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The Pilbara Minerals Ltd (ASX: PLS) share price is trading lower on Wednesday.

In late morning trade, the lithium miner’s shares are down 1.5% to $4.32.

Why is the Pilbara Minerals share price falling?

The Pilbara Minerals share price is in the red today after broad market weakness offset the release of a positive announcement.

That announcement reveals that finance agreements have been executed for the A$250 million long-term debt facility with Australian Government agencies Export Finance Australia and Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility.

In addition, Pilbara Minerals has taken the opportunity to refinance its existing US dollar secured syndicated debt facility on improved terms.

What will the funds be used for?

Management notes that collectively, these new debt facilities support Pilbara Minerals’ strategy to expand, grow, and diversify its business further down the battery materials supply chain.

The debt facility being provided by the Government Agencies will support the construction of the P680 Project expansion at the Pilgan Plant and a new 5Mtpa integrated crushing and ore sorting facility.

The former will deliver an additional 100,000tpa of spodumene concentrate production, whereas the latter will support future expansions that could ultimately deliver up to 1Mtpa of spodumene concentrate capacity across the Pilgangoora Project.

Pilbara Minerals’ CEO, Dale Henderson, commented:

We are extremely pleased to have once again received strong financial support from the Australian Government and our commercial lending partners. The continued support from the Australian Government is a significant endorsement of Pilbara Minerals’ assets and operations, recognising their strategic significance in the global battery materials supply chain.

With the completion of these new finance facilities, Pilbara Minerals is now incredibly well positioned to pursue our long-term growth and diversification ambitions to become a fully integrated lithium raw materials and chemicals supplier – and to play a pivotal role as a battery materials supplier for many decades to come.

The post Pilbara Minerals share price dips despite cash injection appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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More reading

• Here’s the latest ‘bearish news’ from brokers on ASX 200 lithium stocks
• Here are the top 10 ASX 200 shares today
• Why are ASX 200 lithium shares having such a stellar run today?
• Here are the 3 most heavily traded ASX 200 shares on Tuesday
• Why is the Core Lithium share price rebounding 5% on Tuesday?

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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It’s looking like another dreary day for ASX shares and the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) so far this Wednesday. At present, the ASX 200 has lost a depressing 0.62%, falling back below 7,300 points. But that’s nothing against the seemingly nasty fall of the Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA) share price. 

CBA shares closed at $101.52 each yesterday. But this morning, the ASX 200’s largest bank share opened at just $98.70 and is going for $98.95 at the time of writing, down what would be a nasty 2.53% so far today:

But investors shouldn’t get into a twist over these losses. That’s because there’s a very good reason CBA shares are dropping so dramatically today. The bank has just traded ex-dividend for its next shareholder payment.

Earlier this month, CBA reported its latest earnings, covering the first half of FY2023. The bank gave investors some pleasing metrics to look over, including a 9% rise in cash net profit to $5.15 billion, as well as a 12% lift to operating income to $13.59 billion.

But many investors own CBA shares solely for that big four bank dividend. And the Commonwealth Bank didn’t disappoint in that arena.

CBA share price slides on largest interim dividend ever

The bank declared that its first dividend of 2023 would be worth $2.10 per share, fully franked. That was a pleasing hike over 2022’s interim dividend of $1.75 per share. This year’s payment is the largest-ever interim dividend to come out of CBA.

But with a dividend comes an ex-dividend date. And that date is today. This means that from this Wednesday, any new shareholders of CBA are now ineligible to receive this latest dividend payment.

As such, CBA shares have just become nominally less valuable – the company’s shares came with a dividend yesterday, but not today. That’s why we are seeing a big drop in the CBA share price. This is a normal occurrence when a dividend share trades ex-dividend – there’s no free lunch here.

So eligible investors can now look forward to receiving this latest dividend from CBA next month on 30 March. But they have until this Friday, 24 February, to opt for the optional dividend reinvestment plan (DRP) if they so wish. This gives investors the option of receiving additional CBA shares in lieu of the normal dividend cash payment.

At the current CBA share price, this ASX 200 bank share now has a dividend yield of 4.25%.

