is outperforming the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) in 2021.

The post SEEK (ASX:SEK) share price on watch as revenue falls flat appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Tuesday
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Motley Fool contributor Ken Hall has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended SEEK 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 Ansell Limited (ASX: ANN) share price will be one to watch when trading resumes on Tuesday. That’s after the personal protective equipment (PPE) manufacturer released its full-year results for FY21 this morning.

At close of trade Monday, shares in the company were trading at $40.50 – down 0.49%. The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO), meanwhile, ended the day 0.39% higher.

Let’s take a closer look at today’s results.

Ansell share price in focus after 54% dividend growth

• Sales of approx. US$2 billion – up 25.6% on the prior corresponding period (pcp).
• Earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) jumped 56% to US$338 million.
• Net profit after tax (NPAT) surged 57% on the pcp to US$248 million.
• Basic earnings per share (EPS) of US$1.922 – up 60% on the pcp.
• Full-year dividend of US76.8 cents per share (US43.6 cents final + US33.2 cents interim). This is 54% higher than the pcp and represents a dividend yield of 2.63%.

What happened in FY21 for Ansell?

The biggest story around the world, which has also been impacting the Ansell share price, is the coronavirus pandemic. Ansell chair John Bevan conceded the emergence of new strains of the virus has benefitted the company’s bottom line.

“The COVID-19 pandemic has continued to be the dominant influence on the global economy this year as countries recover or succumb to new waves. As a result, Ansell’s mission to provide innovative safety solutions in a responsible and reliable manner has never been clearer. This partly contributed to the company upgrading EPS guidance three times throughout 2021 financial year and achieving EPS of 192.2¢,” he said.

As well, in June, Ansell announced the appointment of a new CEO. Neil Salmon was an internal hire who was previously president of Industrial GBU at the company. The Ansell share price fell on the day of this announcement. He will take the job come 1 September this year.

What did management say?

Bevan had more to say on today’s results, including:

To meet higher demand for some of our products, we increased our capital expenditure to $82.7m, a 36.5% increase on the prior year. We plan on maintaining the spend at elevated levels for financial year 2022 and are confident that we can deliver the desired returns from these investments. It is important that our shareholders are rewarded and as a result, we have declared a final dividend of US43.6¢ which takes full year dividend to US76.8¢, a 53.6% increase compared to the prior year and a 40% payout ratio. We will also continue to assess share buybacks from time to time as part of our capital allocation strategy.

Retiring CEO Magnus Nicolin added:

The focus for us this year has been to continue serving our customers and bringing our major capacity expansions into production despite the challenging operating environment. We were able to get 12 new glove lines and several new body protection smart lines live which helped to deliver the results we saw for 2021 financial year and will also support growth for 2022 financial year and beyond. In addition to this, we ensured that the business is well positioned for the post COVID-19 environment by continuing to invest in our sales force, customer experience, product innovation and digital capabilities.

What’s next for Ansell?

Ansell says the continuing impact of COVID-19 will be material to the company’s performance in FY22. Investors will be interested to watch how the Ansell share price performs as the economy starts to open up.

The company says it has a diversified portfolio of products and, whilst it expects demand for medical PPE to taper off as the impacts of COVID-19 lessen, it maintains this should be offset by sales of other products. These include “Mechanical, Surgical, Life Sciences and internally manufactured Single Use gloves.”

Conversely, Ansell said the impacts of the pandemic in rubber rich South-East Asia may hamper supply in FY22:

A number of Ansell’s factories and suppliers in the region have had short term closures or reduced operations. This may impact sales during FY22 H1. Increased freight costs and shipping delays are also expected to persist throughout FY22.

Ansell expects EPS for FY22 to be within the range of US175 cents and US195 cents.

Ansell share price snapshot

Over the past 12 months, the Ansell share price has increased 0.5%. The ASX 200 has outperformed it by more than 21 percentage points over the same period. Year to date, however, Ansell shares have climbed 15.6% compared to the ASX 200’s gains of 12.1%. Ansell has a current market capitalisation of about $5.2 billion.

The post Ansell (ASX:ANN) share price on watch after 57% profit surge appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Revealed: The biggest shocker from results season
• 2 COVID-19 ASX shares that could be buys

Motley Fool contributor Marc Sidarous has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Ansell 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 WiseTech Global Ltd (ASX: WTC) share price will be one to watch this week when it hands in its full year results.

