Category: Sectors

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ETFs ETFs

iShares USD Corporate Bond UCITS ETF: An interesting proposition to gain exposure

The ultimate result is that this allows managers to decide on the portfolio that represents the index’s overall risk profile, while allowing the ETF manager to avoid purchasing bonds that suffer from illiquidity. The management process is highly automated, and managers use proprietary analytical and risk control systems. The key objective is to minimise trading costs, mainly around primary market events (for example, auctions) that cause rebalancing. All trading is executed by the in-house capital markets desk. Bond coupons are reinvested in line with index rules.

Portfolio:

The Markit iBoxx USD Liquid Investment Grade Index measures the performance of the most liquid USD denominated corporate bonds with investment-grade ratings and minimum remaining life of 3 years by issuers from developed countries. To be considered for inclusion, bonds must have a minimum remaining maturity of 3.5 years and a minimum outstanding of USD 750 million. In addition, the index also requires a minimum outstanding of USD 2 billion per issuer. The index is weighted by market capitalisation, subject to an issuer overall cap of 3%.

People:

The strategy is managed by the EMEA core portfolio management team. Sid Swaminathan is the head of the core portfolio management team. This is a large team where portfolio managers specialise in two broad groupings, one focusing on rates and inflation strategies and the other on credit and aggregate funds. The portfolio managers are supported by a large team of analysts and IT professionals, as well as by the global capital markets team.

Performance:

The strategy has delivered returns above the category average in short and long periods over the past 15 years both on a total and risk-adjusted basis. The strategy struggled during the worst of the coronavirus sell-off in March 2020, but it rebounded strongly once the US Federal Reserve cut interest rates from 1.50% to just above 0.00% and started buying corporate-bond ETFs.

The annualized performance (%USD) displayed by this fund as on 31st August, 2021 has been shown below:

(Source: Factsheet from iShares.com)

Price:

The fees levied by the share class is in the cheap category. Analysts expect that this share class will be able to generate positive alpha relative to the category benchmark index, which affirms the outperformance of this ETF.


(Source: Factsheet from iShares.com)                                                       (Source: Morningstar)

(Source: Morningstar)

About ETF:

iShares USD Corporate Bond ETF tracks an index that excludes bonds with maturity below three years, which account for up to 20% of the investable universe. This causes the strategy to have higher duration than all-maturity passive alternatives. This can work both in favour and against investors depending on the path of interest rates. The strategy is expected to deliver returns over a full market cycle; that is inclusive of periods of both rising and falling interest rates. Considering the benefits of low fees and the broad diversification at the sector level, the strategy retains a Morningstar Analyst Rating of Bronze. iShares’ passive bond fund management process and the high level of expertise of the people behind it showcases a positive view of the ETF.

General Advice Warning

Any advice/ information provided is general in nature only and does not take into account the personal financial situation, objectives or needs of any particular person.

Categories
Funds Funds

Fidelity Australian Opportunities Tenured stock-picker with a unique approach

Approach 

Fidelity analysts use a variety of proprietary models and valuation methodologies to assess earnings, cash flows, and value. Site visits and extensive company management meetings play a critical role in the investment process, as fidelity believes these provide valuable insights into a company’s future prospects.  Each investment analyst covers around 25 companies, grouped along sector lines but sectors are rotated every three to four years. The overall portfolio tends to exhibit a growth bais. 

Portfolio

Fidelity Australian Opportunities is an all-cap domestically focused approach. The portfolio typically holds 40 – 70 stocks with core holdings in large-cap names but a longer portfolio tail of small-cap names. As a result, the average market cap slightly lower than other large-cap peers and around 50-55% of the portfolio sits in the top 10. This means active share hover around 45-50%. Positioning is aligned with a long term view of companies, and the historical average annual turnover has been moderate at about 30-50%, which will also make it reasonably tax effective.

People

Howitt was promoted to portfolio manger soon after joining fidelity in 2004 as an analyst covering banks, insurers and diversified financials. Prior to fidelity, she was an analyst/portfolio manager in AMP capital’s value team and also worked as an consultant with the Boston Consulting Group. Support comes from a wide range of local and global sources, including the Sydney based investment research team and the implementation of an assistant portfolio manager. Each analyst coverage responsibilities for a specific sector and these rotate every three to four year to ensure the analysts continued to produce well rounded insights. 

