Tag: Motley Fool

On Tuesday the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) had a subdued day and edged ever so slightly lower. The benchmark index ended the day 0.2 points lower at 5,952.1 points.

Will the market be able to bounce back from this on Wednesday? Here are five things to watch:

ASX 200 expected to tumble.

It looks set to be a tough day of trade for the ASX 200 on Wednesday. According to the latest SPI futures, the ASX 200 is poised to open the day 52 points or 0.9% lower this morning. This follows declines on Wall Street which ended a three-day winning streak. The Dow Jones fell 0.5%, the S&P 500 dropped 0.5%, and the Nasdaq edged 0.3% lower.

Corporate Travel Management to return.

The Corporate Travel Management Ltd (ASX: CTD) share price will be on watch today when it returns from its trading halt. The corporate travel company requested the halt on Monday whilst it undertook a $375 million capital raising. These funds will be used to acquire Travel & Transport for $274.5 million. Travel & Transport is a leading US travel management company. Management is forecasting the acquisition to be approximately 30% earnings per share accretive post-synergies.

Oil prices sink lower

Energy shares such as Beach Energy Ltd (ASX: BPT) and Woodside Petroleum Limited (ASX: WPL) could come under pressure on Wednesday after oil prices sank lower. According to Bloomberg, the WTI crude oil price dropped 3.9% to US$39.03 a barrel and the Brent crude oil price has fallen 3.8% to US$40.84 a barrel. Concerns over rising coronavirus cases weighed on sentiment.

Gold price continues its ascent.

Gold miners such as Newcrest Mining Limited (ASX: NCM) and Northern Star Resources Ltd (ASX: NST) could be on the rise today after the gold price continued its recovery. According to CNBC, the spot gold price is up 1.05% to US$1,902.10 an ounce. This follows the further softening of the U.S. dollar and stimulus optimism.

ASX annual general meeting.

The ASX Ltd (ASX: ASX) share price could be on the move on Wednesday. Later today the stock exchange operator will be holding its virtual annual general meeting. The company could also release a trading update ahead of the meeting.

More reading

• 2 must-buy ASX 200 shares I rate highly
• 3 ways to protect your ASX share portfolio in a market crash
• The ASX big bank stock that’s most at risk of a dividend cut
• ASX 200 ends the day flat, BOQ (ASX:BOQ) shares drop on impairments
• The forgotten ASX gold stock that UBS is urging you to buy today

Motley Fool contributor James Mickleboro has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of and has recommended Corporate Travel Management Limited. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) and All Ordinaries Index (ASX: XAO) have seen a significant improvement recently following a series of challenging sessions this month. With the United States tech sell off largely behind us, October could be shaping up as an opportunistic month for ASX tech shares. 

2 ASX tech shares to watch in October

1. Selfwealth Ltd (ASX: SWF) 

Selfwealth is Australia’s first peer-to-peer investing platform with a simple, flat-fee brokerage fee. The company charges $9.50 per trade on the ASX regardless of position size. Its unique product and quality customer service has seen revenues soar 313% to $8.6 million in FY20 with a 235% increase in active traders to 46,445 and an improved cash burn of $147,000 down from $3.4 million in FY19. The company has seen a sharp increase in active traders through the pandemic and sees itself as a young brand developing into one of Australia’s most trusted investment platforms. 

Selfwealth will launch US trading in the December quarter. The US market is the most popular international market with Australian investors and the company intends to maintain its highly-competitive fee structure. I believe the announcement and commencement of US trading could be the catalyst to take the Selfwealth share price to the next level. While Selfwealth is a smaller company relative to most household ASX tech shares, it could become a leader in the investing space.  

2. Tyro Payments Ltd (ASX: TYR) 

EFTPOs provider Tyro Payments has had a challenging year amidst COVID-19. Its FY20 results highlight a 15% increase in transaction value to $20.1 billion, 11% increase in merchants to 32,176 and 11% increase in total revenue to $210.7 million. It finished FY20 with an earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) loss of $4.4 million compared to the $8.6 million loss in FY19. The company maintains a strong liquidity position of $188.3 million in cash. 

