The Australian share market ended last week slightly lower as reporting season began to draw to a close. The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) ended the week 0.2% lower with the All Ordinaries Index (ASX: XAO) performing marginally better, down just 0.02% for the week.
Uncertainty over economic recovery both at home and in the US, as well as geopolitical tensions with China, have dampened sentiment, despite some better than expected earnings results.
This earnings season has laid bare the economic damage of COVID-19. But some ASX shares have been surprisingly resilient, and are flourishing in pandemic conditions. Wesfarmers Ltd (ASX: WES) reported stronger than expected results as Bunnings and Officeworks saw sales surge in lockdown. Afterpay Ltd (ASX: APT) advised earnings for the full year would be 96% higher than forecast just last month thanks to better than expected collections. Let's take a look at some of the best performing shares on the ASX last week.
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Phoslock Environmental Technologies Ltd (ASX: PET)
The Phoslock Environmental Technologies share price gained a whopping 48.94% last week to finish the week at 35 cents. The share price has been trending upwards since hitting a low of 19 cents earlier in the month when Phoslock advised first half revenues were substantially down on the prior period.
Flooding has impacted key projects in China and COVID-19 has impacted a number of projects across the globe. In Europe, several projects have been delayed where authorities have cited more pressing expenditure priorities in the face of the pandemic. While these projects have been delayed, none have been cancelled, and Phoslock believes they will proceed in due course.
Phoslock has advised that its global pipeline remains strong with a current contract value of $380 million. Projects in Brazil are continuing as planned, with positive feedback on the efficacy of Phoslock's technology. Work in North America is proceeding, with the company building a strong and widespread portfolio of treatments in the US. This provides a positive basis for confidence in developing US business activity. Although there have been challenges to the development of the China business, many ongoing projects are unaffected including the South Beijing canals.
WiseTech Global Ltd (ASX: WTC)
The WiseTech Global share price soared 39.99% last week to close the week at $27.90. The logistics technology company released its full year results during the week, revealing solid revenue growth despite COVID-19 headwinds. Revenue increased 23% to $429.4 million, in line with guidance, with recurring revenue accounting for 89% of revenue, up from 88% in FY19. FY20 Statutory NPAT was $160.8 million, up 197% on FY19. This included a non-cash fair value gain of $110 million thanks to the renegotiation of earn out obligations. Excluding this gain underlying NPAT was flat at $52.6 million.
Founder and CEO Richard White said: "Notwithstanding the unprecedented challenges of COVID-19, our business has remained resilient, delivering solid revenue and EBITDA growth in FY20 in line with guidance." Acquired businesses contributed 29% of growth, driven predominantly by the full-year impact of the 14 acquisitions completed in FY19 and five acquisitions completed in FY20.
Idp Education Ltd (ASX: IEL)
The Idp Education share price gained 31.64% last week to close the week at $18.43. IDP Education provides international education services helping students to study in English speaking countries. Border closures have disrupted Idp Education's business, but the company nonetheless reported strong results for the full year. Earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) increased 11% to $107.8 million. Net profit after tax and amortisation (NPATA) was $70.4 million, up 3%.
CEO Andrew Barkla said: "Our results reflect strong momentum in the first half of the year followed by a pivot towards disciplined capital management and product innovation in the second half." The pandemic prompted the company to accelerate its digital strategy delivery which enabled an agile response to COVID-19 restrictions. Disciplined cost control measures also delivered $35 million in overhead savings in the second half compared to the first.
Monadelphous Group Limited (ASX: MND)
The Monadelphous Group share price rose 29.26% last week to close the week at $11. The share price surged during the week when the engineering group delivered better than expected results. Although second half performance was significantly impacted by COVID-19, Monadelphous managed to record revenue of $1.65 billion for the full year, a 2.6% increase on FY19. Net profit after tax was $35.5 million, a decrease on FY19's $57.4 million profit.
Disciplined financial management practises were instituted as a result of the uncertainty created by the pandemic. This resulted in strong cash flow from operations of $119.1 million in FY20, with Monadelphous ending the year with a cash balance of $208 million. The company has secured approximately $1.2 billion in new contracts and extensions since the beginning of the financial year. This means Monadelphous enters the new financial year with a solid forward workload and well positioned to capitalise on opportunities in the resources sector which are expected to arise over coming years.
Codan Limited (ASX: CDA)
The Codan share price gained 26.67% last week to finish the week at $10.45. The technology company also released its full year results last week, revealing record sales, profits, and dividends. The company, which manufactures technology used by mining companies, security and military groups, governments, humanitarian organisations, and adventurers, recorded the highest full year sales in its history of $348 million. This flowed through to a record statutory net profit after tax of $64 million, a 40% increase. Results were driven by the strength of gold detector sales, continued growth of recreational metal detectors, and major contracts delivered by the communications business.
Codan announced a final dividend of 11 cents a share, fully franked. This brought full year dividends to 18.5 cents, a 32% increase on the prior year. Codan has been diversifying its revenues by releasing more new products, transitioning to a full solutions provider and broadening its geographic footprint. This has resulted in more evenly distributed demand across international markets with the company saying it is well-placed to deliver another strong performance in FY21.