Performance 

Fidelity Australian Opportunities continues to impress long-term track records. The year 2018 was more Tricky, as positions in blue sky and Lynas materially detracted. The strategy responded well in 2019 as Lynas recovered, while CSL and Wisetech continued their strong appreciation. Despite the volatile markets during calendar 2020, performance was particularly strong, beating the benchmark and most peers. The sector Neutral-Approach protected capital on the downside, with the strong showings from Lynas, Mineral Resources, and BlueScope. Despite no significant sector bets, positions in the materials sector played a key role in the Outperformance, with Howitt’s stock picking talents on full display.

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FAO Top Holidings .png

About the Fund

Fidelity Australian Opportunities continues to impress with its quality management and unique approach, bolstered by the firm’s global footprint and top-tier research capabilities. Despite the numerous benefits that come with size and scale, the large footprint of the Fidelity group does create limitations for portfolio construction. Where the firms owns 10% of a company, strategies under the fidelity banner can no longer invest in the stock, though it’s a small price to pay for fidelity’s resources. An adaptive process and tenured portfolio manager set the strategy apart, offering an solid choice for diversified exposure to Australian equities.

General Advice Warning

Any advice/ information provided is general in nature only and does not take into account the personal financial situation, objectives or needs of any particular person.

Categories
Dividend Stocks

Simon Property Group’s Class A Mall Portfolio Should Continue to Outperform Other Malls

manages one of the top retail portfolios in the country. It owns and operates Class A traditional regional malls and premium outlets in markets with dense populations and high incomes; these malls frequently have domestic or international tourist appeal. The high-quality properties will continue to provide consumers with unique shopping experiences that are hard to replicate elsewhere, and as a result, we think Simon’s portfolio will be sought after by retailers that are increasingly pursuing an omnichannel strategy.

E-commerce continues to pressure brick-and-mortar retail as consumers increasingly move their shopping habits online. However,physical retail sales growth will still be positive over the next decade. Retailers are becoming more selective with their physical locations, opting to locate storefronts in the highest-quality assets that Simon owns while closing stores in lower-quality malls. Additionally, many e-tailers are beginning to open stores in Class A malls to take advantage of the high foot traffic, as a physical presence provides additional marketing, a showroom for products they want to highlight, and another source of sales.

However, Simon is still dealing with the fallout of the coronavirus pandemic. Shopping at brick-and-mortar locations fell as some consumers shifted purchases to e-commerce platforms. While Simon’s revenue is somewhat protected by long-term leases, occupancy fell near 90% in 2020 and has only recently started to recover while rent still remains below prepandemic levels. We believe that Class A malls will rebound and that these high-quality malls will eventually return to their prior occupancy and rent levels, but the short-term impact to Simon’s cash flow has been significant.

Financial Strength

Simon is in good financial shape from a liquidity and a solvency perspective. The company seeks to maintain a solid but flexible balance sheet, which we believe will serve stakeholders well. Simon has an A/A3 credit rating, so it should be able to easily access low-rated debt to service financial obligations. Debt maturities in the near term should be manageable through a combination of refinancing and significant free cash flow. Additionally, the company should be able to access the capital markets when development and redevelopment opportunities arise. We expect 2021 net debt/EBITDA and EBITDA/interest to be roughly 7.1 and 4.5 times, respectively. We expect the company’s credit rating to remain stable through steady net operating income growth in its existing portfolio. We think Simon has unrivaled access to capital markets in general, given its current strong balance sheet and a large, higher-quality, unencumbered asset base.

Bulls Says

  • Simon’s access to capital, scale, and validated record position the firm to execute on any attractive and available investment opportunities. 
  • Simon’s high-quality portfolio will continue to present attractive locations for tenants to place stores even as retail companies look to reduce store counts and present the most desirable locations for e-tailers looking to establish a physical presence. 
  • Simon’s mall and outlet portfolio contains a high percentage of the best malls in the country where redevelopment capital can be deployed at the most promising yields.