Tyro has expanded its product offerings to include e-commerce transactions, telehealth transactions such as Medicare benefits and Alipay. Tyro is also involved in banking operations providing SMEs cash advances, deposit accounts and term deposit facilities. Its banking operations saw a 38.1% increase in revenue to $1.8 million and gross profits of $1.3 million.  

Tyro has been providing the market with weekly transaction value updates to provide transparency as to the impact of COVID-19. I believe the anticipated relaxation of lockdown measures in Victoria and reopening of borders could see a significant improvement in Tyro’s transaction volumes. The company’s strong cash position, product verticals and anticipated transaction volume recovery could be a catalyst for a strong share price performance moving into October. I believe the Tyro share price deserves a place on any ASX tech share watchlist. 

More reading

• What you need to know about Tyro’s share price roller coaster today
• 3 ASX shares for beginners to buy
• A definitive guide to September ASX share trends
• This ASX tech share is still cheap to buy
• 3 small cap ASX growth shares I’d buy with $1,000

Lina Lim has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of Tyro Payments. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is home to a number of high quality shares for investors to choose from.

But with such a diverse range of shares available to investors, it can be difficult to decide which to invest your hard-earned money into.

Well, two ASX 200 shares which I think are must buys are listed below. Here’s why I rate them highly:

Afterpay Ltd (ASX: APT)

The first ASX 200 share I think is a must-buy is Afterpay. Although it is certainly a high risk option (and therefore not suitable for all investors), I believe the potential returns on offer over the long term make it a great buy and hold option. This is due to its international expansion and leading position in a buy now pay later industry growing rapidly thanks to the increasing popularity of the payment method with both consumers and retailers. 

In respect to its international expansion, Afterpay has recently launched in Canada and acquired its way onto mainland Europe. But it isn’t stopping there. Thanks partly to its relationship with WeChat owner, Tencent Holdings, the company has its eyes on entering the Asia market. Combined with its $5 trillion opportunity in the United States, I believe Afterpay has the potential to become a giant of the payments industry in the future.

ResMed Inc. (ASX: RMD)

Another ASX 200 share that I think is a must buy is ResMed. Thanks to the growing popularity of its masks and software solutions, it has been growing at a very strong rate over the last decade. Pleasingly, the company has started the new decade just as strongly as it finished the last. In FY 2020 it delivered a 15% constant currency increase in revenue to US$2,957 million and a 32% jump in net income to US$692.8 million.

Looking ahead, I believe it is well-placed to continue this strong form for some time to come. This is due to its world-class products and the massive number of undiagnosed sleep apnoea sufferers globally. Another big positive, which is often overlooked, is its rapidly growing digital health ecosystem. At the end of FY 2020 it had over 12 million cloud connectable medical devices. This provides ResMed with strong recurring revenues and an invaluable amount of high quality data.

More reading

• 3 ways to protect your ASX share portfolio in a market crash
• The ASX big bank stock that’s most at risk of a dividend cut
• ASX 200 ends the day flat, BOQ (ASX:BOQ) shares drop on impairments
• The forgotten ASX gold stock that UBS is urging you to buy today
• Leading brokers name 3 ASX shares to sell today

Motley Fool contributor James Mickleboro has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of AFTERPAY T FPO. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended ResMed Inc. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) has been in a bit of a funk lately. Between 19 August and 22 September, ASX 200 shares lost more than 6% of their value. Although the index has now recovered around 3% since the ‘dip’ bottomed out last week at 5,784 points, these wobbles were enough to have some ASX investors nervous. What if the market does what it did back in March again?

Well, unfortunately, I have no easy answers as to whether there will indeed be another market crash in 2020 — no one does. But what I do know is that if an investor is worried about an imminent crash, there are certain steps one can take to protect a share portfolio if such a thing comes to pass.

3 ways to protect an ASX share portfolio in a market crash

Hoard cash

Cash is the ultimate defence against a market crash. While cash makes a lousy long-term investment (especially in today’s low interest rate environment), it is also an investor’s best friend in a share market crash. Not only does cash keep its value and liquidity in any market condition, you can also use it in a crash to buy ASX shares at cheaper prices. I don’t ever ‘switch’ my entire portfolio to cash or vice-versa. But I do like to keep a varying percentage in cash at all times, depending on market conditions. If you’re worried about a crash, increasing your cash position is one of the easiest ways to build a buffer.

