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Shareholders of AMP Limited (ASX: AMP) will soon be allocated their entitlement to the 2022 financial year final dividend.

AMP investors have had to wait for a few years since the last dividend payment. But a return to profitability and successful divestment of assets has meant that AMP has some money to return to shareholders.

AMP dividend details

AMP announced with its 2022 financial year result that it’s going to pay a final dividend of 2.5 cents per share, with a franking credit level of 20%.

This came after the business generated an underlying net profit after tax (NPAT) of $184 million. Its statutory net profit after tax was $387 million, which was a large turnaround from the $252 million loss in FY21.

The announced dividend is part of a $1.1 billion capital management program, which has also involved a share buyback.

In terms of the dates, the AMP dividend is going to be paid on 3 April 2023.

However, the ex-dividend date is 1 March 2023. That means that investors who want to receive the dividend need to own shares before this date. In other words, an investor needs to own shares by 28 February 2023 (tomorrow) to receive the dividend from AMP.

AMP also said that there is an option to utilise the company’s dividend re-investment plan (DRP). The financial share said that the DRP election date is 3 March 2023 at 5pm, with no discount applied to the DRP price.

Will there be more payments to come?

When talking about its capital position and shareholder returns, AMP said that it continues to maintain “prudent” levels of capital given the challenging macroeconomic environment.

Its FY22 capital position of $3 billion includes $1.4 billion to meet regulatory requirements, a $699 million board buffer to cover potential impacts of operational, market, or regulatory change as well as product-related risks, and $923 million of surplus capital.

Target capital levels are expected to “reduce” after the completion of the remaining AMP Capital sales.

Of the $1.1 billion capital return to shareholders, it is working on a $350 million share buyback, with $267 million completed at 31 December 2022.

The announced dividend will return $400 million.

AMP said that there will be other capital management initiatives in FY23, with up to $350 million to be announced to complete the $1.1 billion commitment.

Whether it’s a dividend or share buyback, it seems AMP is planning to send more capital to shareholders in 2023.

AMP share price snapshot

Despite the positive news, the AMP share price is down 17% since the start of 2023.

The post Hoping to bag the newly reinstated AMP dividend? Read this appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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More reading

• 7 ASX 200 shares with ex-dividend dates next week
• Here are the 3 most heavily traded ASX 200 shares on Thursday
• Are AMP shares finally cheap enough to buy following Thursday’s 13% crash?
• Here are the 3 most heavily traded ASX 200 shares on Thursday
• The AMP dividend is back! Here’s what you need to know

Motley Fool contributor Tristan Harrison has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. 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 Scott Phillips.

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The Kogan.com Ltd (ASX: KGN) share price has rebounded from a poor start.

In late morning trade, the struggling ecommerce company’s shares are up 3% to $3.52.

This follows the release of its half-year results earlier today.

Kogan share price higher despite sales decline

• Gross sales down 32.5% to $471.1 million
• Revenue down 34.3% to $275.6 million
• Gross profit down 41.8% to $62.9 million
• Statutory loss after tax of $23.8 million
• Adjusted loss after tax of $9.6 million

What happened during the half?

For the six months ended 31 December, Kogan reported a 34.3% decline in revenue to $275.6 million.

This reflects a decline in active customers and significant weakness in its Exclusive Brands and Third-Party Brands sales caused by consumers shifting back to in-store shopping following the pandemic. Though, it is worth noting that this didn’t stop rival Amazon Australia from growing its sales very strongly during the last 12 months.

One thing that has been impacting Kogan over the last couple of years has been its failure to manage inventory efficiently. It loaded up on stock during the COVID ecommerce boom and was left with excess inventory when shoppers shift back to previous habits.

The good news is that Kogan accelerated the right-sizing of its inventory during the half, with group inventory levels reducing to $98.3 million from $137.9 million at the end of June and $159.9 million a year earlier. This allowed the company to achieve operational efficiencies during the first half. Variable costs fell 39.6% to $59.4 million and fixed costs reduced by 9.9% to $55.5 million.

However, this couldn’t stop Kogan from posting a statutory loss after tax of $23.8 million for the half. On an adjusted basis, the company’s net loss came in at $9.6 million.

Management commentary

Kogan’s under-fire founder and CEO, Ruslan Kogan, commented:

We’re pleased to be emerging from a turbulent few years. The ship has steadied, we have a renewed focus on the ruthless efficiency that’s underpinned our entire existence, and we have doubled down on delivering great value for customers.