Company Profile

Simon Property Group is the second-largest real estate investment trust in the United States. Its portfolio includes an interest in 207 properties: 106 traditional malls, 69 premium outlets, 14 Mills centers (a combination of a traditional mall, outlet center, and big-box retailers), four lifestyle centers, and 14 other retail properties. Simon’s portfolio averaged $693 in sales per square foot over the past 12 months. The company also owns a 21% interest in Klepierre, a European retail company with investments in shopping centers in 16 countries, and joint venture interests in 29 premium outlets across 11 countries.

 (Source: Morningstar)

General Advice Warning

Any advice/ information provided is general in nature only and does not take into account the personal financial situation, objectives or needs of any particular person.

Categories
Dividend Stocks

Encouraging Signs from Telstra’s Investor Day

although the impact on high-margin roaming revenue was notable. The cost-out program is back on track, with management in February 2021 increasing the T22 cost-out target by the end of fiscal 2022 to AUD 2.7 billion, from AUD 2.5 billion previously. Telstra is the leading telecommunications services provider in Australia. It has dominant market share in each service category and customer segment, and enjoys cost advantages which underpin its narrow moat rating.

Telstra is not the cheapest provider of telecommunications services but is the lowest-cost provider resulting in earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation, or EBITDA, margins of over 30%. As the National Broadband Network, or NBN, is rolled out, the traditional copper and cable networks will be progressively decommissioned. Compensation payments amount to an after-tax net present value of AUD 11 billion. Mobile market share of 44% remains well ahead of rivals Optus and Vodafone at 35% and 21% respectively. Competitive advantage in coverage and speed of the Telstra mobile network attracts customers demanding reliable mobile connectivity.

Financial Strength

Telstra’s balance sheet is strong. Net debt/EBITDA was 2.0 times at the end of June 2021, while EBITDA interest cover was 13.2 times. The strong capital position and cash flow allows spectrum acquisition and renewals, as well as network reinvestment, to be debt-funded.

Bulls Say’s 

  • Telstra has market-leading shares across all vital telecommunications segments and is likely to maintain these positions in the future.
  • While the telecommunications space is incredibly competitive, Telstra has a significant competitive advantage via its extensive mobile and wireless networks.
  • Decommissioning of the copper network lowers capital intensiveness of the business. Telstra can redirect capital to the higher-growth mobile segment.

Company Profile 

Telstra is Australia’s largest telecommunications entity, with material market shares in voice, mobile, data and Internet, spanning retail, corporate and wholesale segments. Its fixed-line copper network will gradually be wound down as the government-owned National Broadband Network rolls out to all Australian households, but the group will be compensated accordingly. Investments into network applications and services, media, technology and overseas are being made to replace the expected lost fixed-line earnings longer term, while continuing cost-cuts are also critical.

General Advice Warning

Any advice/ information provided is general in nature only and does not take into account the personal financial situation, objectives or needs of any particular person.

Categories
Global stocks Shares

Cisco’s Software and Subscription Push Providing Investors with Greater Insight and Predictability

its strategic focus of increasing recurring revenue via selling software and services to supplement its hardware products. Software and services were more than half of fiscal 2020 revenue, up from 43% in fiscal 2017. In our view, Cisco embracing software from hardware disaggregation, and even selling networking chips, can help keep demand for its solutions high although some customers rely on cloud-based resources or generic hardware.

The company is the dominant supplier of switches, routers, cybersecurity, and complementary networking products. Cisco’s products are mission critical for network performance, stability, and security. Cisco is proliferating software, analytics, wireless, and security offerings to satisfy nascent trends, and we see Cisco as the only one-stop-shop networking vendor. Despite Cisco’s commanding position in switches and routers, IT professionals are increasingly shifting computer workloads to the cloud, in turn buying less data center hardware. Alongside changing its product offerings, Cisco is moving product sales toward subscription-based offerings, which is the preferred method of consumption for cloud-based resources.

