Hi Bob,
Thanks for your continued support over the past 3-years. Over that time, we’re pleased that you’ve seen some major developments of the service, the functionality and insight on the website, the inclusion of data, charting and analytics, while the portfolios have performed well with The Active Growth Portfolio up 13.79% pa over that time frame, 4.47% pa above the market, which is pleasing for us, while our more conservative income strategy has produced 9.58% pa, 3.75% pa ahead of its benchmark
- Sonic Healthcare (SHL) has not experienced the same performance, much like most of the Healthcare sector. SHL’s earnings were higher 3-years ago than today and hence the share price has followed the disappointing trajectory. The momentum in their earnings remains a struggle and at their recent results, they pointed to a large 2H skew as they work to right size their cost base. For us to gain more confidence on SHL, they need to deliver on their 2H targets, continue to rationalize their collection network and improve margins. We think it’s too early to turn positive on just yet.
- Yancoal (YAL) have had production issues in the past due to primarily open pit mining (water has been an issue) and we’ve shied away from owning this due to its share register dominated by Chinese ownership. This might be the wrong call however we have experienced negative outcomes in the past holding stocks with such a highly concentrated register. It is cheap, the dividend is attractive (huge) and we like the outlook for Thermal Coal, so we don’t dislike the stock, we just like others in the sector more.
- EQT is a very conservative trust business and its shares have simply tracked sideways, although as we’ve seen with their recent acquisition, scale does help. This is not a stock we’ve owned in the past, and we’re more neutral than anything at these prices ~$29.50.