The first half delivered on multiple fronts. We were pleased to welcome 500,000 Brosa subscribers to the Kogan.com community following our acquisition of one of Australia’s largest online furniture retailers. Our Verticals, namely Kogan Mobile Australia, Kogan Mobile New Zealand and Kogan Money Credit Cards, grew YoY as we provided services at incredible prices. Mighty Ape saw the successful transition of Gracie Mackinlay to CEO and received multiple awards for exceptional customer service. And Kogan First continued to grow as we delivered more and more value for our most loyal customers.

Outlook

Although its sales were still down 33.2% in January, Kogan managed to record a small EBITDA profit for the month. This was thanks to gross margin improvement and operating cost reductions.

Ruslan Kogan concluded:

We look forward to the second half of this financial year with confidence. We have reset Kogan.com for success, and in doing so, have ensured we continue to delight our millions of Customers during these challenging times.

The post ‘The ship has steadied’: Kogan share price climbs on first-half results appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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More reading

• Lynas share price slips as costs jump 32%
• TPG share price takes off as full-year profit soars 350%
• I’d invest $5,000 into these excellent ASX shares for the long term
• Why is the Fortescue share price sinking 8% today?
• Aussie Broadband share price slumps despite 500% profit surge

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The Lynas Rare Earths Ltd (ASX: LYC) share price is struggling at the start of the week.

As we approach midday, shares in the rare earths miner are down 4.35% to $8.13 apiece. The negative move follows the release of the company’s first-half results for FY23.

Let’s check the highlights below:

Lynas share price retreats on falling earnings

• Net revenue up 18% from prior corresponding period to $370 million
• Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortisation (EBITDA) flat at $189 million
• Cost of sales growth outpacing revenue growth — increasing 31.9% to $185 million
• Net profit after tax (NPAT) fell from $156.9 million to $150.1 million, down 4.3%
• Total rare-earth-oxide (REO) production increased 7.9% to 7,957 tonnes
• Average selling price per kilogram of REO lifted 8% to $52.50

It’s a mixed bag from Lynas for the six months ended 31 December 2022. On the one hand, the rare earths miner was able to increase production, realise a higher average price, and deliver improved revenue compared to the prior corresponding period.

On the other hand, Lynas saw costs grow at a faster pace than the top line in the first half, crimping the company’s margins. Unlike the past 18 to 24 months, profits failed to continue a rocket-like trajectory — slipping 4% year-on-year.

According to the report, the main cost drivers in the half were increases in chemical prices, utility tariff rates, employee costs, and royalty costs.

What did management say?

The reduced profitability from Lynas might be disappointing, but the result could have been worse given the challenges faced. A similar perspective was shared by CEO and managing director Amanda Lacaze:

This has been an eventful half year for Lynas with the announcement of our Mt Weld capacity expansion project and accelerated construction activity on the Kalgoorlie Facility. At the same time, in Malaysia we overcame significant water supply issues to deliver a strong production result.

In addressing the cost pressures which Lynas contended with during the half, Lacaze said:

Our team remains focused on increasing operational efficiencies to mitigate the continuing high-cost environment. At the same time, increasing production to meet strong demand from our key customers and delivering on our exciting growth projects remain key priorities.

What’s next?

There are several key developments taking shape for Lynas. Arguably the most important is the appeal of conditions set under the recently renewed Lynas Malaysia operating license.

The current prohibition of importing and processing lanthanide concentrate would result in the closure of the company’s cracking and leaching plant from 1 July 2023. Hence, Lynas has appealed to the Minister of The Ministry of Science, Technology, and Innovation.

At this stage, a number of possible ramp-up scenarios are being considered if the conditions are not removed.

Furthermore, progressing construction at the Kalgoorlie Rare Earths Processing Facility will be an important priority for the company. Key operational leadership personnel has now been recruited for the facility as processing is targeted for the fourth quarter of FY23.

Lynas share price under the microscope

The Lynas share price peaked in January 2022 at around $11.10 and has been on a steady decline since.

Over the past 12 months, shares in this mining company have fallen 19% in value. Whereas, other mining giants with greater exposure to iron ore and copper have been much more resilient. For instance, the BHP Group Ltd (ASX: BHP) share price is down 3.9% during the same stretch of time.

