Author: Shawn Hickman
XRO -7.11%: The online accounting business held their AGM today and the commentary has prompted a decent sell-off in the shares. They said year-to-date UK subscriber growth was weaker than expected with net subscriber additions subdued amid a “less than buoyant macro environment”.
MFG -5.87%: it’s been a difficult year at Magellan, and it showed in their results. NPAT for the year was $399.7m, down 3% and a small miss to expectations. The market took issue with margins which fell to ~62bps in the second half, after running at 65bps at the end of the first half, despite a larger portion of funds being held by retail clients which typically have higher margins.
The integrated property company reported FY22 earnings per share (EPS) of 81.3c, inline with the 81.4c expected by the market while the dividend of 30cps for the FY was also as we expected. Earnings were up 24% on FY21 which is clearly a strong result while they talked to a strong development pipeline for the year ahead.
NEA +24.83%: the advanced mapping company revealed a takeover bid was in play from tech private equity fund Thoma Bravo. The US based $US100b fund put forward a $2.10/sh offer in early July, which was an 83% premium to the share price at the time. Shares have since rebounded, but the bid still represented a 39% premium to Friday’s close. Thoma Bravo will get first rights in the deal, currently working on exclusive due diligence to firm up the price and any funding needs, though other potential bidders are rumoured to be circling.
National Australia Bank (NAB) reports higher costs and weaker margins, what’s next for stock prices?
NAB -2.93%: The business focused bank reported 3Q results today that signalled higher costs and weaker margins while unaudited cash profit came in at $1.8bn, pretty much in line with the run rate required to meet full year expectations. The bank said that FY22 will see costs up about 3-4% above their previously guided range of 2-3%, although that did include an uptick in remediation, while they guided net interest margin (NIM) lower.
NWH +10.94%: The Perth-based mining & construction contractor was out with upgraded guidance today, with EBITDA now tipped to be $157m versus the prior guided range of $150-$155m. Revenue guidance remained at $2.4bn implying they’ve done better in terms of margins. More details to be provided when they report FY22 results on the 18th of August, however, suffice to say, this inexpensive contractor is priced on sub 10x earnings and is performing better than the market had feared.
PNI +12.21%: Released FY22 earnings today were a whisker below consensus expectations at the profit line, printing $76.4m versus $77.4m expected while the 17.5c dividend was a touch above. They talked to a strong 1H in terms of flows and a weak 2H which is understandable, with Funds Under Management (FUM) down overall for the year, the first time since FY12
APX -27.32%: The Artificial Intelligence (AI) company was whacked on the back of another major earnings downgrade with the company booking underlying EBITDA for the half of just $US8.9 million as revenue fell ~7% to $US182.9m as their core customers (Big US Tech) pull back spending on advertising-related AI projects.
UMG -17.17%: fell sharply today hitting a new all-time low in the process following a big earnings downgrade. They now see $100 million to $108 million on underlying EBITDA versus the previously guided range of $115 million to $140 million.
KGN +50.16%: shares in eCommerce business Kogan.com surged to 3-month highs today on the back of better-than-expected performance in the business. Sales for FY22 are expected to come in marginally above the prior year, beating out expectations of a fall from the COVID-supported growth of FY21.