Financial Strength

Cisco a financially healthy Company. With a fiscal 2021 debt/capital ratio of 22%, abundant free cash flow generation, and expected on-time debt payments. The company could safely lever back up to fund development projects, acquisitions, and shareholder returns if needed. Cisco has continually exceeded its commitment to return at least 50% of free cash flow, calculated as cash from operating activities minus capital expenditures, to shareholders. Cisco initiated its share repurchase program in 2001, has increased the authorization over time, had about $8 billion remaining at the end of fiscal 2021, with no termination date. 

Cisco has recurrently raised its dividend year over year, and modest annual increases. Even after shareholder returns and debt repayments, the company remains financially flexible with plenty of cash to support acquisitions and its large marketing and R&D expenditures. Growing recurring revenue will provide a steadier income stream, and we expect strong operational and free cash flow generation to continue in the future. Our view is that Cisco will manage its growing war chest with future cash deployments into strategic developments and acquisitions.

Bulls Say’s

  • Cisco’s one-stop-shop ecosystem, from switches to data analytics, should remain valued as more networking customers migrate to hybrid clouds.
  • Despite the rise of public clouds, Cisco should continue to grow its customer base via hybrid cloud and software offerings.
  • The expected rapid proliferation of devices to hit networks should drive customer demand for Cisco products. We foresee Cisco’s hardware as needed for access points, routing, and switching while software is crucial for analytics, security, and intent-based networking.

Company Profile 

Cisco Systems, Inc. is the world’s largest hardware and software supplier within the networking solutions sector. The infrastructure platforms group includes hardware and software products for switching, routing, data center, and wireless applications. Its applications portfolio contains collaboration, analytics, and Internet of Things products. The security segment contains Cisco’s firewall and software-defined security products. Services are Cisco’s technical support and advanced services offerings. The company’s wide array of hardware is complemented with solutions for software-defined networking, analytics, and intent-based networking. In collaboration with Cisco’s initiative on growing software and services, its revenue model is focused on increasing subscriptions and recurring sales.

General Advice Warning

Any advice/ information provided is general in nature only and does not take into account the personal financial situation, objectives or needs of any particular person.

Categories
Shares Technology Stocks

Oracle Begins Fiscal 2022 With a Mixed Quarter As Cloud Shines; Shares Overvalued

Revenue in the first quarter increased 4% year over year to $9.7 billion. Once again, cloud services and license support drove the top line upward, growing 6% year over year and accounting for 76% of the firm’s sales in the June quarter. Additionally, adjusted operating margins for the quarter remained flat year over year at 45%, and non-GAAP earnings per share was $1.03, compared with our estimate of $0.94.

The company’s cloud business continues to perform well and grow as a portion of Oracle’s overall sales. Since the cloud business typically offers better margins than the firm’s on-premises business, we view this mix shift positively as the increasing cloud mix will help the company grow its profitability. At the same time, however, we remain aware of the intense competition in the database management market and maintain our fair value estimate of $65 per share. With shares trading around $87, we recommend waiting for a pullback before committing capital to the narrow-moat name.

Within the cloud space, management highlighted a recent Gartner report that reviews Oracle’s strong execution within cloud infrastructure. At the same time, we find it important to highlight that while Gartner positions Oracle as the number three player in the cloud infrastructure space, Amazon and Microsoft (the current number one and two, respectively) have built their cloud infrastructure business over many years. As a result, it’ll be hard for Oracle to displace these two cloud giants off their perches, as doing so would require companies to make cloud infrastructure decisions primarily based on database functionality. 

Additionally, on the call, management stressed the outperformance of its MySQL offering, HeatWave, over Amazon’s and Snowflake’s MySQL offering. While we continue to think Snowflake boasts significant benefits over Amazon due to its customers’ ability to avoid vendor lock-in, we found it compelling that Oracle claimed it plans to make its MySQL product available on competing public clouds. 

Company Profile

Oracle provides database technology and enterprise resource planning, or ERP, software to enterprises around the world. Founded in 1977, Oracle pioneered the first commercial SQL-based relational database management system. Today, Oracle has 430,000 customers in 175 countries, supported by its base of 136,000 employees.

(Source: Morningstar)

Any advice/ information provided is general in nature only and does not take into account the personal financial situation, objectives or needs of any particular person.

