Good afternoon, James Preston with you on Kalkine TV. It’s lunchtime here in Sydney,
and you know what that means – It’s time for ‘The Mid-Market Pulse’. In
this show, we will take a look at the Australian share market performance, stocks
that topped the gainers and losers chart. In the final
segment, we will focus on stocks that grabbed the headlines today. Australian shares continued
to trade higher by afternoon, extending opening gains on the back of firm cues from US
markets as well as spurt in commodity prices. Investors also reacted to the corporate earnings
announcements with some big players such as WiseTech, Afterpay, Zip Co, Orocobre, Sealink, Aurelia Metals announcing
their results this morning.
The ASX 200 was currently trading 20.80 points or 0.28% higher by lunch. Extending
gain for the third session, the index opened higher today and gained as much as 0.5% to hit a high.
On the sectoral front, seven of the eleven sectors were trading in green
zone. The information technology was the best performer, rising nearly 2% on positive cues
from US counterpart, NASDAQ. The rally in tech stock was led by logistic software business WiseTech Global, which
surged over 39% on strong earnings outlook for financial year 2022.
The tech sector was followed by material sector, which extended rally for the second day on rise
in iron ore prices. Iron ore prices surged 6.8% in overnight trade as improving optimism
over economic recovery and prospects for additional stimulus in China boosted the
outlook for demand.
Among others, health care, energy and financial indices also witnessed surge in buying activity.
Meanwhile, telecom sector emerged as the worst performer with 1.7% loss, followed by
utilities, which dropped over 1%. Among others, consumer staples sector continued to reel
under selling pressure for the third straight day
On the COVID-19 front, New South Wales reported record 919 new locally acquired cases in the past
24 hours, the highest daily number ever recorded in Australia. Meanwhile, Victoria’s
daily case tally dropped for the second day to 45, while Queensland reported
no new case on Wednesday.
Lets now turn our attention to the biggest gainers and losers into the mid-market session.
Technology firm WiseTech Global topped the gainers chart by surging 39% on robust earnings
and strong outlook for next fiscal.
Some of the other notable gainers were financial services firm HUB24, engineering services major Monadelphous,
miner Lynas Rare Earths and digital travel business Webjet.
On the flip side, Australia’s largest plumbing and bathroom supplier Reece was the
top loser on ASX, falling nearly 10%. Among others, media firm Nine Entertainment,
resource firm Iluka, industrial company Seven Group Holdings and energy firm AGL Energy were among
worst performers.
Well, its time for a short break but stay tuned with me on Kalkine TV as I’ll be back
to share details on the companies that grabbed headlines today.
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Welcome back to Mid-Market Pulse. This is James.
On
this note, let us
shift our focus to shares that grabbed headlines today.
Logistics software solutions provider WiseTech Global shares rallied over 39% on strong earnings
outlook for financial year 2022. The company projected FY22 revenue growth of 18 to 25%
and EBITDA growth of 26 to 38%. For financial year 2021, its revenue rose 18% to AU$507.5
million, while EBITDA jumped 63% to AU$206.7 million. The underlying net profit after
tax more than doubled, compared to the last fiscal. The company has declared a fully franked
final ordinary dividend of 3.85 cents per share, representing a 141% increase on the
financial year 2020 final dividend. The final dividend is payable on 8 October 2021
to shareholders registered as on 13 September 2021.
Shares of buy now, pay later major Afterpay were trading down 0.6% after announcing its earnings
report. The payment solutions company’s net loss widened by nearly 600% in financial
2021. The spike in loss was attributed to rise in annual marketing costs as it expanded business into
new markets to cash in pandemic-driven boom in demand for BNPL services. Meanwhile, revenue
rose 78% , while operating income or EBITDA fell 13%. The company, which recently announced merger with
US-based fintech platform Square, reported a 63% rise in active users to 16.2 million, while merchant base
rose by 77% to 98,200.
Another BNPL major, Zip Co saw its shares falling over 1% despite reporting robust earnings
for 2021 fiscal. The company’s annual loss ballooned to AU$652.5 million as the company spent huge on business expansion
in the US and elsewhere. The company said it spent AU$306.2 million on Quadpay acquisition
and AU$142.8 million in share-based payment expenses. Zip has acquired full ownership
of the QuadPay business in which it previously held a stake. Its revenue surged by 150%. The
customer base jumped by 248%, while merchants on Zip’s integrated network increased to
51.3k, up 109% year on year. The company said that it delivered strong credit performance
in wake of COVID-19 pandemic, driven by repeat customer usage and investments
in its proprietary decisioning capabilities. During the year, the company raised more than AU$676 million in
capital to support its global growth mandate, while finished the year with AU$330.2
million cash on hand.
The share price of Orocobre slipped nearly 2% after it released its earnings result for
the full year ended 30 June 2021. The lithium chemicals producer’s losses widened 14.7%,
dented by Argentine tax rate change and the effects of inflation. However, the revenue climbed 10% .
For financial year 2021, total production of lithium carbonate was up 6% at 12,611 tonnes, compared
to the last fiscal despite COVID-19 disruptions. Battery grade lithium carbonate production reached
66% of total production for the June quarter and 48% for the full year. Updating on merger deal with
Galaxy Resources, the company said it has received all necessary approvals to complete
the merger effective from today. The merger would result in the issue of 0.569 Orocobre shares
for every Galaxy share.
Well, its time for a short break but stay tuned with me on Kalkine TV as I’ll be back
to share details on some more companies that grabbed headlines today.
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Welcome back to Mid-Market Pulse. This is James.
Ferries and bus operator Sealink Travel’s shares rose nearly 3% after it swings to profit in financial
year 2021. The underlying net profit jumped 152.6%. The earnings were boosted by AU$11.9 million JobKeeper employee
support received from the government. The Earnings Before Interest, Tax, Depreciation
and Amortisation surged to AU$167.5 million. The company has also announced to pay total
dividends of 16 cents per share, 45.4% higher than the prior year.
Shares of mining and exploration company Aurelia Metals jumped nearly 4% after it released
its earnings report this morning. The profit surged 46% during the financial year 2021, supported by
stronger realised pricing. Revenue grew by 26% while EBITDA rose 49%. Sales
revenue from gold sold during the year was AU$37.1 million higher than a year prior, driven by
a 10% rise in gold sold. The average gold price realised during the year was AU$2,476
an ounce, 6% higher on average in comparison to FY20.
Shares of engineering company Worley fell over 2% after it reported drop in its profit and
revenue in financial year 2021. The net profit dropped 50%, while revenue slipped
27% . The company’s board has also announced pay a final dividend of 25 cents per share, taking
the full-year dividends to 50 cents per share.
And that’s a wrap in todays midmarket pulse show. Keep watching kalkine tv for latest
market updates from Australia and around the world. James signing off!!!