The S&P/ASX 200 index had its worst week of the year last week when trade war concerns and U.S. recessions fears dragged it sharply lower. The benchmark index finished the period 2.7% or 178.9 points lower at 6,405.5 points.
Not all shares tumbled lower last week. In fact, some even managed to carve out impressive gains despite the sell off.
Here's why these shares were the best performers on the ASX 200 index:
The Super Retail Group Ltd (ASX: SUL) share price was the best performer on the ASX 200 with a gain of 14%. The retailer's shares raced higher after it released a solid full year result despite tough trading conditions. Super Retail delivered a 5.4% increase in sales to $2.71 billion and a 5% lift in normalised net profit after tax to $152.5 million. This allowed the company to lift its full year dividend to 50 cents per share. Looking ahead, management revealed that it has had a positive start to the new financial year.
The Credit Corp Group Limited (ASX: CCP) share price wasn't too far behind with an 11% gain. All of this gain came on Friday when the receivables company announced the acquisition of Baycorp Holdings for ~A$65 million. This acquisition is expected to give its financial performance a major boost as it "will produce earnings growth in the core Australian and New Zealand debt buying business to complement strong growth from the company's US debt buying and consumer lending segments." As a result, management has upgraded its net profit after tax growth guidance for FY 2020 to be in the range of 15% to 18%, compared to its prior guidance of 7% to 10%.
The JB Hi-Fi Limited (ASX: JBH) share price was a positive performer last week with a gain of 11%. The catalyst for this was the release of the retailer's full year results. In FY 2019 JB Hi-Fi posted a 3.5% increase in revenue to $7.095.3 million, a 6.4% lift in earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) to $372.8 million, and a 7.1% lift in profit after tax to $249.8 million. This surprised many in the market, not least the high number of short sellers that had been shorting its shares. It also helped drive the Harvey Norman Holdings Limited (ASX: HVN) share price 6.5% higher last week.
The Domain Holdings Australia Ltd (ASX: DHG) share price rose 6% last week. A good portion of this gain came on Friday despite the property listings company releasing its full year results and revealing a 26.4% decline in adjusted EBIT to $65.9 million. Investors appear to be pleased with management's commentary. It advised that that buyers are returning to property markets thanks to RBA rate cuts, which could mean a much stronger result in FY 2020.
