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Experts have warned treasurer Josh Frydenberg’s proposal to weaken public disclosure laws will let ASX companies get away with duping retail investors.

Continuous disclosure laws make it illegal for directors of ASX-listed companies to withhold information that may affect the share price.

Last year, Frydenberg temporarily relaxed some obligations for public companies in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. This included a partial reprieve from continuous disclosure requirements.

This week, the federal treasurer proposed converting that into permanent law, by requiring that shareholders can only sue if a director violated the obligations with “knowledge, recklessness or negligence”.

In other words, claiming ignorance could become a legitimate excuse.

Slater & Gordon Limited (ASX: SGH) head of class actions Ben Hardwick called Frydenberg’s proposal “madness”.

“Funny how the pandemic crisis has apparently abated enough to stop JobKeeper, but is still serious enough to warrant permanently watering down corporate responsibility,” he said. 

“The ASX is about to hit an all-time high, and the treasurer thinks it’s important to offer extra shields to company directors to avoid accountability.”

Frydenberg will give incentive for bad behaviour

In the US and UK, where ignorance is already allowed as a legal strategy, it’s called the ‘honest idiot’ defence.

Australian Shareholders Association chair Allan Goldin told The Motley Fool that it’s also called the ‘dumb director’ defence. 

“Previously if there was any failure to keep the market informed under the current continuous disclosure rule, it was a simple black and white situation. Don’t tell shareholders something material, and the company and its directors were liable,” he said.

“This was great for shareholders because they do not have insider or special interest knowledge, and all they know is what they are told and what they read.”

If Frydenberg’s proposal is written into law, ASX company board members could deliberately tell staff to not tell them controversial information.

“The new instruction to management from boards could be, if you want to keep some information to yourself or exaggerate a bit, just make sure you don’t tell me – so no one can sue me,” said Goldin.

Hardwick wondered why the treasurer would oppose the Australian share market’s world-leading transparency.

“Australian directors know they have to be open with the market or they might be accountable to their investors through a class action,” he said.

“Josh Frydenberg is apparently uncomfortable with this situation.”

Why does Frydenberg want this?

So if it’s such a bad suggestion, why would the federal treasurer want it?

The lobby group representing many of the ASX’s biggest companies, the Business Council of Australia, and the Australian Institute of Company Directors (AICD) support the changes.

“The AICD welcomes the treasurer’s announcement today which comes when encouraging investment and risk-taking is crucial to Australia’s economic future,” said AICD chief Angus Armour.

“Australia’s securities class action settings have been out of step with the rest of the world, making us a lucrative market for litigation funders and driving adverse consequences for businesses, shareholders and the economy generally.”

Goldin said the changes wouldn’t benefit anyone except for privileged board members, who form a support base for Frydenberg’s side of politics.

“The only people who like this change are the AICD and the Business Council. The only ones who like it are because of self-interest,” he told The Motley Fool.

“With the Liberal Party, a lot of their supporters and donors like it.”

Hardwick agreed, saying “mum and dad investors” would lose out.

“If you truly believe in markets then you’ll consider transparency and accountability to be good things because they allow investment to flow rationally. If, however, you prefer crony capitalism and protecting corporations from consequences, then you’ll take a different view.”

He hoped that sanity would prevail and the proposal would be killed off by others in Canberra.

“I suspect the senate crossbench may have greater integrity when it comes to defending the true interests of investors and our markets,” said Hardwick.

“The last thing we should want is for Australia to develop an international reputation as a jurisdiction that’s soft on corporate misbehaviour. That’s a surefire way to dry up investment.”

More reading

• CSL (ASX:CSL) share price hit by broker downgrade
• 2 ASX dividend shares with very generous yields
• 3 exciting small cap ASX shares to put on your watchlist
• Will Fortescue (ASX:FMG) shares really pay a 18% dividend yield in FY21?
• Did you miss the Rural Funds (ASX:RFF) 94% profit growth in HY21?

Motley Fool contributor Tony Yoo 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 great news for income investors in this low interest rate environment, is that there are a good number of ASX dividend shares offering generous yields.

Two ASX dividend shares with big yields are listed below. Here’s what you need to know about them:

Charter Hall Social Infrastructure REIT (ASX: CQE)

The first ASX dividend share to look at is the Charter Hall Social Infrastructure REIT. It is a real estate investment trust investing in high quality social infrastructure properties. These are properties with specialist use, limited competition, and low substitution risk. This includes childcare centres and government properties.