The post Why is the CBA share price sliding on Wednesday? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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More reading

• Hoping to pocket the next CBA dividend? Here’s what you need to do
• 8 ASX 200 shares trading ex-dividend this week
• How I’d generate a $20,000 second income from CBA shares
• CBA shares ‘do not look cheap’ despite recent selloff: broker
• Passive income watch: 3 ASX 200 shares that announced boosted dividends this week

Motley Fool contributor Sebastian Bowen 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 Flight Centre Travel Group Limited (ASX: FLT) share price is in the red on Wednesday amid the company posting an underlying pre-tax loss of $2.4 million for the first half, as The Motley Fool Australia reported earlier.

That’s a major improvement on the $188 million loss it posted for the same period of last financial year.

Though, brokers were disappointed by its performance in the Americas.

The Flight Centre share price is $18.04 right now, 3.01% lower than its previous close.

Let’s take a look at what might be going so wrong for the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) travel giant.

Flight Centre share price falls as broker responds to earnings

Flight Centre is “lying foundations for more meaningful profit recovery”, CEO Graham Turner says, but it seems that’s not enough to boost its share price today.

It’s falling as the company’s operating cash flow and performance in the Americas disappoints broker Goldman Sachs.

The Americas region brought in $2.11 billion of total transaction value (TTV) for the company. That’s up 149% year-on-year but 14.9% lower than the broker’s forecasts.

That was offset by Australia and New Zealand’s $5.22 billion of TTV – a 290% jump and 17.2% more than Goldman Sachs tipped.

The group’s $9.9 billion of TTV and $1 billion of revenue beat expectations by 2.5% and 3.2% respectively. Though, its operating cash flow disappointed in a major way. It came in at a $91.8 million loss, compared to a forecasted $8.9 million positive result.

Ultimately, the results failed to convince the broker. Goldman Sachs remains neutral on Flight Centre’s shares, slapping them with a $16.40 price target – a potential 9% downside.

At the same time, Morgans was expecting the company to post around $80 million of corporate earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortisation (EBITDA), my Fool colleague James reported last week. It also might’ve had its eye out for a guidance upgrade.

Neither of these outcomes occurred today. Flight Centre’s corporate EBITDA was $72 million and its underlying EBITDA guidance remained at $250 million to $280 million.

Looking forward, Turner said the company hasn’t noticed any downturn amid rising cost of living pressures, saying customers view travel as essential.

The ASX 200 travel giant also declined to offer a dividend for this half. Though, it’s started a review of its capital structures ahead of an expected uptick in earnings and cash.

The post Flight Centre share price tumbles despite losses narrowing appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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More reading

• Flight Centre share price on watch as revenue triples, reaching $1b
• Here are the 10 most shorted ASX shares this week
• Own Flight Centre shares? Here’s what the market expects from its half year results
• Are whales dipping in and out of this ASX 200 travel share?
• Someone just bought $22 million of Flight Centre shares. Here’s what we know

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 Goldman Sachs Group. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Flight Centre Travel 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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The Woolworths Group Ltd (ASX: WOW) dividend has been supercharged on the back of strong earnings during the first half of FY23.

Woolworths shareholders will receive a fully franked dividend of 46 cents per share on 13 April.

That’s 17.9% higher than last year’s interim Woolworths dividend and ahead of analysts’ expectations, which were 43.9 cents per share.

Why has Woollies turbocharged its dividend?

In short, a big profit is the reason why Woolworths has raised its interim dividend this year.

As my Fool colleague James reported this morning, Woollies beat expectations on many financial metrics.

The supermarket chain raised prices due to inflation, while a reduction in COVID-19 costs allowed it to boost its net profit after tax (NPAT) by 14% to $907 million. Sales were also up 4% to $33,169 million.

Woolworths raised its food prices by an average of 7.7%, which is in line with the headline inflation figure in Australia of 7.8% per annum.

In 1H FY22, the company encountered direct COVID costs of $239 million. Obviously, that didn’t happen in 1H FY23, which made a massive difference to the bottom line. The cost of doing business margin dropped by 29 basis points as a result.

How does the Woolworths dividend compare to Coles?

Coles Group Ltd (ASX: COL) reported its results yesterday, including a fully franked interim dividend of 36 cents per share.

That is 9.1% higher than last year’s interim dividend and the largest single dividend Coles has ever paid out.

So, the Woolworths dividend, boosted by 18%, represents a better increase by comparison.

