Tag: Australian Market

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Funds Funds

CFS Index Australian Bond: Simple and reasonably priced choice for diversified Australian bond exposure

Approach

FSI matches the risk factors of the benchmark, including duration, sector exposures, and credit quality by employing a full replication method. The strategy can hold securities that have been or are expected to be included in the index, and it can exclude those likely to drop in or out. On average, the cash holding would be in the vicinity of 0.5% because of the impact of daily flows and liquidity needs. The larger asset base gives the firm the benefit of scale and helps to keep a lid on overall transaction costs. FSI uses the BlackRock Aladdin portfolio management tool to manage the index-tracking process end to end, including trading and risk assessment and monitoring.

Portfolio

CFS Index Australian Bond replicates the Bloomberg AusBond Composite 0+ Year Index fully. As of 30 September 2021, the fund is composed mainly of Treasury (56.6%) and government-related (semigovernment and supranational) debt (36.4%). Corporate credit constitutes most of the remaining portion of the fund. A major portion of the credits in the index are issued by banks, followed by diversified financials and real estate trusts. . The concentrated credit exposure to banks and financials means Australian property fundamentals play a role in the portfolio’s performance in the long run.

People

FSI has a long history of managing passive strategies. FSI’s institutional passive funds under management is substantial. As of August 2021, FSI had around $5.1 billion in active funds and $12.2 billion in passive strategies. The Australian fixed-income team headed by Stephen Cooper within FSI is responsible for the CFS Index Australia Bond Fund. Cooper is an industry veteran. He is supported by four portfolio managers in the team, with Darja Milosevic and Alex Nikolovski dedicated to passive vehicles.

Performance 

As a core bond holding, CFS Index Australia Bond has served investors well over time by bringing broader portfolio volatility down and protecting capital when equity market slides. On the other hand, it has lagged when yields rose and when credit markets have been strong. This was evident in 2013 when the fund’s 1.7% gain trailed over half of its category peers or when yields rose toward the second half of 2020 through the end of the first quarter of 2021 (November 2020–March 2021). Encouragingly, the fund had done well when equity markets were weak. Its relatively long duration and high-quality exposure have been a boon during such occasions. 

CFS Performance.png

About the Fund

CFS Wholesale Indexed Australian Bond Fund is a unit trust incorporated in Australia. The objective of the Fund is to closely track the UBS Warburg Australian Composite Bond Index, All Maturities. The Fund invests in securities issued or guaranteed by governments, statutory authorities, banks, and corporations of a high credit standing, with some cash for liquidity.

(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
LICs LICs

Plato Income Maximiser Limited raises $139.5m

Plato Income is Financial Industry with sub- industry is Asset Management. Market Capitalization is 657.126m. Their 5 years Monthly Beta is 0.78. 

Plato Income’s NTA values shows below are before the dividend of $0.005 per share payable on 31 December 2021. The ex-date of the dividend is 16th December 2021. 

Plato Income Maximiser limited Pre – Tax NTA $1.101 while Post – tax NTA is 1.105. Per – tax NTA Includes tax on realised gains/losses and other earnings but excludes any provision from tax on unrealised gains/losses. Post – Tax NTA includes tax on realised and unrealised gains/losses and other earnings. 

During November, PL8 raised $139.5m in total through a Placement to wholesale investors and a Share Purchase Plan (SPP). The Placement to wholesale investors raised $71.3m with the issue of 64.3m fully paid ordinary shares at $1.11 per share. 

The SPP raised $68.2m through the issue of 62m new shares at $1.10 per share. The SPP was oversubscribed with the Company targeting $50m, however the Company decided not to scale back any applications.

The proceeds from the Placement and the SPP will be invested via the Plato Australian Shares Income Fund in accordance with the Company’s structure and investment strategy.

PL8 took the opportunity to raise capital when the Company was trading at a premium. The share price closed at $1.285 on 2 November, the day prior to the capital raising announcement, an 11.7% premium to the pre-tax NTA and a 15% premium to the post-tax NTA. 

The issue of new shares through the Placement and SPP has seen the share price decline to be trading closer to the pre-tax NTA at November-end.

Portfolio Performance as at 30th November 2021

PORTFOLIO PERFORMANCE¹1M%3M%1YR% P.A.3YRS% P.A.INCEPTION% P.A.
Total return²-0.7-2.114.813.59.6
Income³0.61.66.08.37.4
Bench. total return²-0.4-2.017.014.010.1
Excess total return²-0.3-0.1-2.2-0.5-0.5
Excess Income³0.0-0.11.13.42.2
Excess franking³0.00.00.51.20.9

Company Profile 

Plato Income Maximiser Limited is a listed investment company incorporated in Australia. The Company has been established to provide investors with the opportunity to benefit from an investment in an actively managed, well-diversified portfolio of Australian listed equities by investing in an the unlisted scheme Plato Australian Shares Income Fund.