Categories
Global stocks Shares

Sweetened Proposal for Sydney Airport Looks Like Enough; FVE Up to AUD 8.25, Shares Fairly Priced

Long distances between major cities in Australasia means flying is a preferred mode of travel. Despite a rival airport scheduled to open in 2026, we expect Sydney Airport to remain the favoured terminal for business and long-haul leisure travellers for the next decade. This is due to existing infrastructure which is costly to replicate, and proximity to the CBD, affluent suburbs and tourist areas, and connections to roads and public transport. 

Revenue is about evenly sourced from aeronautical and other operations. Aeronautical fees are mostly on a per-passenger basis, with base charges negotiated with airlines every five years. Retail is the largest non-aeronautical contributor, accounting for about 23% of pre-COVID-19 revenue. Duty-free and luxury shopping has threats, given the ability for e-commerce sites to offer lower prices than duty-free, and ESG risks given the reliance on tobacco and alcohol sales. However, in the long run, risks materialising in any particular sub-category should be offset by passenger growth boosting defensive categories such as food, car-rental, parking, souvenirs, and holiday items

Regulators have no power to intervene other than to recommend more regulation. Rather than pushing for more onerous regulation, government and regulators could foster more competition via the new Western Sydney Airport, though we believe this will take more than a decade. 

Catering to the growing middle-class in neighbouring countries remains a growth opportunity. Population and passenger growth should aid Sydney Airport as it can increasingly allocate slots away from domestic and toward international flights. International flights account for about 40% of passengers, but about 70% of passenger revenue.

Sweetened Proposal for Sydney Airport Looks Like Enough; FVE Up to AUD 8.25, Shares Fairly Priced:

Sydney Aviation Alliance has sweetened its pitch for Sydney Airport, now proposing a deal at AUD 8.75 per share. While the new price is only 3.5% higher than the previously rejected AUD 8.45, this time Sydney Airport granted due diligence and said it would support a binding offer at that price. A conclusion is unlikely until 2022 given it will require 4 weeks of due diligence, a binding bid from the consortium, a shareholder vote, and regulatory investigations. A lot could happen between now and then; however, the most likely outcome is a takeover proceeding at the proposed price.

We raise our fair value estimate to AUD 8.25, ascribing a 75% probability a deal proceeds at AUD 8.75, and a 25% weighting to our underlying valuation in the absence of a bid, which is unchanged at AUD 6.70. 

We understand the need for due diligence given the hefty price tag, however, we think it unlikely the due diligence process will uncover anything to disrupt the offer. Sydney Airport is well run, and its assets and books have been scrutinised closely by many parties, and its now public listing. It also has a huge debt load that attracted close scrutiny from creditors in 2020, as well as air safety and security bodies scrutinising its physical assets.

A more likely disruptor is economic or coronavirus news. We maintain our view that regulatory authorities are unlikely to throw up insurmountable concerns about aviation safety, national security, foreign investment, or competition. Competition is the most likely hurdle, if any, given consortium member stakes in other airports.

Bulls Say

  • Sydney Airport’s convenience to the business district and coastal suburbs of Australia’s largest city makes it near impossible to replicate. Rising incomes in nearby nations, and Australia’s growing population bodes well for long-term passenger numbers.
  • A light regulatory regime is unlikely to become significantly more onerous.
  • Sydney Airport has spare landing slots, plus the ability to reallocate slots away from domestic and toward more lucrative long-haul international flights, as passenger traffic grows.

Financial Strength

Financial Strength Sydney Airport’s financial health is fair, with relatively defensive income offset by high debt.Net debt/EBITDA was a high 14 times in fiscal 2021, up from 7.2 in 2019.Management acknowledged the high debt and took appropriate actions to reduce leverage, including cancelling distributions in 2020, delaying capital expenditure, securing additional bank facilities, and raising AUD 2 billion in equity in the September quarter of 2020. We expect calendar 2021 to be the low point for EBITDA, with 2022 forecast to be significantly higher due to fewer and less strict lockdowns. 