The post Lynas share price slips as costs jump 32% appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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More reading

• 4 ASX 200 mining shares to buy for takeover potential: expert
• Investing in Lynas shares? Here’s why Malaysia may reconsider its licence restrictions
• Here are the best ASX shares to buy for the coming decade: Firetrail
• 3 ASX 200 shares Firetrail Small Companies fund is overweight in right now
• Buy Lynas shares now for 25% upside: UBS

Motley Fool contributor Mitchell Lawler has positions in Lynas Rare Earths. 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 Scott Phillips.

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The TPG Telecom Ltd (ASX: TPG) share price is in the green on Monday after the company released its full-year earnings.

Shares in the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) telecommunications provider are currently up 2.22%, trading at $4.825.

TPG share price launches as earnings and dividend bolstered

Here are the key takeaways from the telco’s 2022 earnings:

• $4.4 billion of revenue – a 1.5% jump on that of the prior comparable period (pcp)
• $2.1 billion of earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortisation (EBITDA) – a 23.6% increase
• Excluding an accounting gain on the sale of tower assets, EBITDA grew 3.8% to $1.8 billion
• $513 million of net profit after tax (NPAT) – a 354% jump on the pcp
• Excluding customer base amortisation and gains from the sale of tower assets, NPAT was down 1% to $222 million
• 9 cents per share fully franked final dividend declared – a 6% year on year increase

What else happened in 2022?

TPG saw plenty of growth last half, welcoming 300,000 new mobile subscribers – ending the year with 5.28 billion mobile customers – and continuing its 5G rollout faster than expected.

Its average revenue per user also grew 1.9% to $32.40 a month, boosted by higher international roaming levels.

TPG Telecom boasted 2.22 million of fixed customer subscribers at the end of 2022 – flat with the prior year, while its fixed wireless subscribers more than doubled to 171,000.

Looking at its enterprise, government, and wholesale leg, major customer wins included Hungry Jacks, Lifeline, and Freedom Furniture. It booked more than $150 million of total contract value in 2022.

It also delivered $140 million of annualised cost synergies from the 2020 merger of Vodafone Hutchinson Australia and TPG Corporation, offsetting inflationary pressures.

What did management say?

TPG CEO and managing director Iñaki Berroeta commented on the results driving the company’s share price today, saying:

These results reflect solid execution of our strategy as we benefited from renewed customer activity throughout 2022. The operational and strategic foundations we have put in place are translating to an improving financial performance, which we expect to gather momentum through 2023.

The ACCC decision not to authorise [a proposed] network sharing agreement was a significant loss for regional Australia and for consumers and businesses. TPG Telecom and Telstra Group Ltd (ASX: TLS) are challenging the decision through the Australian Competition Tribunal.

What’s next?

TPG expects to post between $1.85 billion and $1.95 billion of EBITDA for financial year 2023.

That assumes no material change in operating conditions and excludes material one-offs and transformation costs.

TPG share price snapshot

Sadly, today’s gains haven’t yet proven enough to push the stock back into the longer-term green.

The TPG share price has risen 1% since the start of 2023. Though, it’s down 12% over the last 12 months.

For comparison, the ASX 200 has gained 4% year to date and 3% over the last 12 months.

The post TPG share price takes off as full-year profit soars 350% appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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More reading

• 3 ASX 200 shares that this fund manager loves at these prices
• Here are the top 10 ASX 200 shares today
• 20+ years of growing dividends. Why I plan to buy more of this ASX 200 stock in 2023
• Why TPG and Telstra shares could get a big profit boost in 2023

Motley Fool contributor Brooke Cooper has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has positions in and has recommended Telstra Group. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Tpg Telecom. 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 ASX share market has significant investing opportunities to consider, with some of them potential market-beaters at today’s prices.

I don’t think that day trading is an effective investment strategy. But I think it’s possible to find attractive long-term investments, as well as ones that have been materially mispriced which could take a month, a year, or longer to re-price.

If I had $5,000 to invest today, these are three that I’d happily put my money into.

Australian Ethical Investment Ltd (ASX: AEF)

Australian Ethical is one of the most interesting fund managers. I don’t think there are many ways to ‘play’ the growing superannuation theme, nor are there many investments that are focused on gaining exposure to the green investing theme. However, Australian Ethical could capture the benefits of both of these themes.

It offers funds to enable investors to align their investments with their ethics. Australian Ethical offers superannuation for people to use and that’s the segment that’s seeing significant growth.

