Reporting Season Round-Up: A2 Milk earnings beat, Helloworld profit upgrade, Northern Star earnings slump

NIB Holdings (ASX: NHF) down 12% on numbers that missed expectations.

Reports H1:

• H1 underlying operating profit $125.1m against expectations of $132.9m

• Revenue $1.43bn versus expectations of $1.42bn

• Underlying NPAT $91.6m against expectations of $101m

• Interim DPS 13.0c, fully franked

Outlook:

NHF management was reluctant to reinstate financial guidance given lingering COVID-19 consequences and uncertainty.

"The business outlook is encouraging but there's still some noise around COVID-19, deferred medical treatment and claims exposure," "Our current provisioning is prudent, but it's going to take a bit more time for this to settle."

Charter Hall Group (ASX: CHC) post 10% fall in operating EPS

Reports H1:

• H1 OEPS $0.507, down 10% on last year’s $0.566

• Operating income $239.9m, down 9% on last year’s $263.9m

• DPS $0.2084 vs last year’s $0.1966

• NTA $6.53 vs half-ago $6.26

FY Guidance (Jun 2023):

• Reaffirms EPS no less than $0.90 vs expectations of $0.95

• DPS +6% y/y

From the CEO

“Charter Hall Group continues to deliver sector leading returns for investors in our funds,” chief executive David Harrison said.

“Our focus remains on curating sustainable and resilient portfolios that deliver earnings growth for investors through all market conditions. This focus on performance for our investors and our co-investment alongside them continues to attract capital to the platform.”

Iress (ASX: IRE): misses earnings estimates consensus but mostly flat

Reports first-half FY23 results:

• NPAT $52.7m vs. expectations of $55m

• Operating revenue $617.9m in line with expectations

• Segment profit of $165.1m vs. expectations of $166-170m

• Final dividend 30cps (unfranked)

Outlook:

• "Segment Profit expected to be at or above the level of 2022 on a constant currency basis"

• Share based payments approximated at $21m-22m

• "Work currently underway to access efficiency gains [and] improve return on capital"

Nuix (ASX: NXL): Ship appears to be turning around, but losses not recovered yet

Reports first-half FY23 results:

• Revenue of A$87.6m vs. $84m 1HFY22 (+4%)

• Annual Contract Value of $170.2m up 3.4% vs. 1HFY22

• Underlying EBITDA of $25.1m vs. $23.1m in 1HFY22 (+8.5%)

• NPAT A$1.3m vs. year-ago (A$2.3m)

FY guidance and outlook:

• "We have made further important hires into key leadership roles"

• "he team has made solid progress on our core Horizon 2 project, the Nuix Unified Platform, which we expect to release to customers in the first half of FY24"

• "Nuix is growing and evolving – we are excited about the changes we are implementing as a team and the early momentum evident in our financial results."

Northern Star Resources (ASX: NST): NPAT YoY falls -56%

Reports first-half FY23 results:

• Underlying NPAT of $55m vs. $124m 1HFY22 (-56%)

• Adjusted EBITDA of A$633m vs. $722m 1HFY22 (-12%)

• Revenue of A$1.95bn beat consensus of $1.94bn

• Interim dividend of 11cps 100% franked

• 773.2k ounces of gold sold

Outlook:

• Gold sales of 1,560koz - 1,680koz

• AISC of A$1,630-1,690/oz

• Growth capital budget of $650m

• Exploration budget of $125m

Chorus Ltd (ASX: CNU): company boosts full-year guidance, revenue flat but beats consensus

Reports first-half FY23 results:

• NPAT NZ$42m vs. $27m in 1HFY22 (+55%)

• Revenue of NZ$483m vs. $478m in 1HFY22 (+1.04%)

• Revenue beat consensus of NZ$469.9m.

• Interim dividend of 14cps (2.47cps to non-resident shareholders)

• Share buyback to take place over next 12 months

Outlook:

• Boosted Adjusted EBITDA forecast of NZ$665-$685m (+3% using midpoint)

• Gross CAPEX reduced to NZ$520-560m vs prior NZ$550-590m

• Dividend guidance increased to 35cps from 26cps

Helloworld (ASX: HLO): Strong first-half leads to full-year profit upgrade

Reports first-half FY23 results:

• Group total transaction volumes (TTV) of $1.21bn, up 209%

• Revenue of $73.2m, up 151%

• Underlying EBITDA of $15.6m

• Interim dividend of 20 cents per share (ex-dividend on March 7th)

Outlook and guidance:

• TTV for the month of January 2023 was $211.9m, up 290% compared to the pcp

• “The demand for the services of our network agents by those wishing to travel continues to outstrip agent availability.”