Own strong ASX dividend-paying shares

One of the best things about a strong ASX dividend-paying share is the relative certainty of the income you’re receiving. 2020 and the pandemic has made it especially hard for former dividend-heavyweights to keep the divideds coming this year. But they are out there. And receiving income during a market crash can be a great way of buffering your portfolio against paper losses, as well as giving you some cash to spend on cheap shares.

Hedge with ETFs

Exchange-traded funds (ETFs) are another way you can protect your portfolio against a market crash. Some ETFs are specifically designed for this purpose. The BetaShares Australian Equities Bear Hedge (ASX: BEAR) is one such example. It’s designed (according to BetaShares) so that a “1% fall in the Australian sharemarket on a given day can generally be expected to deliver a 0.9% to 1.1% increase in the value of the fund (and vice versa)”. There are other options too. Many investors like to hedge against a market rash with gold, either bullion, gold miners or gold ETFs like the ETFS Metal Securities Australia Ltd (ASX: GOLD).

These are both legitimate instruments to use, but I wouldn’t recommend them for a beginner investor, as they can be quite complex to manage effectively.

Foolish takeaway

Although many investors would love to protect their share portfolios in a market crash, the unfortunate reality is that (like any insurance), protecting your portfolio usually costs you money if the market crash doesn’t eventuate. Cash doesn’t fall in value when the share market crashes, but it also doesn’t rise when the markets do. And gold and inverse ETFs can fall in value if the markets rise. Remember, market crashes are part of the deal when it comes to investing. And they don’t last forever.

More reading

• 2 must-buy ASX 200 shares I rate highly
• The ASX big bank stock that’s most at risk of a dividend cut
• ASX 200 ends the day flat, BOQ (ASX:BOQ) shares drop on impairments
• The forgotten ASX gold stock that UBS is urging you to buy today
• One ASX tech share to buy today ahead of government cash splash

Motley Fool contributor Sebastian Bowen has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) may have closed lower today, however three ASX shares have made new, all-time highs.

An all-time high (ATH) is when the share price hits a value higher than it has ever traded at before. Why is this significant? Many companies struggle to break previous highs for a number of reasons. Whether it’s valuations, ratios, broker ratings or even just basic seller psychology, a company approaching its ATH can be a nervous time for investors.

Companies that break past this barrier and make new ATHs are a little bit special. They have broken the glass ceiling and are off and running. When this occurs, the feeling of huge potential is often renewed for investors. Today, three ASX shares have done just this. 

ASX shares making new all time highs

Temple & Webster Group Ltd (ASX: TPW)

Temple & Webster is an e-commerce platform providing a premium shopping experience. The company specialises in furniture and homewares products and is considered to be Australia’s largest online homewares store. Large is right. Temple & Webster has over 130,000 products listed. 

The company actually operates two different brands – Temple & Webster and Milan Direct. Milan Direct specialises in furniture sourcing with many of its products listed on the Temple & Webster marketplace.

Temple & Webster has an excellent reputation in Australia and has even won several awards to prove it. These include the Deloitte Fast50, BRW Fast Starters and Power Retail awards, to name a few.

The Temple & Webster share price hit a high of $4.37 in February this year, before coronavirus caused a landslide and sent it down to a low of $1.52. Since then, the company has not only recovered, but thrived. Its share price has risen a staggering 690% since those March lows to hit an all time high today of $12.10. 

The company has been in prime position to take advantage of the wave of online shopping occurring during the pandemic, recording a 74% increase in revenue in FY2020. These strong results have helped to push the Temple & Webster share price to lofty new heights.

Sealink Travel Group Ltd (ASX: SLK)

Sealink is Australia’s largest integrated land and marine, tourism and public transport provider. It has established operations across Australia, London and Singapore.