But let’s look at dividend yield, too.

The Woolworths share price is currently $37.01, up 0.8% for the day. That means the interim Woolworths dividend of 46 cents per share represents a yield of 1.24%.

By comparison, the Coles share price is currently $18.04, down 0.5% for the day. That means the interim Coles dividend of 36 cents per share provides a yield of 1.99%.

Over the past 12 months, the Woolworths share price has risen by 5.2% and the Coles share price has increased by 4.5%.

The post The Woolworths dividend has just been boosted by 18%. Here’s the lowdown appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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More reading

• Woolworths share price higher on strong result and ‘better than expected’ second-half start
• Woolworths share price on watch amid first-half earnings beat
• Is Coles now one of the best ASX 200 dividend shares?
• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Wednesday
• Everything you need to know about the boosted Coles dividend

Motley Fool contributor Bronwyn Allen 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 Coles 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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A number of ASX All Ords tech shares have released their latest results on Wednesday.

Three results that have dropped today are summarised below. Here’s how investors have responded to them:

Hansen Technologies Limited (ASX: HSN)

The Hansen share price is down 4%. This morning, this billing technology company reported a 0.1% increase in half-year operating revenue to $149.1 million and a 29.7% decline in underlying net profit after tax to $16.6 million. The latter reflects its focus on investing for growth by building back staffing capacity to pre-pandemic levels.

In light of this profit decline, the Hansen board elected to cut its dividend by 28.6% to 5 cents per share.

Readytech Holdings Ltd (ASX: RDY)

Another ASX All Ords tech share that is sliding 4% today is ReadyTech. This is despite the enterprise software provider releasing its half-year results and reporting a 34.1% increase in revenue to $47.9 million and underlying EBITDA of $15.6 million. The former reflects like-for-like growth of 13.4% and the acquisition of IT Vision.

Management also confirmed that it remains on target to achieve its FY 2023 guidance and reaffirmed its FY 2026 goal of over $160 million of organic revenue.

Siteminder Ltd (ASX: SDR)

The Siteminder share price has bounced back from an early decline and is now up 2%. This follows the release of the hotel technology company’s half-year results. Siteminder reported a 30.1% increase in annualised recurring revenue (ARR) and a net loss of $24.7 million.

Management notes that subscriber and subscription revenue growth accelerated during the half as the ramping of its go-to-market capacity post-COVID gained momentum. In addition, its transaction product growth has continued to be a highlight, which management believes reflects the significant opportunity within its customer base.

The post 3 ASX All Ords tech shares making moves on earnings updates appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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More reading

• These ASX tech shares are buys with 30%+ upside: brokers
• Goldman Sachs says these excellent ASX tech shares are buys
• ASX share prices have rallied too hard to start 2023 says UBS equity strategist as one US analyst says don’t even think about turning bullish until 2024
• Goldman Sachs names 2 exciting small cap ASX tech shares to buy right now

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 Hansen Technologies, ReadyTech, and SiteMinder. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended ReadyTech. 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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Qantas Airways Ltd (ASX: QAN) shares are down 1.17% in late morning trade.

The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) airline’s shares closed yesterday trading for $6.40 apiece. Shares are currently swapping hands for $6.325 each.

This comes amid wider selling action today following some steep losses on US markets overnight, which sees the ASX 200 currently down 0.76%.

That’s this morning’s price action for you.

Now, what’s this about Qantas’ $100 million investment?

How is the ASX 200 airline investing $100 million?

In a potentially promising sign for the outlook of Qantas shares, the company said it is investing $100 million to upgrade its global airport lounge network as travel demand recovers faster than expected.

The investment will fund four new lounges, including a new flagship First Lounge at London’s Heathrow Airport. Qantas will also upgrade many of its existing international and domestic lounges.

In Australia, that includes an updated and expanded International Business Lounge in Melbourne, a new Hobart Qantas Club, and a new Broome Regional Lounge with double the seats.

The airline said this is the biggest investment in its lounge network in more than 10 years. The $100 million expenditure will be phased over three years. Qantas reported this is already included in its existing capital expenditure forecast.

Commenting on the lounge upgrades, Qantas CEO Alan Joyce said:

Being back in profit means we’re back to making long term investments for our customers. That started with the major aircraft order we announced last year and now we’re building on that with a major investment in our lounges.