It recently released its half year results and reported a 14.1% increase in operating earnings to $29.1 million. Management also revealed other improvements to key metrics. This includes an occupancy rate of 99.7% and a weighted average lease expiry (WALE) of 14 years.

This strong performance allowed the Charter Hall Social Infrastructure REIT board to increase its FY 2021 distribution guidance to 15.7 cents per unit. Based on the current Charter Hall Social Infrastructure share price, this represents a 5.25% yield.

Fortescue Metals Group Limited (ASX: FMG)

Another ASX dividend share to look at is Fortescue. The mining giant has just released its half year results and revealed huge revenue and profit growth.

For the six months ended 31 December, Fortescue delivered a 44% increase in revenue to US$9,335 million and a 66% lift in net profit after tax to US$4,084 million. This was driven by record shipments and a significant rise in the iron ore price. In respect to the latter, Fortescue reported an average realised price of US$114 per dry metric tonne for its iron ore. This was a 42.5% increase on the prior corresponding period.

In light of this impressive performance and its strong balance sheet, the mining giant declared a fully franked A$1.47 per share interim dividend. This is an increase of 93.4% on the prior corresponding period.

According to a note out of Goldman Sachs, it is expecting more of the same in the second half. As a result, based on the current Fortescue share price, it estimates that it offers income investors a fully franked 10.7% yield in FY 2021.

More reading

• Will Fortescue (ASX:FMG) shares really pay a 18% dividend yield in FY21?
• ASX 200 mixed, CSL reports 44% profit growth, TWE soars
• 3 ASX dividend shares smashing records this reporting season
• ASX 200 up 0.2%: ANZ and CSL impress, Fortescue declares huge interim dividend
• Fortescue (ASX:FMG) share price pushes higher after declaring huge dividend

Motley Fool contributor James Mickleboro 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 the small end of the Australian share market, there are a number of companies with the potential to grow materially in the future.

Three that investors might want to get better acquainted with are listed below. Here’s what you need to know about them:

IntelliHR Ltd (ASX: IHR)

The first small cap ASX share to look at is IntelliHR. It is a cloud-based human resources and people management platform provider. Last month the company released its second quarter update and revealed that its international expansion strategy was going very positively. This expansion underpinned a 23% increase in second quarter Annualised Recurring Revenue (ARR) and and a 147% increase contracted subscriber headcount. Approximately 77% of its new subscribers came from the massive North American market.

PlaySide Studios Limited (ASX: PLY)

Another small cap ASX share to look at is PlaySide Studios, It is one of Australia’s largest independent video game developers, with a growing portfolio of games. This includes games based on its own original intellectual property and games developed with Hollywood studios such as Disney. Late last month, PlaySide released its second quarter update and revealed quarterly revenue of $3.13 million. This was an increase of a 66% over the first quarter. Given that management estimates that the global mobile games market is worth $77.2 billion per annum, it clearly has a long runway for growth in the future.

Whispir Ltd (ASX: WSP)

Whispir is a software-as-a-service communications workflow platform provider. Its software platform allows businesses and governments to deliver actionable two-way interactions at scale using automated multi-channel communication workflows. Earlier this week, Whispir released its half year results and reported a 29.2% increase in its ARR to $47.4 million. This was driven by increased activity from its existing customers and the addition of 77 net new customer to a total of 707 customers. This is still only scratching at the surface of its global market opportunity.

More reading

• Why the Whispir (ASX:WSP) share price is on the rise today
• 3 fantastic ASX shares to buy for strong returns
• 2 highly rated ASX tech shares to buy today
• 3 under the radar ASX small cap shares to watch
• Could these exciting small cap ASX shares be the next big thing?

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 recommends Whispir Ltd. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Whispir 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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At the current share price, Fortescue Metals Group Limited (ASX: FMG) is projected by some analysts to pay a grossed-up dividend yield of 18% in FY21.

The large iron mining business just reported its FY21 half-year result which included a dividend of $1.47 per share. That dividend alone amounts to a grossed-up yield of 8.4% from Fortescue. But there are analysts out there that think there could be another big dividend with the annual report in six months.

But before we get to that, let’s look at what Fortescue just reported.

Fortescue’s half-year result

In the six months to 31 December 2020, Fortescue sold 90.2 Mt of iron ore, which was 3% higher than the prior corresponding period. The realised price of that ore jumped 42% to US$114 per dry metric tonne (dmt).

