The last two weeks have been a wild ride for the S&P/ASX 200 Index (INDEXASX: XJO), with many companies seeing significant falls in their share prices.
In times like these, it's good to look back over the past year to remind ourselves that share investing is all about the pursuit of long-term gains, and that share markets can see big fluctuations from time to time.
With that in mind, let's take a look at the two top-performing mid-cap ASX shares over the past 12 months. Here we're looking at the bottom half (51-100) of the top largest 100 shares on the ASX by market capitalisation.
Saracen Mineral Holdings Limited (ASX: SAR)
Going off these parameters, ASX gold miner Saracen has been the best performing ASX mid-cap share over the past year with a strong 53.12% gain. It has been a wild ride for Saracen over the past 12 months, with its share price peaking last August at $4.66, then trending downward to $2.82 last December before rallying again in the period up to now. Yesterday, Saracen shares closed at $4.07.
The company has two operations in Western Australia: the Carosue Dam Operation and the Thunderbox Operation. More recently, the gold producer has benefited from a market rush to purchase gold due to the global market correction. Gold is viewed by investors as one of the safer alternatives to shares right now.
In its half-year results reported last month, Saracen recorded a massive 84% increase in underlying net profit after tax (NPAT) which came in at $80.2 million. Gold production rose strongly by 22% for the half to total 216,452 ounces with the average realised gold price up 18% to $1,984 an ounce.
Late last year, Saracen purchased a 50% share in the Super Pit mine for US$750 million. This positions the ASX gold miner well to capitalise on additional scale, improved asset diversity, and improved cash flow. The company reported it had $283.3 million in cash, bullion, and investments on its books at the end of last year.
Afterpay Ltd (ASX: APT)
Considering the sharp fall in its share price in the current ASX correction, it may surprise many readers to find that Afterpay is the second top-performing ASX mid-cap share over the past 12 months.
The Afterpay share price has dropped by 26.96% since February 20, 2020, but has still managed to post a 46.36% gain over the past year.
In the company's most recent financial results for 1H20, Afterpay continued its strong growth path. The buy now, pay later leader reported a 109% increase in underlying sales to $4.8 billion and a 134% jump in active customers to 7.3 million over the prior corresponding period.
Afterpay is now focused on exceeding its mid-term target of over $20 billion underlying sales by FY22 and has an aim of reaching 9.5 million active customers by the end of this financial year.