The company boasts amazing numbers, including moving more than 280 million customers each year. That’s right, million. It’s impressive. Sealink achieves this using its fleet of over 3,500 buses and 80 ferries. Chances are, if you’ve travelled at all, you’ve travelled with Sealink!

You would think a company in this sector might have reported a bad year in 2020, all things considered. However, Sealink reported strong numbers in the form of a total revenue increase of 152.8% on the previous year. These are really incredible numbers in the face of the coronavirus pandemic.

For quite some time, the Sealink share price has traded at a maximum price of $5.23. In March, the company was also hit hard by the market crash, with its share price falling from $4.50 down to $2.50. Since then, it has well and truly recovered, climbing nearly 125% to close at $5.59 today. Not only has the rally been great for investors, but Sealink can now boast a new all-time high share price of $5.79 reached in intraday trade too.

Data#3 Limited (ASX: DTL)

Data#3 is a leading provider of IT services and solutions in Australia. Its product suite is extensive, ranging from cloud computing, security and analytics to procurement and project management services. 

The company has actually been listed on the ASX since 1997 and has over 40 years’ experience in business. Revenue is substantial for this IT player, with it reporting a whopping $1.6 billion revenue in FY2020. Revenue alone doesn’t mean much, but in the case of Data#3, this year it reported a 14.9% lift in revenue on the previous year and even more importantly, a lift of 30.5% in net profit. Great results all round.

Since the March crash, which took the Data#3 share price as low as $2.50, it stormed as high as $6.78 today before closing the session at $6.75. Again, like the other ASX shares on the list, this is a new all-time high for the company. One thing to note about Data#3, it actually made a new all-time high recently on 3 September and it has taken the company less than 30 days to do it again!

Foolish takeaway

Watching ASX shares making all-time highs is exciting because they are breaking through a barrier that has never before been broken. 

Often this can trigger a new bullish run for a company as investors develop a new wave of confidence surrounding just how far the share price could ultimately go.

More reading

• Why these ASX tech shares just hit record highs
• Why the Data#3 (ASX:DTL) share price just stormed to a record high
• 4 unstoppable ASX shares to buy with $4,000
• Why Mineral Resources, Redbubble, Saracen, & Temple & Webster shares are pushing higher
• Is the Redbubble (ASX:RBL) share price on a path to $10.75?

glennleese has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of Temple & Webster Group Ltd. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Temple & Webster Group Ltd. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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If you’re busy constructing a retirement portfolio and looking for some quality options to add to it, I would recommend you take a closer look at the ASX shares listed below.

Here’s why I think these ASX shares would be great options for retirees:

Coles Group Ltd (ASX: COL)

The first ASX share I would add to a retirement portfolio is Coles. In fact, I believe the supermarket giant would be a great core holding for this type of portfolio. This is due to its defensive qualities, strong market position, and positive long term growth outlook. The latter is thanks to a combination of food inflation, its refreshed strategy, defensive earnings, and expansion opportunities.

Another positive is the company’s dividend policy. With Coles intending to pay out upwards of 90% of its earnings back to shareholders, they stand to benefit greatly from increasing dividends over the next decade. In the meantime, based on the current Coles share price, I estimate that it offers an attractive fully franked ~3.2% FY 2021 dividend.

Goodman Group (ASX: GMG)

Another ASX share that I think would be great for a retirement portfolio is Goodman Group. It is an integrated commercial and industrial property group that owns, develops, and manages industrial real estate across 17 countries. The main attraction to the company for me are its warehouses and logistics facilities. I believe these put Goodman in strong position to deliver consistently robust earnings growth over the next decade.

Especially given its exposure to the structural tailwinds of the ecommerce market through relationships with the likes of Amazon, DHL, and Walmart. In respect to the former, in June Goodman strengthened its relationship with Amazon with a 20-year lease for a distribution centre in Western Sydney owned by its joint venture with Brickworks Limited (ASX: BKW).

