BEN -0.48%: On first pass it looked like a very good update from BEN today with higher margins underpinning a small beat at the profit line, however the composition was on the weaker side:
- FY24 cash earnings of $562m were ~2% ahead of consensus
- Final dividend of 33cps fully franked was a shade above 32cps tipped.
- 2H24 NIM (normalised) was and compares favourably to current consensus FY25 NIM of 189bps.
- While NIM strength is the positive, a lower bad debt charge helped i.e. FY24 bad debt charge was just $9.9m – that won’t last.
Solid update, though the stock has run hard and we wouldn’t be surprised to see some small downgrades off the back of this.
MM has tuned more neutral on BEN ~$12.50
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