Company Profile

Sydney Airport has a lease to operate the facility until 2097. As Australia’s busiest airport, it connects close to 100 international and domestic destinations, and handled more than 40 million passenger movements annually until COVID-19 border restrictions in 2020. Regulation is light, with airports setting charges and terms with airlines, and the regulator monitoring the aeronautical and car park operations to ensure reasonable pricing and service. Retail and property operations are free from regulatory oversight, though political and commercial pressure limits Sydney Airport from overly flexing its pricing muscle, particularly as the government owns the rival Western Sydney Airport, set to open in 2026.

(Source:Morningstar)

General Advice Warning

Any advice/ information provided is general in nature only and does not take into account the personal financial situation, objectives or needs of any particular person.

Categories
Shares Technology Stocks

Wisetech FVE Significantly Increased Following Evidence of Strategy

Business Strategy and Outlook

WiseTech Global was founded in 1994 as a software provider to the Australian logistics sector and has since grown organically to become a leading global provider of logistics software as a service, or SaaS. The company has over 6,000 customers, including 19 of the 20 largest third-party global logistics providers, and a customer retention rate of over 99%. WiseTech’s business model generates revenue based on the extent to which customers use its software rather than a traditional subscription model, which usually offers unlimited use within a set time frame. Despite strong revenue growth, WiseTech still comprises less than 5% of the global logistics software market, much of which is created in-house by logistics companies. 

Although WiseTech lacks the scale of much larger enterprise resource planning, or ERP, software providers such as SAP and Oracle, the company’s niche focus and innovative culture have enabled it to outmanoeuvre larger peers. Descartes increased revenue at a CAGR of 14% over the five years to fiscal 2021 we forecast a CAGR of 14% over the next decade. WiseTech’s cloud-based platform is being adopted by logistics companies as a replacement for legacy and in-house developed systems, and we attribute client wins to the superior functionality and usability of the software and proven global SaaS platform.

Financial Strength

WiseTech is in good financial health thanks to its capital-light business model, highly recurring earnings, and narrow economic moat. The company is effectively equity-funded with no debt. Founder and CEO Richard White to remain reluctant to undertake large acquisitions and leverage the balance sheet. However, it’s not uncommon for technology companies to forgo short term profitability for long-term strategic benefits, and we are comfortable with management’s long-term focus.

WiseTech in a much more bullish light and have dramatically raised our earnings forecasts and fair value estimate to AUD 60.00 from AUD 9.00 per share. Our forecast revenue CAGR over the next decade, to 19% from 12% and our terminal EBIT margin to 37% from 32%, both of which add around AUD 14 to the fair value, or 28% of the total fair value increase. WiseTech’s cost of equity to 7.5% from 9.0% and increased the terminal growth rate to 4.9% from 2.2%, both of which add AUD 11 to our fair value or 22% of the total fair value increase.

WiseTech’s fair value increase is largely due to a higher terminal value, as 83% of our prior fair value was attributable to the terminal value. The terminal value increase is driven by the following four factors which have approximately equal impacts. The strong fiscal 2021 result, improved disclosure, and better than expected fiscal 2022 outlook, which increase our confidence in WiseTech’s global expansion strategy.

Bulls Say’s

  • WiseTech has a narrow economic moat based on customer switching costs, as evidenced by a very high customer retention rate of over 99% for the past four years.
  • WiseTech’s revenue is expected to continue growing strongly over the next decade as its logistics software platform replaces in-house and legacy software solutions. A high degree of operating leverage should create even stronger EPS growth.
  • The capital-light business model should enable the balance sheet to remain debt-free, with operating cash flow covering research and development spending and dividend payments.

Company Profile 

WiseTech is a leading global provider of logistics software, and 19 of the largest 20 third-party logistics companies are customers of the firm. The company has a very strong customer retention rate of over 99% per year, and is growing quickly as its global SaaS platform replaces legacy software. The company reinvests around 30% of revenue into research and development, but around 50% of this cost is capitalised, leading to poor cash conversion. Founder Richard White remains CEO and the largest shareholder.

General Advice Warning

Any advice/ information provided is general in nature only and does not take into account the personal financial situation, objectives or needs of any particular person.

Categories
LICs LICs

WCM Global Growth Increases Final Dividend 25%

Recently, WAM Global Growth provides 2.5 percent per share. 

WCM Global Growth Limited ((WQG)) reported a net operating profit after tax of $48.4 million for fiscal year 21. For FY21, the investment portfolio returned 26.8 percent, with total shareholder returns of 35.6 percent.