Remember that people regularly contribute to their super thanks to mandatory superannuation contributions in Australia (as well as the tax-beneficial nature of superannuation). This provides attractive, regular inflows for the fund manager.

I also think this ASX share looks much better value after Australian Ethical’s share price decline of 45% over the last six months. Certainly, ongoing exposure to superannuation should help drive underlying profitability higher in the coming years.

Ansell Limited (ASX: ANN)

Ansell is one of the world’s largest manufacturers of safety gloves used for a variety of household, industrial, scientific, and medical purposes.

I think Ansell is one of the unsung global leaders on the ASX. The Ansell share price has dropped 36% since mid-June 2021. It benefited from huge demand during COVID-19 but now its valuation has come down to a more sustainable level.

In the FY23 half-year result, Ansell said that its sales of $835.3 million showed “strong growth in industrial more than offset by lower healthcare sales”. This led to an overall decline in organic constant currency terms of 11.5%.

However, I think the 6.4% underlying industrial revenue growth bodes well for the business once it’s not cycling against strong COVID demand.

Despite the sales decline, the earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) margin improved by 120 basis points (1.20%) in organic constant currency terms.

Based on Commsec estimates, Ansell is valued at 16 times FY23’s estimated earnings and 15 times FY24’s estimated earnings. Earnings growth is expected again for the ASX share in FY25.

BetaShares Global Sustainability Leaders ETF (ASX: ETHI)

This is one of my favourite exchange-traded funds (ETFs) for achieving global diversification.

The idea behind this ASX ETF is that it is invested in a portfolio of 200 businesses that are among the world leaders when it comes to doing the right things in terms of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) factors.

It also excludes a variety of industries from the portfolio including fossil fuels, gambling, alcohol, weapons and other businesses of that nature.

I think it’s quite a cheap ETF considering the exclusion process that it follows — its annual management fee is 0.59%.

Around 70% of the portfolio is invested in US-listed businesses, but countries like Japan, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Germany, the UK, and others also have a sizeable allocation.

Looking at the current portfolio, these are some of its biggest positions: Visa, Home Depot, Nvidia, Apple, Mastercard, and Toyota.

The post I’d invest $5,000 into these excellent ASX shares for the long term appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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More reading

• 8 ASX 200 shares trading ex-dividend this week
• Why Ansell, Breville, Star, and Temple & Webster shares are falling
• Ansell share price slumps 8% as healthcare sales fail to cough up
• Is this share the ASX 200’s best healthcare buy?
• Looking for ASX growth shares? I rate these 2 as buys

Motley Fool contributor Tristan Harrison has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has positions in and has recommended Apple, Australian Ethical Investment, Mastercard, Nvidia, and Visa. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has recommended the following options: long January 2025 $370 calls on Mastercard, long March 2023 $120 calls on Apple, short January 2025 $380 calls on Mastercard, and short March 2023 $130 calls on Apple. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Ansell, Apple, Australian Ethical Investment, Mastercard, and Nvidia. 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 Fortescue Metals Group Ltd (ASX: FMG) share price is having a day to forget on Monday.

In morning trade, the iron ore miner’s shares are down a sizeable 8% to $20.60.

This compares to a 0.8% decline by the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO).

Why is the Fortescue share price being sold off?

There are a couple of catalysts for the poor performance of the Fortescue share price on Monday.

The first is broad weakness in the resources sector, which has seen fellow miners BHP Group Ltd (ASX: BHP) and Rio Tinto Ltd (ASX: RIO) fall approximately 2% today. This appears to have been driven by a pullback in the price of commodities on Friday evening.

However, the main reason for the Fortescue share price decline has been the company’s upcoming dividend payment.

Going ex-dividend

This morning, Fortescue has traded ex-dividend for its fully franked interim dividend of A$0.75 per share.

When a share trades ex-dividend, it means that the rights to an upcoming dividend payment are now with the owners or sellers of its shares and new buyers won’t receive it. In light of this, a share price will tend to fall in line with the dividend to reflect this fact.

In addition, sometimes a share will fall even more than its dividend payment if some shareholders were planning to wait for the ex-dividend date before closing their positions.

This could explain why the Fortescue share price is falling significantly more than the value of its upcoming dividend payment today. After all, with the Fortescue dividend tipped to reduce materially in the coming years, some income investors may believe that now is the time to get out.