As for the London lounge plans, Joyce said, “London is one of the most important destinations on our network and it’s the perfect location for a First Lounge, especially with our direct Project Sunrise flights on the way.”

“Heathrow is one of the world’s busiest airports so we’re very pleased to be working with them to secure a great space in the terminal for an additional lounge,” he added.

If you own Qantas shares, be sure to tune in tomorrow when the company reports its half-year earnings results.

How have Qantas shares been performing?

As you can see in the chart below, Qantas shares have been trending solidly higher since mid-July. Over the past 12 months, shares in the ASX 200 airline are up 22%.

The post Own Qantas shares? Here’s how the ASX 200 airline is investing $100 million appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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More reading

• Is Coles now one of the best ASX 200 dividend shares?
• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Wednesday
• Here are the top 10 ASX 200 shares today
• Here are the 3 most heavily traded ASX 200 shares on Tuesday
• 3 ASX 200 stocks falling hard on results announcements

Motley Fool contributor Bernd Struben 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 EML Payments Ltd (ASX: EML) share price took a severe tumble in early trading after the company released its 1H FY23 results.

The EML share price opened at 56 cents, down 12.5% on yesterday’s close. It quickly declined to an intraday low of 52.5 cents shortly after the market open.

However, the ASX tech share rebounded quickly and is now trading at 60.2 cents, down 6% for the day.

While the headline news is bad, revenue and gross profit are both up. The company’s net profit decline is largely due to investment in its transformation strategy and non-cash impairments.

Let’s take a look.

EML share price dives after 95% profit decimation

The key points for the six months ending 31 December 2022 are:

• Group revenue of $116.6 million, up 2% on the prior corresponding period (pcp) of 1H FY22
• Underlying gross profit was up 5% pcp but group underlying earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation (EBITDA) of $13.4 million was down 50% pcp
• Group underlying net profit after tax, adjusted to exclude the non-cash tax-effected amortisation of intangibles and significant non-operating items (NPATA) of $700,000 is down 95% pcp
• Group net loss of $129.9 million, largely reflecting non-cash impairments
• Cash balance up 7% to $79.2 million pcp
• Underlying operating cash flow conversion of 102%

Management said revenue was up largely due to a significant increase in interest income at $7.1 million.

Benefits stemming from the Sentenial acquisition were behind a 55% boost to gross debit volumes at $49.4 billion. The 5% increase in gross profit was driven by increased high-margin revenues from Sentenial, plus interest.

The halving of group EBITDA was largely reflective of further investment in the European businesses.

What did management say?

EML group CEO Emma Shand said:

Underlying financial performance for the half was in line with expectations reflecting the heavy set of challenges that the company has faced over the past two years and reinforcing the importance of our transformation strategy.

During the half, we have focused on getting the foundations right and have made solid progress on our remediation program, Elevate, which we have committed to completing by the end of December 2023, as previously announced.

What’s next?

EML is continuing with the execution of its transformation strategy.

EML announced its transformation plan at its annual general meeting in November 2022. Investors responded favourably to the plan at the time, with the EML share price leaping 12% on the day.

The plan is to make EML a leading payments provider in four key segments over the next five years: human capital management, financial services, retail and gifting, and government.

The company said progress over the half included further work on its remediation programs in Ireland and the United Kingdom, which are expected to be completed by the end of December.

EML launched a new data platform in January to support Elevate and move toward a single source of data. It also introduced a new product suite campaign in the human capital management segment.

Shand said:

We have a strong balance sheet and a clear transformation path ahead of us and are well positioned to execute EML’s next chapter and deliver on our commitment to be an embedded finance leader of the future.”

The company reaffirmed its guidance for underlying full-year EBITDA of between $26 million and $34 million but altered guidance on revenue and costs.

Revenue expectations are now between $235 million and $245 million based on the first-half results and an expected upswing in interest.

Underlying costs are expected to be lower and in the range of $133 million and $140 million.

EML share price snapshot

The ASX tech share is down 0.8% in the year to date compared to a 4.8% bump for the S&P/ASX All Ordinaries Index (ASX: XAO).

Over the past 12 months, EML shares have fallen 75% compared to a rise of 0.7% for the All Ords index.

