In the last 30 days the S&P/ASX 200 Info Tech Index (Index: ^AXIJ) (ASX: XIJ) has outperformed the S&P/ASX 200 (Index: ^AXJO) (ASX: XJO) by quite a distance.
During this time the information technology index has posted a gain of around 8%, compared to a 1.3% decline in the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index. Clearly tech shares were the place to be in August.
The following two tech shares had particularly strong months and posted strong gains for their respective shareholders.
Afterpay Holdings Ltd (ASX: AFY)
Shareholders of this growing fintech company saw the value of their holding climb by 15% in the last 30 days, bringing its year to date gain to a whopping 128%. Afterpay provides online retailers with the option to allow their customers to buy goods now, but pay for them later without interest or fees. Afterpay makes its money by taking a small percentage of the sale in exchange for bearing its default risk.
According to a recent presentation the company's service is not only boosting the overall online sales of its retail partners, but it is increasing the average spend per customer online. With such strong results it comes as little surprise to learn that its client list is growing at rapid rates. Afterpay could be a great buy and hold investment, however, its shares trade at a premium and I would place this one in the high risk category.
Hansen Technologies Limited (ASX: HSN)
The share price of this billing and customer care software company has climbed over 10% in the last 30 days. It's hardly surprising either considering the strong full year results released at the end of August which revealed a 54.4% increase in net profit after tax to $26.1 million. Although growth is expected to slow in FY 2017, management is still forecasting above average revenue growth of up to 17.5%.
The key attraction to Hansen Technologies in my opinion is the long-standing relationships it has with its clients. Of the 30 pay-TV operators on its books, the average customer tenure is a massive 11 years. A further boost to its earnings growth next year will come from the acquisition of US-based energy billing services company PPL Solutions. Management previously stated that it expects this acquisition to represent approximately 7% of worldwide EBITDA next year.
