The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) was almost flat today, rising slightly to 6,886 points.
It was another day of reports as plenty of ASX 200 businesses gave investors insights into how they have performed over the last six or twelve months.
Here are some of the highlights from the ASX today:
CSL Limited (ASX: CSL)
The CSL share price climbed almost 3% today in reaction to its FY21 half-year result.
Australia's largest healthcare business reported a 44% increase in net profit after tax to US$1.81 billion in constant currency terms.
CSL said that this was driven by a number of different factors. One reason was the solid growth in its core immunoglobulin portfolio.
The transition to its own distribution model in China has been a success, according to CSL. Albumin sales grew by 93%, largely reflecting this distribution model change which is expected to help improve the participation in the value chain and strengthen sales, marketing and the distribution network.
The ASX 200 company also said that its vaccine division, Seqirus, delivered an exceptionally strong performance with total revenue growth of 38% and seasonal flu vaccine sales up 44%.
CSL said that it's expecting FY21 net profit after tax to be in the range of US$2.17 billion to US$2.265 billion – up as much as 8%.
The board of CSL declared a dividend of US$1.04 per share, up 9%. However, this represents a reduction in Australian dollar terms by 9% to approximately AU$1.34 per share.
Fortescue Metals Group Limited (ASX: FMG)
Fortescue was another ASX 200 company to report its FY21 half-year result today.
It delivered 66% growth of net profit to just under US$4.1 billion, driven by a 44% increase of revenue to US$9.3 billion. This was thanks to continuing strong iron ore demand from China, keeping the commodity price high.
Fortescue's free cashflow increased by 12% to US$2.5 billion, whilst net debt fell by 57% to US$110 million.
The large iron ore miner decided to increased its interim dividend by 93% to A$1.47 per share, representing an 80% dividend payout ratio.
The retained 20% will be used for two purposes. Half of it will be used to fund other resource growth opportunities. The other half will be for investing in renewable energy growth through its Fortescue Future Industries division to invest in things like green hydrogen projects.
The Fortescue share price rose around 2% in response.
Wesfarmers Ltd (ASX: WES)
Fresh from announcing its lithium expansion plans, Wesfarmers announced its FY21 half-year result today. The ASX 200 share said that its continuing revenue rose 16.6% to $17.8 billion with a strong performance from Bunnings, Officeworks and Kmart.
Underlying earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) of the entire continuing business rose by 25.2% to $2.2 billion. Bunnings EBIT grew 35.8% to $1.27 billion and Kmart Group EBIT shot higher by 42% to $487 million.
Underlying net profit for the ASX 200 business grew by 25.5% and operating cashflow went up 4% to $2.2 billion.
Thanks to the level of growth from its retail businesses, the Wesfarmers board decided to grow the interim dividend by 17.3% to 88 cents per share.
Other strong movers in the ASX 200
There were two major movers in the ASX.
On the positive side, the Treasury Wine Estates Ltd (ASX: TWE) share price went up more than 17% today after reporting its result yesterday.
However, on the negative side, the NRW Holdings Limited (ASX: NWH) share price fell by 17% after reporting a fall in profit.
