The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) went up by 0.9% today to 6,869 points.
Reporting season is now entering one of the busiest weeks of the month. A number of businesses reported today. Some of them saw substantial share price movements.
JB Hi-Fi Limited (ASX: JBH)
The JB Hi-Fi share price went up by 3% today after reporting its half-year result for the six months to 31 December 2020.
The ASX 200 share revealed that total sales increased by 23.7% to $4.9 billion. Online sales jumped 161.7% to $678.8 million. Online sales represented 13.7% of total sales. JB Hi-Fi said that it has continued to invest in its online and digital offerings, including upgrades to its websites.
JB Hi-Fi said that its online offerings are supported and enhanced by its supply chain and logistical capabilities. Management are pleased with how its online and supply chain operations have scaled, and maintained a high level of customer service and on-time delivery, during a period of significantly increased volume.
JB Hi-Fi's earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) grew 76% whilst net profit after tax (NPAT) went up 86.2% to $317.7 million.
The board decided to increase the interim dividend by 81.8% to $1.80 per share.
Nearmap Ltd (ASX: NEA)
The Nearmap share price was the best performer in the ASX 200 today, rising by around 19%.
As well as releasing the financial numbers in the FY21 half-year result, Nearmap also responded to the short seller report from last week published by J Capital Research, which it said was erroneous.
Nearmap has reviewed and rejected the report. It rejected each of the statements made, saying that report's claim was false on each point. Some of the allegations included that Nearmap was failing in the US and that Nearmap was losing its edge.
In the actual result, Nearmap said that the group annual contract value (ACV) portfolio at 31 December 2020 was $112.2 million, or $116.7 million in constant currency terms, which represents growth of 21% compared to the prior corresponding period.
Nearmap said that incremental ACV growth of $10.3 million was driven by record growth of the North American portfolio.
The ASX 200 company reported statutory revenue growth of 18% to $54.7 million. The group customer retention rate increased to 93.9%, up from 88.5% in the prior corresponding period.
Global subscriptions increased by approximately 700 to 10,785, with group average revenue per subscription (ARPS) rising by 9% to $10,402.
Nearmap is expecting the group ACV portfolio to finish FY21 at the upper end of its guidance range between $120 million to $128 million.
Altium Limited (ASX: ALU)
The Altium share price was the worst performer in the ASX 200, dropping by almost 5% in reaction to the company's FY21 half-year result.
Altium said that its continuing profit after tax fell by 12% to US$16.6 million and continuing profit before income tax was down 23% to US$20.7 million. The 'continuing' measures exclude the TASKING business, which is being sold.
The tech company explained that the decline in the earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) margin from 38.3% to 33.8% was due to lower revenue. Continuing revenue fell by 4% to US$80 million.
However, there were some gains within some segments of the business. Altium said there was strong adoption of Altium 365, with over 9,300 active monthly users and 4,400 monthly active accounts (up 83% and up 69% respectively since July 2020).
Management also said that Octopart grew revenue strongly by 19% to US$10.8 million as electronic manufacturing rebounded during the half.
The Altium subscription business grew 12% year on year to reach 52,157 subscribers.
Finally, looking at cashflow and the dividend, operating cashflow fell 10% to US$18.7 million and the Altium board decided to increase the dividend per share by 5% to AU$0.19.
