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.
Douugh (ASX:DOU) IPO cooks on debut
Neobank Douugh (ASX: DOU) shares are up 30% at the time of writing, and up a whopping 1100% after a successful backdoor listing on the ASX at 3c. Neobanks (or digital banks) are simply new app-based banks. No branches, no cash, and interaction entirely through a smartphone app.
Although dubbed a neobank, Douugh is so much more. If you’ve read the book Barefoot Investor by Scott Pape, you’ll quickly recognise the style of millennial money management. According to Business News Australia, Douugh CEO Andy Taylor says: “Most of the well-known neobanks are just rebuilding the same old banks in digital form, selling traditional products competing on price, reliant upon getting their customers into debt to turn a profit while outsourcing their software development.” Douugh is different. It sorts your funds into categories called “jars,” similar to the Barefoot Investor. Put funds away at payday for bills in the Bills Jar, funds for a concert in the Festivals Jar, and the remainder split between your Rainy Day, Vacation and Splurge Jars. The app also lets users create their own savings goals for things like a new couch or car they’ve been thinking about. Douugh says it has developed an artificial intelligence (AI) algorithm that manages a user’s money in accordance with their budget and savings plans. Douugh does all the hard work for you.
The company is yet to launch in Australia and has a pre-launch list of around 9,000 subscribers. The product is available in the US, where it is supported by a partnership with Mastercard struck in 2019. The reason for its pre-launch listing was to exploit the growth opportunities by using IPO funding to build its US customer base.
The company raised $6 million through a reverse takeover of Australian telco ZipTel (ASX: ZIP). The offer was over-subscribed many times. Competitors in the neobank sphere in Australia include Raiz Invest (ASX: RZI), Spaceship, Up, Xinja and Revolut.