The Company declared a final dividend of 2.5cps for FY21, fully franked, a 25% increase over the FY20 final dividend. This represents a 4.5cps full-year dividend, a 12.5 percent increase over the FY20 full-year dividend.

The Board has announced that the next two dividend payments will be increased, with an FY22 interim dividend of 2.75cps and a final FY22 dividend of 3.0cps. These dividends will most likely be fully franked. The increased dividends will be subject to corporate, legal, and regulatory considerations, as well as the Company having sufficient profit reserves and franking credits.

WQG issued Bonus Options on a one-for-three basis in February 2021. The options have an exercise price of $1.50, which represents a 7.4 percent discount to the closing share price on August 19, 2021. The exercise period for the options is until August 31, 2022. 

Shareholders who exercise their options by COB 17 September 2021 and continue to hold the shares on the relevant record date will be eligible for all of the dividends listed above.

Company Profile 

WCM Global Growth Limited (WQG or the Company) is a listed investment company investing in global equities. The Company provides investors with access to an actively managed portfolio of quality global companies found primarily in the high growth consumer, technology and healthcare sectors. The portfolio is managed by WCM Investment Management (WCM), a California-based specialist global equity firm with an outstanding long-term investment track record. WCM’s investment process is based on the belief that corporate culture is the biggest influence on a company’s ability to grow its competitive advantage or ‘moat’. 

General Advice Warning

Any advice/ information provided is general in nature only and does not take into account the personal financial situation, objectives or needs of any particular person.

Categories
Dividend Stocks

Health and Human Services and Congressional Plans to CutDrug Prices Look Manageable by the Industry

Novartis is well positioned for steady long-term growth. Strong intellectual property supporting multi-billion-dollar products, combined with an abundance of late-pipeline products, creates a wide economic moat. While patent losses on anemia drug Exjade and cancer drug Afinitor will weigh on near-term growth, a strong portfolio of drugs along with a robust pipeline should ensure steady long-term growth.

Novartis’ drug segment is poised for long-term growth driven by new pipeline products and existing drugs. Novartis’ strategy to focus largely in areas of unmet medical need should strengthen the firm’s pricing power. Additionally, Novartis differentiates itself by its sheer number of blockbusters, including Entresto for heart failure, Cosentyx for immunology diseases and Tasigna for cancer. Also, it has generated a strong late-stage pipeline with recent launches of migraine drug Aimovig and cancer drug Kisqali. Despite the patent losses on Exjade and Afinitor (and potentially multiple sclerosis drug Gilenya), the combination of a strong pipeline of new products and a diverse, well-positioned operating platform should translate into steady growth.

Financial Strength

Using estimates from the Congressional Budget Office for the impact of HR3, we previously estimated that U.S. branded drug sales could fall 21% below our current forecasts if international price benchmarking were applied to Medicare and private plans, with up to a 40% impact if such a system were applied to all drugs (the plan would likely only apply to a basket of drugs) and if drug firms were not able to offset these prices with international price increases. Based on our prior analysis of rebates in Medicaid and the VA, the impact of domestic reference pricing could also be sizeable, as high as 20%, if applied to all of Medicare (assuming no offsets).

Upcoming congressional proposals on lowering drug pricing as well as a recent plan from the Department of Health and Human Services have put U.S. drug pricing policy back in the spotlight. Congress is reconvening and will work to pass a $3.5 trillion budget reconciliation package, and Politico reported that House Democrats plan to include Medicare drug price negotiation (along with other elements of the HR3 bill, which was originally introduced and passed in the House in 2019) in their budget reconciliation package.

Company Profile 

Novartis AG develops and manufactures healthcare products through two segments: Innovative Medicines and Sandoz. It generates the vast majority of its revenue from Innovative Medicines segment consisting global business franchises in oncology, ophthalmology, neuroscience, immunology, respiratory, cardio-metabolic, and established medicines. The firm sells its products globally, with the United States representing close to one third of total revenue.

General Advice Warning

Any advice/ information provided is general in nature only and does not take into account the personal financial situation, objectives or needs of any particular person.