Christmas has come early for the bank’s shareholders with the decision to slightly increase the 2024 dividend – despite a single-digit decline in the net profit and cash earnings.
Beating the market benchmark is never easy, with 72 per cent of Australian actively managed global equity general funds trailing the S&P World Index in the six months to June 30, 2024. Domestic equity funds performed slightly better, albeit against a significantly lower bar set by the S&P/ASX 200 Index.
Airtasker (ASX:ART) shares skyrocket on ASX debut
Airtasker (ASX: ART) – Shares in the “gig economy” service-on-demand platform have soared on its ASX debut with shares hitting a high of $1.16 after raising $86.3 million at an IPO price of 65 cents. The listing was delayed by one day due to a “processing omission” by the ASX. From the raising, Airtasker will receive $15 million, which it will use for marketing, product development and working capital, while the remaining $68.7 million will provide existing shareholders, including Seven West Media, an opportunity to realise all or part of their investment in Airtasker.
Airtasker is Australia’s leading online marketplace for local services, connecting people and businesses who need work done with people and businesses who want to work. The platform does this through its e-commerce platform by allowing customers to post a job ad, which is seen by Airtasker’s army of tradies and other professionals that complete everyday tasks such as handyman jobs, domestic cleaning through to tax consultancy and legal advice.
Surprisingly, the stock rose 78% despite entering into a market that has been actively rotating out of growth stocks and into value stocks. At listing, ART had a market capitalisation of $255.4 million. This makes Airtasker the third largest IPO this year by market capitalisation, behind meal-kit home delivery service My Food Bag Group (ASX:MFB) and mineral drilling contractor DDH1 (ASX:DDH). Airtasker boasts a marketplace of 4.3 million people and creates a new work opportunity approximately every 17 seconds.
The tech company is priced for growth, with a forecast revenue of $24.5 million for FY21, despite being loss-making, posting a net loss of $5.2 million in FY20 and forecasting a net loss of $12.3 million for FY21. The float comes following rival Hipages’ (ASX: HPG) listing late last year, which failed to captivate investors and has since tracked sideways. In Australia, Airtasker was named the most commonly used platform for “gig” workers. These are people employed through the platform rather than being employed by the platforms.