More reading

• Which ASX REITs are still worth buying in a post-COVID-19 world?
• Where to invest your Coles (ASX:COL) dividends this week
• The ASX shares that fund managers were buying this month
• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Tuesday
• How to make money by investing in ASX 200 shares

Motley Fool contributor James Mickleboro has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of and has recommended Brickworks. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of COLESGROUP DEF SET. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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The TPG Telecom Ltd (ASX: TPG) share price has gone off the ASX radar in the past few months, it seems. Backtrack to late June, and the imminent TPG/Vodafone merger was the talk of the ASX town. The old TPM-tickered TPG was about to join forces with Vodafone to form a newly merged telco. Investors were excited to see the fixed-line strength of TPG combined with the mobile reach of Vodafone’s customer base. The spin-off of the old TPG’s Singapore operations into Tuas Ltd (ASX: TUA) was also an exciting sidenote. In the 2 months leading up to the merger, TPM shares rose by more than 25%.

But since the merger came into effect, TPG shares have fallen off the radar. The TPG share price is down around 15% since 30 June, and the Tuas share price has offloaded more than 22%.

So what’s going on? Is this a case of buyers’ remorse?

What does the TPG share price tell us?

It’s hard to value TPG using traditional metrics like the price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio given the ‘new TPG’ has only been around for a few months now.

But let’s look at some numbers anyway. On current prices, TPG is being valued at a market capitalisation of $14.1 billion.

In its half-year earnings report which TPG released to the market recently, the company told us that if the Vodafone merger had occurred on 1 January, revenues would have come in at $2.71 billion for the 6 months ending 30 June 2020, with earnings at $918 million. If we annualise TPG’s earnings (which is a little bit shonky, I know), TPG comes in with a P/E ratio of 19.74. By comparison, rival Telstra Corporation Ltd (ASX: TLS) is currently being priced at a market capitalisation of $33.84 billion with full-year revenues of $23.71 billion and earnings of $8.9 billion, which gives Telstra a P/E ratio of 18.57.

That tells us that the market is more or less pricing these 2 companies at a similar level compared to their underlying earnings.

TPG or Telstra?

So why would an investor go for TPG over Telstra shares, for example? More growth? I happen to think Telstra’s mobile network (the only division making telcos any money these days) is far superior to the new TPG’s one and is likely to attract more customers when 5G technology comes into the mainstream.

More income? Although TPG shareholders were treated to a whopping special dividend of 51.6 cents per share on the completion of the merger, this was largely funded by debt. It is unclear what kinds of dividends the company will be paying going forward. It has got a high benchmark though — on current prices, Telstra’s reaffirmed 16 cents per share gives the company a trailing yield of 5.65% today.

Foolish takeaway

Whilst I think TPG is a great business, I would prefer to invest in Telstra myself if I wanted exposure to an ASX telecom company. There are a few things that aren’t really clear just yet for TPG, including a full-year set of numbers to analyse and any kind of dividend guidance. As such, I would go with the devil you know and stick with Telstra if you want in with this space.

More reading

• Are these high yield ASX dividend shares worth buying?
• ASX 200 Weekly Wrap: Bank shares push ASX 200 higher
• 2 high yield ASX blue chip dividend shares to buy next week
• 2 unloved ASX 200 shares I would buy now
• 2 ASX dividend shares with yields over 8%

Motley Fool contributor Sebastian Bowen owns shares of Telstra Limited. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of and has recommended Telstra Limited. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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If you thought the worst of the COVID-19 dividend cuts were over for the ASX big banks, think again!

There’s one bank in particular that could deliver more dividend pain even as the economy recovers from the impact of the pandemic.

Dividend downgrades were commonplace during the August reporting season with the big four banks slicing or suspending their payouts.

Big banks’ sorry dividend story

These include the Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA) as it chopped its latest payment by 58% to $0.98 a share and National Australia Bank Ltd. (ASX: NAB), which lowered its dividend to $0.33 from $0.83.

Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ASX: ANZ) deferred its interim dividend from May and only just paid a $0.25 distribution, while Westpac Banking Corp (ASX: WBC) cancelled its half year dividend.

Mind you, the banks aren’t the only ones guilty of being dividend disappointers. Several other S&P/ASX 200 Index (Index:^AXJO) companies followed the same route.

Record $1.3bn fine lifts WBC’s dividend risk

But the market believes the dividend risks is now behind largely us and the next payments can only be better.

