After a solid start to the week, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) gave back all its gains and more on Friday. This led to the index recording a disappointing 1.6% weekly decline to finish at 5,927.8 points.
Four shares that didn't let that stop them from recording strong gains are listed below. Here's why they were the best performers on the ASX 200 last week:
The AP Eagers Ltd (ASX: APE) share price was the best performer on the ASX 200 last week with a 12.2% gain. Investors were buying the auto retailer's shares after it released a trading update. Although it confirmed that trading conditions are difficult, it remains confident it will report an underlying profit from continuing operations of $40.3 million during the first half. This represents a 23.6% decline from the prior corresponding period. In addition to this, AP Eagers revealed that it had achieved permanent cost reductions of $78 million per year in the previous three months.
The Credit Corp Group Limited (ASX: CCP) share price wasn't far behind with an 11.3% gain. The catalyst for this was the release of its full year results. The debt collector delivered a net profit after tax of $15.5 million. This was a sharp year on year decline and driven by impairments and additional provisioning due to the pandemic. However, excluding one-off adjustments, net profit after tax would have been up 13% to $79.6 million.
The GWA Group Ltd (ASX: GWA) share price was on form last week and recorded a 10.9% gain. This appears to have been driven by a broker note out of Credit Suisse. It upgraded the home products company's shares to an outperform rating with a $3.05 price target. The broker made the move after online searches appeared to indicate that spending on bathroom renovations was on the rise. Combined with its cheap valuation, the broker thinks GWA is a buy.
The Super Retail Group Ltd (ASX: SUL) share price stormed 10.7% higher last week thanks to the release of a stronger than expected full year update. That update revealed that its sales bounced back very strongly in May and June. So much so, Super Retail actually delivered solid full year sales growth of 4.2% in FY 2020. Management also advised that it expects to deliver growth in its pro forma EBITDA. This is expected in the range of $327 million and $328 million, up from $315 million in FY 2019. Though, this excludes one-offs such as its employee underpayment remediation costs.