Shareholders will no doubt be hoping that the market reacts as positively to its full year result as it did to the company’s half year results.

In February, the WiseTech share price jumped 9% during intraday trading following its release.

What happened last time it released earnings?

For the six months ended 31 December, WiseTech reported a 16% increase in revenue to $238.7 million. Management advised that this was driven by a 19% lift in CargoWise revenue to $150 million and a 12% increase in acquisition revenue to $88.7 million.

Thanks to organisation-wide efficiency initiatives and operating leverage, the company’s earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) increased at an even stronger rate of 43% to $89.2 million.

And finally, on the bottom line, WiseTech revealed a 61% jump in underlying net profit after tax to $43.6 million.

WiseTech’s Founder and CEO, Richard White, commented: “Notwithstanding the subsequent waves of COVID-19 in major markets, our business has continued to deliver solid revenue and EBITDA growth in 1H21. Our strategic focus on ‘Product, Penetration and Profitability’ has enabled us to continue to expand the CargoWise ecosystem, increase our market penetration, with eight new global customer roll-outs signed since 1 January 2020 and deliver 61% growth in Underlying NPAT, demonstrating the step change in operating leverage that we are achieving by extracting acquisition synergies and implementing organisation-wide efficiencies.”

What else happened?

Also getting investors excited and giving the WiseTech share price a boost was its guidance for the full year.

The company reaffirmed its revenue guidance of $470 million to $510 million, which represents annual growth of 9% to 19%, but lifted its EBITDA guidance. The latter is now expected to be in the range of $165 million to $190 million. This represents year on year growth of 30% to 50%. Previous guidance was for growth of 22% to 42%.

Is the WiseTech share price good value?

Late last month analysts at Credit Suisse upgraded WiseTech shares to an outperform rating with a $34.00 price target. However, since then, the WiseTech share price has surpassed this price target and is currently fetching $36.72.

This could be an indication that investors are expecting an impressive result from the company later this week.

The post What happened to the WiseTech (ASX:WTC) share price last earnings season? 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 WiseTech Global. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of and has recommended WiseTech Global. 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 National Australia Bank Ltd (ASX: NAB) share price has been on a strong run of late.

Shares in the Aussie big four bank have climbed 19.5% in 2021 and are outperforming the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) by some margin.

However, the ASX banking sector has had a strong year. How does NAB’s performance stack up against its bank peers?

How does the NAB share price stack up against its peers?

As it stands, NAB is Australia’s third-largest bank by market capitalisation. Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA) is the largest at $177.7 billion with Westpac Banking Corporation Ltd (ASX: WBC) in second at $94.6 billion.

NAB and Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd (ASX: ANZ) round out the top four with valuations of $90.3 billion and $80.6 billion, respectively.

The NAB share price has now rocketed 56.2% higher in the past 12 months. That’s better than ANZ (+55.5%), CBA (+45.3%) and Westpac (+50.7%).

Recent share price performance is not the only thing to consider when evaluating the NAB share price. NAB is currently trading at a price to earnings (P/E) ratio of 21.0 times with a 3.3% dividend yield.

In terms of the P/E ratio, that puts it in the middle of the pack compared to ANZ (17.2 times), CBA (21.3 times) and Westpac (22.1 times). But this is not the only metric investors would be looking at when comparing ASX bank shares against one another.

Different dividend yields are also important in evaluating the NAB share price performance. Westpac and CBA (both 3.5%), as well as ANZ (3.7%), all offer higher yields at their current prices.

Foolish takeaway

The NAB share price has been performing strongly in 2021. In fact, on share price performance alone, the Aussie bank has outperformed its big four peers in the past 12 months.

The post How is the NAB (ASX:NAB) share price performing against the banking sector? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Top broker names 2 ASX dividend shares to buy
• What’s moving the ASX 200 Index (ASX:XJO) on Monday?
• ASX 200 Weekly Wrap: Miners drag ASX back to earth
• 2 ASX shares with generous fully franked dividend yields
• August has been a great month so far for the NAB (ASX:NAB) share price

Motley Fool contributor Ken Hall 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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