The higher iron ore price and increased volume sold led to Fortescue’s revenue rising by 44% to US$9.3 billion.

With the benefit of higher prices and a continued focus on cost management through productivity and innovation, Fortescue was able to increase its underlying earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) margin by six percentage points to 71%. This helped underlying EBTIDA rise by 57% to US$6.6 billion.

Net profit after tax (NPAT) rose by 66% to US$4.08 billion. Looking at earnings per share (EPS) in Australian dollar terms, it rose by 58% to $1.84.

Operating cashflow grew by 42% to US$4.4 billion and free cashflow rose 12% to US$2.5 billion.

Fortescue’s net debt is down to just US$110 million, down from US$258 million at 30 June 2020. The gross debt still stands at US$4.1 billion and the cash balance is US$4 billion.

Whilst the $1.47 dividend per share declared by the board represented a payout ratio of 80% of net profit, it also said what it’s going to do with the other 20%.

It has established Fortescue Future Industries (FFI) to identify projects in the renewable energy and green hydrogen sectors. Projects have been identified in both Australia and globally.

Fortescue said it’s going to leverage its successful track record of identifying, assessing, and developing large-scale resource and infrastructure opportunities. The company said it will bring its demonstrated capability of adopting innovation and technology to ensure future green energy projects will position Fortescue at the forefront of this emerging industry.

The company will allocate 10% of its net profit to fund renewable energy growth with FFI. The other 10% will fund other resource growth opportunities.

Is that huge dividend yield possible?

It depends which projections you look at. Commsec has estimated that Fortescue can generate EPS of $3.61 per share in FY21, and that it will pay an annual dividend per share of $3.10. That would equate to the grossed-up dividend yield of almost 18%.

Broker Morgans has previously estimated that Fortescue could pay an even bigger dividend, of around $3.31 per share, with EPS of $4.14 for FY21.

But broker Macquarie Group Ltd (ASX: MQG) doesn’t think that the Fortescue dividend will be as big as the above estimates, with a projected FY21 dividend per share of $2.04. That’d be a grossed-up dividend yield of 11.7%, which is still materially above 10%.

More reading

• ASX 200 mixed, CSL reports 44% profit growth, TWE soars
• 3 ASX dividend shares smashing records this reporting season
• ASX 200 up 0.2%: ANZ and CSL impress, Fortescue declares huge interim dividend
• Fortescue (ASX:FMG) share price pushes higher after declaring huge dividend
• Fortescue (ASX:FMG) share price hit by a $3 billion cultural problem

Motley Fool contributor Tristan Harrison has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of and has recommended Macquarie Group Limited. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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Rural Funds Group (ASX: RFF) reported its FY21 half-year result yesterday, which included a large increase in its statutory profit.

What happened with Rural Funds?

The agricultural real estate investment trust (REIT) announced that its earnings (total comprehensive income) per unit increased by 94% to 17.3 cents.

Rural Funds also reported that its adjusted net asset value (NAV) per unit – which includes water entitlements at market value – increased by 4% to $2.01.

The increase in earnings and adjusted net assets are largely driven by the sale of the Mooral almond orchard at a 21% premium to the book value. This money will be used for re-investing in other farms.

In terms of the adjusted funds from operations (AFFO), it decreased by approximately 7% to 6.6 cents per unit. However, it’s on track to meet its forecast of 11.7 cents per unit. Rural Funds said that AFFO would increase after the completion of its development plans.

There was an increase of the guarantee associated with the JBS-operated feedlots from $82.5 million to $99.9 million, providing increased revenue.

No rent relief was required by lessees during the period due to COVID-19.

Rural Funds disclosed that its gearing ratio was 30.2%, which is at the lower end of its 30% to 35% target.

It had a weighted average lease expiry (WALE) of 11.1 years at the end of December 2020, which is one of the longest in the Australian listed REIT sector.

Macadamia plans

The REIT acquired 22 sugar cane farms for $56.4 million and another three for $18.3 million during the period. These are being leased as cropping properties, with a plan to convert them to macadamia orchards.

Rural Funds is planning to develop 500 hectares of macadamia orchards in the 2021 calendar year. Some Rural Funds management horticultural staff have relocated to central Queensland to oversee the macadamia developments.

It also acquired two cattle properties for $13.1 million for near-term development to macadamia orchards.

