ASX 200 rises, Kogan jumps, gold miners sold off

The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX:XJO) went higher today. One of the biggest increases belonged to Kogan.com Ltd (ASX:KGN) which rose 7%.

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The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) rose by 0.9% today to 7,065 points.

Here are some of the highlights from the ASX today:

Kogan.com Ltd (ASX: KGN)

The e-commerce business answered an ASX query document asking for clarification about the various numbers and financial statistics that Kogan reported last week about its performance for the three months to 31 March 2021.

Some of the main queries related to providing more detail about the split of performance and growth between the two businesses of Kogan.com and Mighty Ape.

Kogan did so, stating that total sales for the quarter were up 47.7% within the group, but Kogan.com sales rose 32.8%. Total gross profit rose 54.9% to $44 million, with Kogan.com gross profit rising 33.5% to $37.9 million.

Total adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) fell 24.8% to $7.2 million, whilst Kogan.com adjusted EBITDA dropped 42.7% to $5.5 million.  

Kogan also said it does not intend to provide quarterly updates about specific balance sheet items such as inventory and cash on an ongoing basis.

The Kogan share price rose 7% in response, making it one of the best performers in the ASX 200.

Westpac Banking Corp (ASX: WBC)

The Westpac share price rose more than 1% today.

Westpac announced that the bank has agreed to settle a class action relating to premiums paid for certain insurance policies taken out with Westpac Life Insurance Services Limited between 2011 and 2017.

The settlement is capped at $30 million and remains subject to approval by the Federal Court of Australia.

Westpac said it has resolved this matter without any admission of liability.

Airtasker Ltd (ASX: ART)

The Airtasker share price shot higher by 7.8% today after giving a trading update to the market.

Management said that the business had a strong FY21 third quarter performance, which was ahead of prospectus assumptions.

It said that metrics for the quarter are ahead of forecasts resulting in FY21 gross merchandise value (GMV) and revenue tracking ahead of forecast.

For the three months to 31 March 2021, GMV was $41.2 million, representing 57.9% of the second half of FY21 prospectus forecast of $71.3 million. It now expects GMV to be in a range of $148 million to $152 million, instead of $143.7 million in the prospectus forecast.

Revenue for the three months was $7.1 million, being 59.7% of the second half of FY21 prospectus forecast of $11.9 million. The company has upgraded its FY21 revenue forecast to a range of $25.5 million to $26 million, up from the forecast of $24.5 million.

In terms of cashflow, including IPO costs, Airtasker generated $484,000 of positive operating cashflow. Excluding IPO costs, the business generated $2.1 million of positive operating cashflow for the quarter.

Gold miners suffer

The gold miners were among the worst performers in the ASX 200 today.

Looking at the worst two declines in the index, the Ramelius Resources Limited (ASX: RMS) share price fell 9.2% and the St Barbara Ltd (ASX: SBM) share price dropped 7.9%.

Tristan Harrison has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia's parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of Kogan.com ltd. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Kogan.com ltd. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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