Whether you sold out or not today, those that are eligible can look forward to receiving this 75 cents per share dividend next month on 29 March.

The post Why is the Fortescue share price sinking 8% today? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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More reading

• Why are ASX 200 mining shares ending the week in the red?
• 7 ASX 200 shares with ex-dividend dates next week
• Hoping to bag the next Fortescue dividend? You’d better hurry
• Fortescue shares: Bull vs. Bear
• Why has the Fortescue share price hit a new 52-week high today?

Motley Fool contributor James Mickleboro has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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The Aussie Broadband Ltd (ASX: ABB) share price is slipping this morning after the company posted whopping first half earnings growth.

Right now, stock in the All Ordinaries Index (ASX: XAO) telecommunications provider is down 1.54% at $2.89 after dropping even lower near the open.

Aussie Broadband share price falls as profit rockets

Here are the key takeaways from the telco provider’s first half earnings:

• $8.6 million net profit after tax (NPAT) – a 516% jump on that of the prior comparable period (pcp)
• $379 million of revenue from ordinary activities – up 65% on that of the pcp
• $41.1 million of earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortisation (EBITDA) – up 86%
• $30.8 million of operating cash flow – a 35% improvement
• Gross margin lifted 2.5% to 34.9%

Aussie Broadband saw its revenue surge last half as it grew its broadband subscribers and other revenue streams. It also recognised earnings from its recently acquired Over the Wire business.

What else happened last half?

The company saw plenty of growth across its key product lines last half.

Its broadband connections soared by 50,449 to 635,242 connections. Meanwhile, its mobile services grew by 10,669 to reach 50,951 and its average voice minutes increased by 13 million to 125.7 million.

Aussie Broadband’s market share also rose to 7%, excluding satellite, in a declining nbn market.

Topping it off, the company implemented the combination of its business with Over the Wire. That brought $6 million of annualised synergies last half and is on track to bring about between $8 million and $12 million of annual synergies by 2025.

What did management say?

Aussie Broadband co-founder and managing director Phillip Britt commented on the release driving the company’s share price today, saying:

We are pleased to report that Aussie Broadband has continued to deliver outstanding financial and operational performance, with strong growth in both revenue and customer numbers as we successfully execute our Aussie 2.0 strategy to diversify earnings through a broader product offering that brings scale to the business.

EBITDA grew faster than revenue reflecting the operating leverage from our fibre network and the positive shift to higher margin segments, while proactively managing our residential nbn growth strategy.

What’s next?

Aussie Broadband upgraded its full year EBITDA guidance but cut that of its revenue following a strong start to 2023.

It now tips its full year revenue to come in at between $780 million and $800 million while its EBITDA is expected to be between $85 million and $90 million.

The company remains committed to becoming Australia’s fourth largest communications and technology services provider by 2025.

Aussie Broadband share price snapshot

The Aussie Broadband share price has taken off in 2023, gaining 10% year to date.

However, looking further back, the stock has slumped 42% over the last 12 months.

For comparison, the All Ords has gained 5% year to date and 2% over the last 12 months.

The post Aussie Broadband share price slumps despite 500% profit surge appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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More reading

• Tech’s back! Fund names 2 ASX shares to ride the resurgence

Motley Fool contributor Brooke Cooper has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has positions in and has recommended Aussie Broadband. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Aussie Broadband. 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 Appen Ltd (ASX: APX) share price is having a nightmare start to the week.

At the time of writing, the embattled artificial intelligence (AI) data services company’s shares are down 13% to $2.40.

This follows the release of the company’s full-year results this morning.

Appen share price crashes on huge loss

• Group revenue down 13.8% to US$388.5 million
• Underlying earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) down 85.8% to US$11 million
• Underlying net loss after tax of US$22.8 million
• Non-cash impairment of US$204.3 million
• Statutory loss after tax of US$239.1 million
• No dividend
• Cash balance of US$23.4 million and no debt

What happened in FY 2022?

For the 12 months ended 31 December, Appen reported a 13.8% decline in revenue to US$388.5 million. This was driven by a 13% decline in Global Services revenue to US$299.8 million and a 13.8% reduction on New Markets revenue to US$88.4 million.

Management advised that this reflects challenging external operating and macro conditions that resulted in weaker digital advertising revenue. This led to a reduction in spending by some of Appen’s customers, primarily on core global programs.