(Source: BanyanTree)

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

Twilio’s Software Building Blocks Are Constructing a Cloud Communications Empire

Business Strategy and Outlook

Twilio is a cloud-based communication-platform-as-a-service, or CPaaS, company offering communication application programming interfaces, or APIs, and prebuilt solution applications aimed at improving customer engagement. Through these APIs, Twilio’s platform allows developers to integrate messaging, voice, and video functionality into business applications. In a go-to-market model that focuses on empowering developers to utilize the APIs to build products in a highly customized fashion, Twilio has been able to expand into use-cases that would be difficult to penetrate otherwise. For widely sought after use-cases, Twilio has developed solution applications, like Flex Contact Center, which combine various channel APIs into a unified interface to create use-case-specific solutions.

The communication channel APIs are deployed through the Programmable Communications Cloud and then are combined and expanded into application platforms in the Engagement Cloud to offer higher level functionality for specific use-cases. In this view full stack as best-in-breed in the CPaaS space, enabling deeply integrated, sticky communication solutions. Twilio has stellar customer metrics, with churn consistently below 5% and net dollar expansion in excess of 130% in recent years.

Financial Strength

Twilio is in a healthy financial position. Revenue is growing rapidly, and the company is beginning to scale, while the balance sheet is in good shape. As of September 2021, the company had cash and short-term investments of $5.4 billion and a debt balance of $985.5 million. In March 2021, Twilio issued $1.0 billion of senior notes, consisting of $500 million of 3.625% notes due 2029, and $500 million of 3.875% notes due 2031. In June 2021, the company redeemed its prior convertible notes, due March 2023, in their entirety. Since raising approximately $150 million in its IPO in 2016, Twilio has completed several secondary offerings, recently announcing a $1.8 billion offering of its Class A common stock in 2021. Twilio has yet to achieve GAAP profitability, as the company remains focused on reinvesting excess returns back into the company, both on an organic and inorganic basis, to build out the platform and enhance future growth prospects.

Our fair value estimate for Twilio is $356 per share, down from $388 as we model slightly more muted long-term growth. It is expected that Twilio to grow at a 38% CAGR through 2025 from the combination of an expanding customer base and increasing usage of the platform by existing customers, evidenced by a stellar 131% net dollar expansion rate in the third quarter. Investors are discouraged by the combination of the third-quarter slowdown in organic growth, which we still view as healthy at a 38% increase year over year, and the widening loss expected for full-year 2021 after management’s fourth-quarter guidance.

Bulls Say’s 

  • The addition of SI partnerships and solution APIs should lead to increasing success in winning enterprise customers, which not only offer a greater lifetime value for a proportionally smaller acquisition cost, but also tend to be stickier customers. 
  • Twilio has stellar user retention metrics, with churn consistently below 5% and net dollar retention north of 130% in recent years. 
  • As Twilio focuses on developing more solution APIs and growth shifts from usage-based messaging to SaaS-like priced solutions, there should be a natural uptick in both gross margins and recurring revenue.

Company Profile 

Twilio is a cloud-based communication platform-as-a-service company offering communication application programming interfaces, or APIs, and prebuilt solution applications aimed at improving customer engagement. Through these APIs, Twilio’s platform allows software developers to integrate messaging, voice, and video functionality into new or existing business applications. The company leverages its Super Network, Twilio’s global network of carrier relationships, to facilitate high speed cost-optimized global messaging and voice-based communications.

(Source: FN Arena)

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 Sectors

Tassal Group revenue increased driven by volume growth

Investment Thesis:

  • Number one player in the domestic market (approximately 50% market share), with only one major competitor (Huon Aquaculture Group). This could see rational pricing behaviour, which should be positive for both companies. 
  • High barriers to entry (assets, desired temperatures and regulatory licences are difficult to obtain). 
  • Initiatives like selective breeding programs and investments in infrastructure appear to be paying dividends, with more recent generations of TGR’s salmon showing more robust growth than their predecessors. 
  • Given the complex nature of salmon farming, TGR is unlikely to have its dominant position as an Australian leading salmon farmer seriously threatened in the foreseeable future. 
  • Addition of prawns into TGR’s product portfolio brings diversification benefits to the Company’s risk profile. 
  • Growth in prawns represents material upside for group earnings.

Key Risks:

  • Impact on production due to adverse weather conditions and diseases. 
  • The De Costi subsidiary presents an opportunity for diversification; however, execution and competitive risks remain. 
  • Potential review of chemical colouring in salmon may lead to further negative publicity and undermine demand for salmon. 
  • Cost pressures or cost blowout could deteriorate margins significantly given the large cost base relative to earnings (EBITDA).
  • Irrational competitive behaviour (domestic and international markets). 
  • Negative media reports on the sustainability of the Tasmanian salmon industry. 
  • Regulatory risks regarding Federal, State and Local laws and regulations regarding the leases, licenses, permits and quotas which may affect TGR’s operations.