The farmland landlord said that it has existing earnings and balance sheet capacity to enable the commencement of the developments while continuing to fund distributions.

Rural Funds Management said that it is currently in the process of securing lessees to further increase revenue generation.

Rural Funds distribution guidance

The FY21 half-year distributions amounting to 5.64 cents per unit is on track with the full-year forecast. The AFFO payout ratio for the six-month period was 85%.

Rural Funds also announced that the forecast FY22 distribution per unit is 11.73 cents, which is in-line with its annual 4% growth target.

More reading

• 2 reliable ASX dividend shares to buy for your income portfolio
• 2 quality ASX dividend shares to buy and hold
• 3 top ASX dividend shares to buy
• 2 reliable ASX dividend shares to buy
• Beat deposit rate cuts with these ASX dividend shares

Motley Fool contributor Tristan Harrison owns shares of RURALFUNDS STAPLED. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of and has recommended RURALFUNDS STAPLED. 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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On Thursday the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) was on form but gave back the majority of its gains late on to end just a few points higher at 6,885.9 points.

Will the market be able to build on this on Friday? Here are five things to watch:

ASX 200 expected to tumble

The Australian share market looks set to end the week on a disappointing note. According to the latest SPI futures, the ASX 200 is expected to open the day 34 points or 0.5% lower this morning. This follows a poor night on Wall Street, which in late trade sees the Dow Jones down 0.35%, the S&P 500 down 0.45%, and the Nasdaq down 0.7%.

Cochlear half year update

The Cochlear Limited (ASX: COH) share price will be one to watch this morning when it releases its half year results. According to CommSec, due to COVID headwinds, the hearing solutions company is expected to report a net profit after tax of $64.3 million. This will be down roughly 50% on the prior corresponding period.

Oil prices pull back

Energy producers such as Beach Energy Ltd (ASX: BPT) and Santos Ltd (ASX: STO) could come under pressure after oil prices pulled back. According to Bloomberg, the WTI crude oil price is down 1.9% to US$59.96 a barrel and the Brent crude oil price is down 1.5% to US$63.37 a barrel. This appears to have been driven by profit taking by traders after a series of solid gains.

Gold price flat

Gold miners Evolution Mining Ltd (ASX: EVN) and Resolute Mining Limited (ASX: RSG) will be on watch after a flat night of trade for the gold price. According to CNBC, the spot gold price is flat at US$1,773.60 an ounce. The gold price firmed after US treasury yields eased overnight.

CSL downgraded

The CSL Limited (ASX: CSL) share price could come under pressure today after analysts at Goldman Sachs downgraded the biotherapeutics company’s shares. According to the note, the broker has downgraded CSL shares to a neutral rating with a $305.00 price target. Its analysts don’t believe its valuation is reflecting of the ongoing uncertainties it is facing. It added: “With our new forecasts driving (3)-(5)% earnings downgrades from FY22-23, we expect three consecutive years of single-digit earnings growth.”

More reading

• ASX 200 mixed, CSL reports 44% profit growth, TWE soars
• Why did Aussie investors get a 9% dividend cut from CSL (ASX:CSL)?
• ASX 200 up 0.2%: ANZ and CSL impress, Fortescue declares huge interim dividend
• Why CSL, Domino’s, IPH, & Treasury Wine shares are storming higher
• CSL (ASX:CSL) share price pops on increased dividend

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 Cochlear Ltd. and CSL Ltd. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Cochlear 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 Bank of Queensland Limited (ASX: BOQ) share price won’t be going anywhere on Friday.

After the market close on Thursday, the regional bank requested two back to back trading halts for up to four trading days.

This means the Bank of Queensland share price is likely to be out of action until Thursday 25 February.

Why is the Bank of Queensland share price in a trading halt?

Bank of Queensland requested a trading halt this afternoon so that it can consider, plan and execute a proposed equity capital raising.

According to the request, this equity capital raising comprises an accelerated non-renounceable pro-rata entitlement offer and a placement to institutional investors. It is being undertaken to fund a potential acquisition.

What is the potential acquisition?

According to the AFR, Bank of Queensland is on the cusp of acquiring ME Bank for $1.325 billion.

The report claims that the regional bank was selected for a final round of exclusive talks and is expected to sign a formal sale agreement in the next few days.

In order to fund the all-cash acquisition, the news outlet understands the bank will look to raise over $1 billion from shareholders. It is expected to pitch the acquisition to shareholders as a major strategic move and earnings accretive purchase.