• Underlying EBITDA forecast to be $28-32m for FY23

Bendigo and Adelaide Bank (ASX: BEN): All metrics improving

Reports first-half FY23 results:

• Net interest income of $821.8m vs. $796m expected

• Net interest margin of 1.88%, in-line with analyst expectations

• CET1 of 10.13% vs. 10.0% expected

• Interim dividend of 29 cents per share (ex-dividend on March 7th)

• “This is a strong result that has been made possible by disciplined execution across the business. Bendigo and Adelaide Bank has delivered on all key metrics with cash earnings, return on equity and capital ratios all improving over the half.” - CEO Marnie Baker

Outlook:

• “Borrowers remain well positioned with 43 percent at least one year ahead on repayments and 33 percent two years ahead on repayments. We have seen very little deterioration in these numbers with 84 per cent of home loan customers maintaining a financial buffer.”

• “We are seeing a continued contest for market share play out, primarily amongst the big four banks, using incentives in the form of cash back offers for housing loans.”

• “At this point in the interest rate cycle, it is reasonable to expect house prices to continue to moderate, which in turn, will lead to lower system credit growth.”

GWA Group (ASX: GWA): Volumes under pressure

Reports first-half FY23 results:

• Revenue of $207.1m, up 3% vs. $201m expected

• Statutory net profit of $21.3m, up 14.9% vs. $24.2m expected

• Normalised net profit of $21.3m, down -4.6%

• “After the strong start in the first quarter, we experienced a growing contraction in volumes in the second quarter, primarily in the residential renovation and replacement segment which resulted in substantial de-stocking by one of our key merchants.” - CEO Urs Meyerhans

• Interim dividend of 6.0 cents per share (ex-dividend on February 24th)

Outlook:

• “Demand in the Commercial new build and renovation segment is expected to continue with GWA’s Commercial forward order book remaining strong up 6.5% in Australia since June 2022.” 

• “Input cost inflation will be managed through proactive price increases such as those scheduled to be implemented in Australia from 1 April 2023 (4%) and New Zealand from 1 March 2023 (5%).”

A2 Milk (ASX: A2M): “Strong performance in a very challenging market”

Reports first-half FY23 results (all figures in NZ$):

• Revenue growth of 18.6% to $783.3m vs. $770m expected

• EBITDA up 10.5% to $107.8m vs. $104.9m expected 

• Net profit after tax up 22.1% to $73.8m

• Share buyback of up to $150m commenced in the first-half of FY23 and 60.1% complete

• “Our performance in the China IMF category has been a significant highlight – growing sales 18.0% while the market was down 12.5% driven by strong growth in our China label MBS and DOL channels.” - CEO David Bortolussi

• New China National Standards registration process for China label “on track” to be achieved in 2H23 subject to SAMR approval

Outlook:

• No set guidance but expects “low double digit revenue growth in FY23” at EBITDA margins similar to FY22

Ampol (ASX: ALD): Record earnings and dividends

Reports full-year FY22 results:

• Revenue of $38.5bn vs. $31.5 expected

• RCOP EBIT of $1.27bn vs. $1.30bn expected

• Statutory net profit of $727.5m, up 40% compared to FY21

  • Below consensus expectations of $857.9m

• Final dividend of $1.05 per share plus a special dividend of $0.50 (ex-dividend on March 3rd)

• “The rebrand to Ampol is now complete, we have achieved the Convenience Retail non-fuel RCOP EBIT uplift target ahead of schedule and the acquisition of Z Energy has delivered on our international growth ambitions.” - CEO Matt Halliday

Outlook:

• No guidance

• “January 2023 refined product markets were strong, with Lytton realising an US$18.40/bbl (vs  US$17.86/bbl in FY22) refiner margin as gasoline cracks recovered from the lows in 4Q 2022.”

• “Australian fuel volumes were up 19 per cent, albeit versus the COVID impacted prior period.”

• Targeting NZ$60-80m synergies from Z Energy acquisition

HomeCo Daily Needs (ASX: HDN): Defensive growth, reaffirms full-year outlook

Reports first-half FY23 results:

• Funds from operations (FFO) of 4.3 cents per share, up 8%

  • Analysts were expecting FFO of 4.0 cents per share

• Net operating income (NOI) of $124.3m, up 181%

• Occupancy and cash collection levels both over 99%

• Interim dividend of 4.2 cents per share, up 2% 

FY guidance and outlook:

• Reaffirmed FY23 FFO of 8.6 cents per share

• Reaffirmed FY23 dividend per share of 8.3 cents per share

• On track to deliver over $80m of developments for the full year at a ~7% ROIC

• Over $120m of new development projects to commence in FY24

BlueScope Steel (ASX: BSL): Earnings beat but guidance soft

Reports first-half FY23 results:

• Revenue of $9.32bn, down -1%

• Underlying net profit of $614m, down 61%

• Both were ahead of analyst expectations of $8.5bn and $598m

• Free cash flow of $751m, up from $63m on the pcp

• Interim fully franked dividend of 25 cents per share (ex-dividend on February 24th)

• The Board approved an extension of the buy-back tenor for up to $380m over the next 12 months

FY guidance and outlook:

• Underlying EBIT in the second-half of FY23 expected to be between $480-550m

• Implies full-year underlying EBIT of $1.33bn to $1.40bn vs. analyst expectations of $1.5bn