The post EML share price crashes 18% on half-year results but quickly rebounds appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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More reading

• 3 ASX All Ords tech shares making moves on earnings updates
• Own Qantas shares? Here’s how the ASX 200 airline is investing $100 million
• Here’s the latest ‘bearish news’ from brokers on ASX 200 lithium stocks
• Hoping to hop on the huge Whitehaven dividend? You’d better hurry
• Woolworths share price higher on strong result and ‘better than expected’ second-half start

Motley Fool contributor Bronwyn Allen 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 EML Payments. The Motley Fool Australia has positions in and has recommended EML Payments. 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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There is no question ASX 200 lithium stocks have been the gift that just keeps on giving over the past few years. However, the consistent ‘up and to the right’ trajectory of these investments could now be in jeopardy according to some analysts.

The doubt surrounding producers of the critical electrifying material began to creep in towards the end of January. Since then, many of the most popular lithium shares on the ASX have experienced dwindling share prices.

Yesterday, analysts added to the waning optimism amid ‘negative’ industry developments.

Is the demand landscape shifting?

Evergrowing demand for electric vehicles (EVs) — and the batteries they require — has been an integral component of sustained lithium demand at elevated prices. If this is to be believed, it must also apply if the reverse is true — declining battery demand.

For the last two years, such a scenario would almost be considered unfathomable. Today, though, the environment is certainly different.

The unwavering determination of central banks to crush inflation has upsized the possibility of a recession. Even one of Australia’s major banks, National Australia Bank Ltd (ASX: NAB), is forecasting Australia’s economy to fly daringly close to the sun over the coming quarters.

Hence, the possibility of falling demand for EVs wouldn’t be completely unfounded.

This year so far has witnessed lithium carbonate prices tumble around 30%. As pictured above, this has occurred hand in hand with falling growth in China’s EV sales. Now analysts are concerned about the reduced demand flowing upstream.

Yesterday, Morgan Stanley highlighted a move from CATL — one of the world’s largest EV battery manufacturers — to sell some of its batteries at a significant discount to spot prices.

In our view, this may be reflective of CATL’s concern on the overcapacity issue and slowing EV demand, and its expectation that lithium prices will further normalise in coming years. We think discounting is expected to impact pricing expectations negatively.

Rachel Zhang, Morgan Stanley equity analyst

Analysts are also worried about the supply side of the equation, dousing added fuel on the fire for ASX lithium stocks. Ark Invest’s Cathie Wood believes skyrocketing lithium prices will have incentivised additional supply which is expected to come online over the coming years, as shown below.

Are ASX 200 lithium shares still outperforming this year?

The cratering lithium price has not prevented some ASX lithium shares from continuing their upward trend this year. While the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is up a solid 4.7% year-to-date, the following lithium companies are outpacing it:

• Allkem Ltd (ASX: AKE) up 5.3%
• Mineral Resources Ltd (ASX: MIN) up 13.1%
• Pilbara Minerals Ltd (ASX: PLS) up 21.3%

Morgan Stanley currently holds an equal weight rating on Mineral Resources. Whereas Allkem and IGO Ltd (ASX: IGO) are two ASX 200 lithium stocks that the broker is underweight on.

The post Here’s the latest ‘bearish news’ from brokers on ASX 200 lithium stocks appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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More reading

• Here are the top 10 ASX 200 shares today
• Why are ASX 200 lithium shares having such a stellar run today?
• Here are the 3 most heavily traded ASX 200 shares on Tuesday
• Why is the Core Lithium share price rebounding 5% on Tuesday?
• At under 30 cents each, are these ASX lithium stocks cheap?

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

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Investors interested in getting hold of the big dividend that’s about to be paid by Whitehaven Coal Ltd (ASX: WHC) shares need to be quick.

The ASX coal share last week reported a very strong first half of FY23.

Revenue jumped 164% to $3.8 billion, earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) went up by 319% to $2.65 billion, operating cash flow improved 348% to $2.54 billion, and net profit after tax (NPAT) grew 423% to $1.78 billion.

Whitehaven’s board decided to declare a dividend of 32 cents per share. This was a huge 300% increase from the prior corresponding payment of 8 cents per share.

But, despite only being declared last week, investors are nearly out of time to grab the dividend.