Macquarie Capital is understood to be running the auction, with ME Bank’s owners, industry superannuation funds including AustralianSuper and Cbus, keen to sell the Melbourne-based bank.

The report also claims that fellow banks Australia and New Zealand Banking GrpLtd (ASX: ANZ) and Bendigo and Adelaide Bank Ltd (ASX: BEN) were previously in the running to acquire ME Bank before being pipped at the post by Bank of Queensland.

With the Bank of Queensland share price generating a total return of just 1.4% per annum over the last five years, shareholders will no doubt be hoping that this acquisition leads to better returns over the next five years.

More reading

• Bank of Queensland (ASX:BOQ) shares hit a 52-week high today

Motley Fool contributor James Mickleboro 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 S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) was almost flat today, rising slightly to 6,886 points.

It was another day of reports as plenty of ASX 200 businesses gave investors insights into how they have performed over the last six or twelve months.

Here are some of the highlights from the ASX today:

CSL Limited (ASX: CSL)

The CSL share price climbed almost 3% today in reaction to its FY21 half-year result.

Australia’s largest healthcare business reported a 44% increase in net profit after tax to US$1.81 billion in constant currency terms.

CSL said that this was driven by a number of different factors. One reason was the solid growth in its core immunoglobulin portfolio.

The transition to its own distribution model in China has been a success, according to CSL. Albumin sales grew by 93%, largely reflecting this distribution model change which is expected to help improve the participation in the value chain and strengthen sales, marketing and the distribution network.

The ASX 200 company also said that its vaccine division, Seqirus, delivered an exceptionally strong performance with total revenue growth of 38% and seasonal flu vaccine sales up 44%.

CSL said that it’s expecting FY21 net profit after tax to be in the range of US$2.17 billion to US$2.265 billion – up as much as 8%.

The board of CSL declared a dividend of US$1.04 per share, up 9%. However, this represents a reduction in Australian dollar terms by 9% to approximately AU$1.34 per share.

Fortescue Metals Group Limited (ASX: FMG)

Fortescue was another ASX 200 company to report its FY21 half-year result today.

It delivered 66% growth of net profit to just under US$4.1 billion, driven by a 44% increase of revenue to US$9.3 billion. This was thanks to continuing strong iron ore demand from China, keeping the commodity price high.

Fortescue’s free cashflow increased by 12% to US$2.5 billion, whilst net debt fell by 57% to US$110 million.

The large iron ore miner decided to increased its interim dividend by 93% to A$1.47 per share, representing an 80% dividend payout ratio.

The retained 20% will be used for two purposes. Half of it will be used to fund other resource growth opportunities. The other half will be for investing in renewable energy growth through its Fortescue Future Industries division to invest in things like green hydrogen projects.

The Fortescue share price rose around 2% in response.

Wesfarmers Ltd (ASX: WES)

Fresh from announcing its lithium expansion plans, Wesfarmers announced its FY21 half-year result today. The ASX 200 share said that its continuing revenue rose 16.6% to $17.8 billion with a strong performance from Bunnings, Officeworks and Kmart.

Underlying earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) of the entire continuing business rose by 25.2% to $2.2 billion. Bunnings EBIT grew 35.8% to $1.27 billion and Kmart Group EBIT shot higher by 42% to $487 million.

Underlying net profit for the ASX 200 business grew by 25.5% and operating cashflow went up 4% to $2.2 billion.

Thanks to the level of growth from its retail businesses, the Wesfarmers board decided to grow the interim dividend by 17.3% to 88 cents per share.

Other strong movers in the ASX 200

There were two major movers in the ASX.

On the positive side, the Treasury Wine Estates Ltd (ASX: TWE) share price went up more than 17% today after reporting its result yesterday.

However, on the negative side, the NRW Holdings Limited (ASX: NWH) share price fell by 17% after reporting a fall in profit.

More reading

• Why did Aussie investors get a 9% dividend cut from CSL (ASX:CSL)?
• Top brokers name 3 ASX shares to sell today
• Why the Orora (ASX:ORA) share price is soaring 6% today
• 3 ASX dividend shares smashing records this reporting season
• The NRW Holdings (ASX:NWH) share price has plunged 16%. Here’s why

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 CSL Ltd. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of and has recommended Treasury Wine Estates Limited. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of Wesfarmers Limited. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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You might have noticed the Cirralto Ltd (ASX: CRO) share price didn’t budge today, and that’s because the payments provider requested a trading halt.