Key highlights:

  • TGR’s 1H21 revenue was up on volume growth but EBIT and NPAT fell by -2.7% and -7.8% on pcp, respectively, amid materially negative returns from the export market due to Covid19.
  • Interim dividend was down -22.2% to 7cps.
  • Operating cash flows remained strong despite negative movements in working capital and declining salmon prices.
  • Total revenue increased +6.6% over pcp to $292.48m, with sales volume growth for salmon up +16.2% and prawns up +786.4%, which was more than offset by materially negative returns from the export market given the impact of reduced global pricing and an appreciating AUD/USD exchange rate, leading to operating EBIT falling -2.7% over pcp to $46.78m
  • Balance sheet further strengthened with available committed debt facilities extended by $100m to $509.2m (including Receivables Purchasing Facility), secured to April 2023
  • The Board declared an unfranked interim dividend (vs 25% franked in pcp) of 7cps, down -22.2% over pcp and announced a DRP with a -2% discount.
  • Segment revenue are as follows:
    • Salmon: Segment revenue increased +6.7% over pcp, with decline of -8.7% to $12.47/hog kg in average price (domestic down -2.6% and export down -18%) more than offset by +16.2% increase in volume (domestic up +1.3% and export up +74.3%).
    • Prawns: Operating EBITDA/kg (pre AASB 16) declined -47% over pcp to $3.05, as earlier harvest to optimize Christmas sales led to decrease in size

Company Description: 

Tassal Group (TGR) is Australia’s largest vertically integrated seafood/aquaculture company. Based in Tasmania, TGR is engaged in hatching, farming, processing, sale and marketing of Atlantic salmon and ocean trout. Tassal is also undergoing investments to enter the prawns market. The company’s products are distributed in Australia, Japan and other international markets.

(Source: Banyantree)

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
Daily Report Financial Markets

Australian Market Outlook – 17 December 2021

Sydney, Australia - March 14, 2013: The Australia Stock Exchange big board viewed from the sidewalk in front of the exchange building in Sydney. The ASX board displays real-time stock information for companies listed on the exchange.
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Daily Report Financial Markets

Australian Market Outlook – 16 December 2021

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Daily Report Financial Markets

Australian Market Outlook – 15 December 2021

Sydney, Australia - March 14, 2013: The Australia Stock Exchange big board viewed from the sidewalk in front of the exchange building in Sydney. The ASX board displays real-time stock information for companies listed on the exchange.
Australian-Market-Outlook-15-December-2021Download

Categories
Daily Report Financial Markets

Australian Market Outlook – 14 December 2021

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Daily Report Financial Markets

Australian Market Outlook – 13 December 2021

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Categories
Global Markets Global stocks

Fisher & Paykel reported strong FY21 earnings with operating revenue up by 56% and NPAT up by 82%

Investment Thesis:

  • Global leader in invasive and non-invasive inhalation, nasal high flow therapy and during surgery. 
  • Strong global market position in a significantly under-penetrated treatment of sleep apnea market and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. 
  • Increasing uptake of Nasal high-flow (NHF) therapy and consumables growth on the back of this. 
  • High barriers to entry in establishing global distribution channels. 
  • Strong R&D program ensuring FPH remains ahead of competitors. 
  • New product releases 
  • Bolt-on acquisitions to supplement organic growth.

Key Risks:

  • Consolidation / normalization of sales post the COVID-19 driven demand. 
  • Disruptive technology leading to better patient compliance. 
  • Product recall leading to reputational damage. 
  • Competitive threats leading to market share loss. 
  • Disappointing growth (company and industry specific). 
  • Adverse currency movements. 
  • FPH needs to grow to maintain its high PE trading multiple. Therefore, any impact on growth may put pressure on FPH’s valuation.

Key highlights:

  • Fisher & Paykel Healthcare Corp (FPH) reported very strong FY21 results, with operating revenue of $1.97bn up+56% (or +61% in constant currency (CC)) and earnings (NPAT) of $524m up +82% (or+94% in CC) over the previous corresponding period (pcp).
  • FPH saw an increase of +49% (constant currency) in revenue for new applications consumables; i.e. products used in non-invasive ventilation, Optiflow nasal high flow therapy and surgical applications, accounting for 66% of Hospital consumables revenue.
  • The Board declared a final dividend to 22.0cps up +42% on pcp. Total dividend for FY21 of 38.0cps was up +38%. 
  • Balance sheet remains strong with FY21 net cash of $303m, up from $42m in FY20.
  • COVID-19 has aggressively accelerated FPH’s global devices installed base and changing clinical practices. FPH achieved +337% growth in hospital hardware in FY21 vs pcp.

Company Description: 

Fisher & Paykel Healthcare (FPH) is a designer, manufacturer and marketer of products for use in respiratory care, acute care, surgery and treatment of obstructive sleep apnea. The Company sells its products in over 120 countries. FPH’s products are used in the treatment of more than 12 million patients. In the hospital setting, FPH products are used in invasive inhalation, non-invasive inhalation, nasal high flow therapy, and during surgery. In long-term care facilities and home settings, FPH technologies assist in the treatment of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and other chronic respiratory conditions.

(Source: Banyantree)

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.