The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) rose by 0.25% to 6,547 points today.
Here are some of the highlights from the ASX:
SEEK Limited (ASX: SEK)
The company released an update about FY21 today at its annual general meeting (AGM).
It said that its revenue in the year to date had been "well above" the assumptions underlying the illustrative scenario given when it released its FY20 report.
SEEK Australia and New Zealand, SEEK's online education services (OES) and Zhaopin have performed well above the illustrative assumptions with SEEK Asia also above those assumptions but to a lesser extent.
The ASX 200 business said that its revenue growth has been driven by a mix of rehiring of roles during previous months and growth in some sectors.
SEEK also said its early stage ventures (ESV) continue to perform well which has increased its conviction levels to re-invest.
Excluding significant items, SEEK has provided guidance of revenue to be "in the order" of $1.6 billion, SEEK's earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) is guided to be in the order of $400 million, SEEK Investments' ESV losses to be in the order of $55 million (being SEEK's share of losses) and reported net profit after tax (NPAT) is guided to be in the order of $50 million.
The SEEK share price dropped by 1%.
FlexiGroup Limited (ASX: FXL)
FlexiGroup announced a strategic partnership with Mastercard and also provided a business update.
The company announced that the partnership with Mastercard will expand the application and distribution of bundll, which allows for buy now, pay later (BNPL) anywhere that Mastercard is accepted.
Under the agreement, Mastercard will work with its partners to drive adoption and will support the development of the open-loop, work anywhere, pilot.
This agreement is for five years and FlexiGroup expects to deliver a sustainable growth path for humm.
Richard Wormald, division president of Mastercard Australasia, said: "While there are lots of BNPL platforms around the world, this latest development for bundll is differentiated in the way it is able to partner with existing banking systems and provide BNPL technology and products without needing to sign up local retailers, while still generating a sustainable revenue stream. With the growth of BNPL, Mastercard understands that many issuers around the world are looking to solve for this increasing consumer preference."
FlexiGroup also said that its portfolio continues to perform strongly with a downward trend in the 30+ days arrears performance for all segments of its business at September 2020 as a result of a prudent approach to credit risk and approvals.
In light of the improved credit performance and cost management, FlexiGroup expects the FY21 first half profit to be ahead of the prior corresponding period's $34.5 million net profit.
The FlexiGroup share price finished up 5.6%.
Polynovo Ltd (ASX: PNV)
Polynovo has announced that it's entering the European markets of Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg (Benelux) and Sweden through an extension of its partnership with PolyMedics Innovations (PMI) in Germany.
PMI recently placed its fourth stock order with PolyNovo since January 2020. PMI's track record this year has convinced PolyNovo that PMI can quickly bring further growth to European revenue with the four announced additional countries.
Mr Christian Planck, the PMI CEO, said: "Our customers in the DACH region have quickly become believes in the NovoSorb BTM and we managed to capture a significant market share this year. Therefore, our team is excited about the possibility of bringing NovoSorb BTM to even more customers and patients in these additional four European markets. This geographical expansion marks an important milestone in our plan to become a leading provider of innovative burn and wound care solutions in Europe."
The Polynovo share price rose around 3% today.