So, what is the trading halt for? For a change, it’s not about an ASX price query.

More money, please

Cirralto requested the trading halt in relation to a proposed capital raising. This comes after the last few days of mind-blowing trading volume.

As reported yesterday, Tuesday and Wednesday’s trading volume was 352.5 million shares and 283.4 million shares respectively. For comparison, last Thursday and Friday only experienced 13.7 million and 17.5 million shares of volume.

It would be no surprise that the company would seek to take advantage of the elevated Cirralto share price interest. However, this capital raise comes less than 3 months after the company’s last capital raise.

As we noted on Tuesday, Cirralto’s low cash flows from operating activities require it to rely on other forms of financing. In November last year, this took the form of a $2.8 million placement.

As reported in the company’s latest quarterly, Cirralto had a $1.029 million net outflow, excluding the capital raise.

Riding the buy now, pay later wave

Over this week, many small-cap shares have experienced monstrous price rises. Speculation over the buy now, pay later (BNPL) sector continues to rage, as the instalment payment system thrives globally.

Recent beneficiaries have included the following:

• IOUpay Ltd(ASX: IOU) – a recent BNPL entrant to Malaysia, up 257% in the last month.
• Fatfish Group Ltd (ASX: FFG) – a tech investment firm that holds a stake in a recent Singaporean-based BNPL entrant, up 326% in the last month.
• Zip Co Ltd (ASX: Z1P) – Afterpay competitor with global operations, up 104% in the last month.

Cirralto is playing catch-up, with its share price rising 60% in the last month.

When will the Cirralto share price trade?

Cirralto stipulates shares be halted in the trading halt request until either Monday 22 February or once the announcement is released to the market – whichever comes first.

For the time being, shareholders will have to sit tight for the capital raise details.

More reading

• Why the IOUpay (ASX:IOU) share price is charging higher today
• ASX 200 dips, EML soars after reporting, Appen sinks
• What’s going on with the Cirralto (ASX:CRO) share price?
• What’s with the Afterpay (ASX:APT) share price fall today?
• What’s going on with the IOUpay (ASX:IOU) share price?

Mitchell Lawler has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of ZIPCOLTD FPO. 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 Event Hospitality and Entertainment Ltd (ASX: EVT) share price finished higher today following the release of the company’s half-year results.

At the close of trading, the Event share price had bumped up 4.57% to reach $10.53. Here are some highlights from the report.

Event share price battles through COVID-19

In today’s release, the cinema and entertainment company repeatedly noted industry constraints during the first half of FY21 brought on by the coronavirus pandemic.

Group revenue was down 58% at $294 million for the period ending 31 December 2020. This compared to $466 million in group revenue for the same period in FY20.

Event attributed the drop on the impacts of COVID-19, adding that this made comparisons to the prior comparative period (pcp) data “less useful”.

The group advised it deployed strategies to reduce its normalised earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) loss for the half. The result saw it stem EDITDA losses from around $20 million per month at the height of COVID lockdowns in March to June 2020, to an average of $5 million per month. This represents a 73% improvement.

CEO weighs in on navigating a pandemic

Commenting on the result and business environment, Event CEO Jane Hastings said: 

The result was defined by the impact of COVID-19 government mandated restrictions materially impacting our ability to generate revenue. In response, within every division, we have transformed every aspect of our business to be able to respond to the pandemic constraints.

We secured more than our fair share of scarce revenue opportunities whilst transforming and mitigating cash-burn. Swift and active cost management resulted in more than $155 million in savings from March to December 2020, excluding government subsidies, and excluding the benefit of most of the rent relief negotiated with landlords which will be recognised once agreements have been signed.

We have already seen the pent-up demand for our businesses, which was reflected in the outstanding result in Thredbo despite capacity restrictions of up to 50%, strong leisure demand in hotels, and cinemas achieving an EBITDA positive result in January despite the Australian nationwide box office being down 50%.

Event Hospitality share price snapshot

Over the past year, the Event share price has lost 15.42%, but its shares are trading 6.11% higher year-to-date.

Event Hospitality has a market capitalisation of $1.6 billion with 161.2 million shares outstanding.

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Motley Fool contributor Gretchen Kennedy 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.

The post Why did the Event (ASX:EVT) share price finish higher today? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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