Last week was another very busy one for investors with a seemingly endless stream of results releases.
I have been through them all and have picked out two results which I think were among the best released over the period. They are as follows:
Australia and New Zealand Banking GrpLtd (ASX: ANZ)
This banking giant released its first quarter update last week to much acclaim. For the three months ended 31 December, ANZ reported unaudited cash earnings from continuing operations of $1,810 million. This was an impressive 54% jump on the average of the final two quarters of FY 2020. Management advised that this was driven partly by improvements in its net interest margin and flat operating costs.
Another positive was the bank revealing a COVID-19 collective provision release of $173 million. This represents ~10% of the $1,700 million set aside during FY 2020. Management stated that it feels this release is prudent when balancing the improvement in the economic outlook at the end of the December quarter with the level of ongoing uncertainty.
CSL Limited (ASX: CSL)
Another which caught the attention of investors was the half year results of this biotherapeutics giant. It smashed expectations by posting a 16.9% increase in revenue to US$5,739 million and a massive 45% jump in net profit after tax to US$1,810 million. Management advised that this was driven by growth in its core immunoglobulin portfolio, the successful transition to its own distribution model in China, strong growth HAEGARDA sales, and exceptionally strong demand for influenza vaccines. Sales of the latter increased 44% over the prior corresponding period.
The only real disappointment was that management has only retained its full year guidance for FY 2021 despite this stellar profit growth. It continues to forecast a full year net profit after tax of US$2,170 million to US$2,265 million in constant currency. This represents year on year growth of 3% to 8%, which implies a sharp decline in second half profit.