That’s largely through, but maybe not so for Westpac as it’s seen by experts as having the weakest balance sheet among the big four.

It’s record $1.3 billion fine for money laundering is a big reason for the dour view. This is the largest fine ever dished out in Australian corporate history and Westpac only provisioned around $900 million for the disgraceful act.

Will Westpac pay a final dividend for FY20?

While the market believes CBA, ANZ Bank and NAB will have little trouble paying the next dividend instalment (and I think it will probably be higher than their last payment), the jury’s out for Westpac.

There is a chance that management will cancel or defer paying a final dividend when it hands down its full year results in November.

The move will almost certainly cement Westpac as the worst performing big bank stock for 2020 as its peers pull out their dividend check books.

Best case dividend scenario still looks gloomy

However, Morgan Stanley believes it won’t come down to that. While it acknowledges the risks, the broker believes Westpac will still pay a final dividend, albeit a tiny one.

It was forecasting a 30 cent-a-share payment, but lowered this to 25 cents given the Australian banking regulator’s guidance for banks to cap their payout ratio to 50% of profits.

“Risk is still skewed to the downside given the potential for larger write-downs and the need for the Board to adopt a conservative approach at this point in the cycle,” said Morgan Stanley.

“A 25c dividend would use ~20bp or ~A$0.9bn of capital and imply an ex dividend CET1 ratio of ~10.7%. This suggests just ~A$1.0bn above APRA’s ‘unquestionably strong’ target of 10.5%.”

Capital raising risk

That’s cutting it a little close and management may need to raise some capital. It doesn’t make sense to me to pay a dividend and do a cap raise, although that’s what NAB did earlier this year.

On the other hand, Morgan Stanley thinks it’s more likely that Westpac will sell assets rather than new equity.

Shareholders would hope so given how depressed the Westpac share price is.

More reading

• ASX 200 ends the day flat, BOQ (ASX:BOQ) shares drop on impairments
• The forgotten ASX gold stock that UBS is urging you to buy today
• One ASX tech share to buy today ahead of government cash splash
• BrainChip (ASX:BRN) and Novonix (NVX) were among the most traded shares on the ASX last week
• 3 ASX dividend shares to buy for income today

Motley Fool contributor Brendon Lau owns shares of Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Limited, Commonwealth Bank of Australia, National Australia Bank Limited, and Westpac Banking. Connect with me on Twitter @brenlau.

The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) was flat today, it finished at 5,952 points.

Here are the main highlights from the ASX 200:

Bank of Queensland Limited (ASX: BOQ)

The challenger bank announced FY20 impairments to the market today, sending the BOQ share price down by 7%.

BOQ revealed that it has completed its FY20 collective provision modelling. The bank announced that the FY20 loan impairment expense will be $175 million (pre-tax), which includes a COVID-19 provision expense of $133 million (pre-tax). These provisions are based on the latest data that BOQ has access to.

The $175 million impairment expense amounts to approximately 37 basis points of gross loans. The $133 million COVID-19 provision consists of $10 million in the first half of FY20 and $123 million in the second half. This is expected to reduce the CET1 ratio by 39 basis points. However, the CET1 ratio will still be above its target range of 9% to 9.5% because of strong organic capital generation in the second half of FY20.

BOQ is now expecting higher unemployment, downgrades to property prices and an increased duration of the economic downturn.

The ASX 200 bank said that it’s committed to support customers during this difficult period through a range of relief measures and by ensuring a flow of new credit into the economy to help small and medium businesses get back on their feet. BOQ continues to see reductions in customers accessing financial assistance through the banking relief package.

At 31 August 2020, BOQ had 12% of housing customers on the banking relief package and 16% of SME customers (based on gross loans and advances). Of those customers accessing relief packages, a quarter are still making full or partial repayments.

The company has also been reviewing its remuneration and superannuation. It has found errors amounting to $11 million. It’s completing a broader external wage analysis and review for enterprise agreement employees.

Corporate Travel Management Ltd (ASX: CTD)

Corporate Travel announced today it’s buying Travel & Transport. This is a North American corporate travel business which had US$2.8 billion of total transaction value (TTV) in the 2019 calendar year.