Things were much worse for the company’s earnings, with its underlying EBITDA falling 85.8% to US$11 million. This was due to a combination of lower revenue, lower gross margins, increased costs, and foreign exchange losses. Excluding the latter, Appen’s underlying EBITDA was down 82.8% to US$13.6 million.

On the bottom line, Appen reported an underlying loss after tax of US$22.8 million. This was down by US$63.4 million from a profit after tax of US$40.6 million in FY 2021.

Appen also made a US$204.3 million non-cash impairment of goodwill and intangibles, which brought its statutory loss after tax to a whopping US$239.1 million.

Unsurprisingly, given its abject performance, the company has elected to scrap its final dividend.

Management commentary

Appen’s new CEO, Armughan Ahmad, acknowledged that the company’s performance in FY 2022 was “far from satisfactory.” He commented:

During my first two of months at Appen I’ve had the opportunity to meet our people and experience their deep sense of pride for their work. I believe that Al is the enabler, and our people are the transformers.

I’m excited about the potential for Appen and our ability to create a positive impact, however our FY22 financial performance is far from satisfactory. We have a lot of work ahead of us. My top priority is to establish greater operational rigour to accelerate innovation, drive sales and deliver profitable growth.

Outlook

Unfortunately, Appen revealed that it has experienced a “soft” start to FY 2023 despite all the current hype around AI.

One positive, though, is that management has identified $10 million of annualised cost savings. The benefits of these saving are expected to be seen from the second half of FY 2023 and in FY 2024.

It has also revealed three new product launches to build trustworthy generative AI applications, seemingly in response to the emergence of ChatGPT. These are:

• Reinforcement Learning with Human Feedback tackles the risks of bias and hallucinations in large language models.
• Document Intelligence enables clients to extract key insights from their unstructured documents.
• Automated LP Labelling leverages generative Al capabilities and zero/few shots learning techniques to speed up data annotation.

In respect to Reinforcement Learning with Human Feedback, Appen highlights that the rise of ChatGPT has brought attention to the potential of generative Al to revolutionise how humans and machines interact. However, it feels that one of the challenges of generative Al is producing accurate and ethically aligned results.

Appen’s Reinforcement Learning with Human Feedback product enables clients to generate prompt-response pairs that are engineered by Al Training Specialists and reviewed for accuracy and bias by a diverse group of Al Training Specialists.

Time will tell if Appen is too late to the party for this one, but Mr Ahmad appears optimistic. He commented:

We are excited by this next phase for Appen. We will continue to create products and services that serve the data needs of our clients. Our generative Al products we announced today are a great example, and we are just getting started. We are also developing industry vertical Al solutions and expanding our partnerships with system integrators, software vendors, and hyperscalers to deliver high-impact solutions for our clients.

The post Appen share price crashes on US$239m FY22 loss 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. has positions in and has recommended Appen. 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 Scott Phillips.

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The Woodside Energy Group Ltd (ASX: WDS) share price is pushing higher on Monday.

In morning trade, the energy producer’s shares are up over 2% to $35.40.

This follows the release of a record full-year results this morning.

Woodside share price higher on record result

• Operating revenue up 142% to US$16,817 million
• Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) up 172% to US$11,234 million
• Underlying net profit after tax up 223% to a record of US$5,230 million
• Full-year dividend up 87% to US$2.53 per share

What happened during FY 2022?

For the 12 months ended 31 December, Woodside reported a 142% increase in revenue to a record of US$16,817 million. This reflects high operational reliability, higher realised prices, additional volume from the BHP Group Ltd (ASX: BHP) petroleum merger, and the contribution of the Pluto-KGP Interconnector.

As for earnings, Woodside reported a 172% jump in EBITDA to US$11,234 million and a 223% increase in net profit after tax to US$5,230 million. In respect to the former, Morgans was expecting underlying EBITDA of US$10,990 million for the year, so this result has come in ahead of its estimate. That may explain why the Woodside share price is rising today.

In light of this strong profit growth, the Woodside board increased its final dividend by 37% to US$1.44 per share, which brought its full-year dividend to US$2.53 per share. This was an increase of 87% year over year and represents a total distribution of US$4,804 million.

Management commentary

Woodside’s CEO, Meg O’Neill, was pleased with the company’s exceptional performance in FY 2022. She said:

Woodside is now a larger, geographically diverse energy company with the financial and operational strength to grow our portfolio of high-quality assets while continuing to deliver returns to shareholders. In what was a momentous year for Woodside we achieved the goals we set ourselves ahead of the merger, implementing initiatives to deliver the targeted $400 million in synergies ahead of our original schedule.