Whitehaven dividend deadline

When Whitehaven announced the details of the dividend, it revealed that the ex-dividend date is 23 February 2023.

That means that today is the last day for investors to be able to gain entitlement to that dividend. If investors wait until tomorrow to invest, they will miss out on it.

For investors who do buy/own shares of Whitehaven, the ASX coal share will pay the dividend on 10 March 2023.

But the dividend isn’t the only way that Whitehaven is sending capital back to shareholders.

During the half year, 67 million shares – being 7% of the shares on issue – were bought back for an investment of $592.8 million, 40.1 million shares and $367.4 million in relation to the stage two FY23 share buyback approved by shareholders in October 2022.

Total capital returned through the second stage of the buyback for the half year and the interim dividend is $641.4 million, representing a total dividend payout ratio of 36% of FY23 first-half net profit after tax.

Yield on offer

At the current Whitehaven share price, the upcoming dividend represents a cash yield of 4.25%,

The grossed-up dividend yield is 6.1%.

Remember, this yield is after a 140% rise in the Whitehaven share price over the past year (which reduces the dividend yield). Plus, it is keeping almost two-thirds of its net profit within the business, rather than paying it out.

The post Hoping to hop on the huge Whitehaven dividend? You’d better hurry appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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More reading

• Should I buy the dip on Whitehaven shares?
• What’s going so wrong for ASX coal shares today?
• Here are the 3 most heavily traded ASX 200 shares on Thursday
• Why AMP, Evolution, Perenti, and Whitehaven Coal shares are dropping
• Everything you need to know about the monster Whitehaven dividend

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 Woolworths Group Ltd (ASX: WOW) share price is defying the market weakness on Wednesday and is pushing higher.

In morning trade, the retail giant’s shares are up almost 3% to $37.72.

Why is the Woolworths share price pushing higher?

Investors have been bidding the Woolworths share price higher this morning after the company’s half-year results came in ahead of expectations.

For the six months ended 31 December, Woolworths reported a 4% increase in sales to $33,169 million and an 18.4% lift in earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) to $1,637 million.

This was underpinned by sales growth across the Australian Food, Big W, Metro Food, and Australian B2B segments, as well as the non-recurrence of direct COVID costs totalling $239 million.

This ultimately allowed Woolworths to lift its interim dividend by 17.9% to a fully franked 46 cents per share.

Also potentially boosting the Woolworths share price has been its strong start to the second half. For the first seven weeks of the half, Australian Food sales are up 6.5%, New Zealand Food sales are up 6.3%, and Big W sales are up 9.7%.

Broker reaction

Goldman Sachs, which had tipped Woolworths to positively surprise with its earnings, commented:

WOW reported 1H23 results with group sales A$33.2B +4.0% in-line with GSe and Group EBIT of A$1.64B +18.5% YoY and +7% vs GSe. Income tax expense was slightly higher than anticipated leading to Group Underlying NPAT of A$907mn, +14% YoY and +2% vs GSe.

All in all, the broker was pleased with the result and remains positive on the future. Though, it is keen to see how the company responds to rival Coles Group Ltd (ASX: COL) stepping up its competition. It said:

The margin outcome for Australia Supermarket and the better than expected run-rate in 2H23 first 7 weeks is the bright spot though we will need to understand the execution strategy to maintain/continue to gain market share in the face of COL stepping up competition more aggressively with greater focus on value and also supply chain upgrades to come. GPM expansion opportunity into 2H23 (which is largely unimpacted by COVID cost reduction) would also be key to understand flow-through to EBIT margin sustainability as COVID cost savings reduce as a positive catalyst in 2H23 and FY24.

The broker concludes by reiterated its buy rating (and $41.20 price target). It said:

Overall we continue to believe that the more advantaged omni-channel execution capability of WOW will continue to drive longer term market share gains and cost efficiencies for EBIT margin expansion. Reiterate Buy.

The post Woolworths share price higher on strong result and ‘better than expected’ second-half start appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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More reading

• Woolworths share price on watch amid first-half earnings beat
• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Wednesday
• Own Woolworths shares? Here’s what the market is expecting from its half year results
• Buy Woolworths shares today for 15% upside plus passive income: Goldman
• These ASX 200 shares are buys: experts

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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