The enterprise value of this acquisition is US$200.4 million on a cash-free, debt-free basis.

The leadership of the ASX 200 share believe there are compelling strategic reasons for the acquisition, with scope for good combination benefits.

The enterprise value implies a multiple of seven times the 2019 calendar year pro-forma earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA), which was before the impacts of COVID-19. The implied multiple reduces to 4.3 times including the estimated full run-rate synergies of US$18 million.

It’s expected to be approximately 10% earnings per share (EPS) accretive on a pro-forma 2019 calendar year basis excluding synergies, and 30% EPS accretive including synergies.

To fund it, Corporate Travel is carrying out a fully underwritten entitlement offer to raise $375 million. Additional capital is being raised to fund acquisition costs, integration costs, provide additional liquidity to fund potential Travel & Transport losses for a prolonged period, balance sheet flexibility and capacity for other acquisitions.

The capital raising is being done by the ASX 200 share at $13.85 per share, a 14.3% discount to the last traded price last week.

After the raising, Corporate Travel will have net cash of $126.8 million. The acquisition is expected to complete in late October 2020.

In terms of current trading, both CTM and Travel & Transport are being impacted – they are currently operating at 25% and 13% of last year’s transaction volumes respectively.

Over July 2020 and August 2020, the pro-forma group generated average revenue of $14 million per month and an average underlying EBITDA loss of $5.7 million per month and average pro-forma group cash burn of $7.5 million per month.    

Other movers

The Whitehaven Coal Ltd (ASX: WHC) share price was one of the best performers in the ASX 200, it rose by around 4% today.

At the red end of the ASX, the Mesoblast Limited (ASX: MSB) share price dropped almost 5% and the A2 Milk Company Ltd (ASX: A2M) share price fell around 4%.

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• The latest 3 ASX stocks that brokers just upgraded to “buy”

Motley Fool contributor Tristan Harrison has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of and has recommended Corporate Travel Management Limited. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of A2 Milk. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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The MyFiziq Ltd (ASX: MYQ) share price was a very strong performer on Tuesday before abruptly being placed into a trading halt this afternoon.

Prior to the trading halt, the healthcare technology company’s shares were up 15% to a record high of $1.33.

When the MyFiziq share price hit that level, it meant it was up a whopping 400% over the last six weeks.

Why is the MyFiziq share price in a trading halt?

This afternoon MyFiziq requested a trading halt pending the release of an announcement regarding a material commercial transaction with a sales channel partner.

No other details have been provided by the company, so investors will need to wait until Thursday to learn just what this deal is.

Why Is the MyFiziq share price up 400% in six weeks?

Investors have been fighting to get hold of shares over the last six weeks following the release of a series of announcements.

The one which appears to have got investors most excited relates to an agreement with Asia Pacific corporate wellness platform WellteQ.

That agreement will see the company integrate its newly developed CompleteScan platform into the US$10 trillion insurance, telehealth, corporate wellness and wearables market via WellteQ’s personalised digital wellness and analytics platform from January 2021.

The company describes CompleteScan as a convergence of technologies that unlock a multitude of biometric markers and risks such as CVD, obesity, heart attack, stroke, and metabolic syndrome. It uses a combination of face scans and body scans via smartphones to generate its results.

According to the release, the integrated offering will be first offered to existing corporate customers. This includes Willis Towers Watson APAC, NIB Holdings Limited (ASX: NHF), Bupa Australia, Toll Logistics, Credit Suisse, and DBS Bank.

Management notes that digital health platforms such as WellteQ are becoming a highly sought-after engagement, triage, and monitoring tool for the public healthcare, corporate, and insurance sectors during the pandemic.

Vlado Bosanac, Chief Executive Officer of MyFiziq, commented: “This will be a world first as multiple organisations worldwide are positioning themselves with offerings to the telehealth, insurance industry and the corporate wellness space. Combining our new CompleteScan technology with WellteQ will be a paradigm shift in both tracking and analytic capabilities across multiple market segments.”

More reading

• MyFiziq (ASX:MYQ) share price soars 30% on expansion news

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. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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