Woodside’s record output was underpinned by outstanding performance at our LNG assets, which achieved 98.5% reliability across the year. A total of 9.4 million barrels of oil equivalent was processed via the Pluto-KGP Interconnector, resulting in the supply of 13 additional Pluto LNG cargoes and delivering $1.2 billion of incremental revenue.

Our net profit after tax rose on the back of the increased production and sales delivered by the expanded portfolio and higher global prices for our products. In 2022 our realised price rose 63% year-on-year to $98.4 per barrel of oil equivalent.

Outlook

Commenting on 2023, O’Neill said:

In 2023 we are also aiming to progress Woodside’s pipeline of growth opportunities, including at Trion, offshore Mexico. We are evaluating bids for major work scopes, finalising execution plans and narrowing cost estimates in support of final investment decision (FID) readiness targeted this year.

We are also preparing for FID readiness at our H2OK project in Oklahoma in 2023. H2OK would be the first major project to be sanctioned under Woodside’s target to invest $5 billion in new energy products and lower-carbon services by 2030

This is expected to lead to:

• FY 2023 production of 180MMboe to 190MMboe
• FY 2023 capital expenditure of US$6 billion to US$6.5 billion.

The post Woodside share price higher on record US$5.23b profit 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. 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 Scott Phillips.

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The S&P/ASX 300 Index (ASX: XKO) share Accent Group Ltd (ASX: AX1) has had a very strong start to 2023, with the Accent share price up by over 30%.

This ASX retail share is a growing shoe retailer with a number of brands – some it owns and others it distributes, including The Athlete’s Foot, CAT, Hoka, Kappa, Skechers, Vans, Henleys, Dr Martens and Glue Store.

The company recently reported its FY22 half-year result, which included several impressive numbers.

Earnings recap

It said that in the first six months of the year, total sales went up 39% to $825 million, earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) jumped 70.9% to $170.2 million, earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) soared 201% to $91.2 million and earnings per share (EPS) improved by 292% to 10.7 cents per share.

As investors can see, profit margins improved. The gross profit margin improved 190 basis points while the cost of doing business (CODB) ratio improved 470 basis points.

Interestingly, Accent decided to pay an interim dividend of 12 cents per share.

During the half, it opened 53 new stores and closed 10 stores where required rent outcomes “could not be achieved.”

Nude Lucy is a lifestyle apparel brand that was acquired as part of the Glue Store acquisition. The ASX 300 share said that 15 Nude Lucy concept stores have seen “strong early results.”

Growth outlook

The ASX 300 share can’t control the Accent share price, but it can implement growth initiatives. It’s planning to open at least 20 new stores in the second half, with potential growth for both its core banners and new businesses.

The business is expecting profit growth from Glue Store and Stylerunner with “continued operational improvement and as the vertical programs in these businesses grow.”

It’s expanding expecting profit growth from The Athlete’s Foot thanks to margin expansion, with franchise stores “continuing to be acquired”. It now has 91 corporate stores and 65 franchise stores.

In terms of a trading update, like-for-like sales for the first seven weeks of the second half of FY23 were up 16%. The company said that it hasn’t seen any significant change in consumer spending in its categories. The Accent boss suggested that many of its brands target younger customers, who tend to be “less impacted by interest rates and cost of living pressures.”

Can the Accent share price keep going?

There’s nothing to say that it can’t. I was suggesting last year that Accent had been oversold. It’s up almost 50% since then.

I don’t think it’s as clear of a buy now as it was then – but it’s still down 17% from the November 2021 price.

There are plenty of signs to say that the ASX 300 share could be resilient in the short term and perform in the long term, with its quality portfolio of brands and growing store network.

I’d still call it a buy, but I do think a lot of the investor sentiment recovery has now occurred, so there might be a better time to buy it later this year.

The post Up 30% in 2023, can this ASX 300 share keep rocketing higher? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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More reading

• 3 ASX 300 shares soaring to new 52-week highs on Friday
• Why Accent, Brambles, Infomedia, and Pilbara Minerals shares are pushing higher
• Accent share price races 10% higher after half-year profits triple
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Motley Fool contributor Tristan Harrison has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Accent Group. 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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