The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) went up by around 1% today to 7,386 points.
Here are some of the highlights from the ASX:
Zip Co Ltd (ASX: Z1P)
The buy now, pay later business reported that it achieved record group quarterly revenue of $129.9 million in the last quarter of FY21, an increase of 104% year on year. June 2021 was actually a record month for revenue, annualising at $537.2 million.
It saw record quarterly transaction volume of $1.8 billion – up 116%. There was also record transaction numbers for the quarter of 14.2 million (up 230% year on year).
Customers increased to 7.3 million (up 87%) and merchants on the platform rose by 84% to 51,300.
Zip also talked about its buy now, pay later margins with revenue as a percentage of total transaction value (TTV) at 7.2%. The business said that capital efficiency remained extremely healthy with the book recycling every three months on a blended basis.
In the US, revenue went up 280% to $64.3 million, customers grew 144% to 4.4 million and merchants increased 388% to 15,600.
During the quarter, it announced it's going to acquire the remaining shares in both Twisto Payments in Europe and Spotii in the Middle east. It has also launched into Canada and Mexico.
The Zip share price fell around 8% today, making it the worst performer in the ASX 200.
Northern Star Resources Ltd (ASX: NST) and Evolution Mining Ltd (ASX: EVN)
Evolution Mining announced that it's buying a few different assets located in the Eastern Goldfields of Western Australia. That includes a 100% interest in the Kundana operations, a 51% interest in the East Kundana joint venture, a 100% interest in certain tenements comprising the Carbine project and a 75% interest in the West Kundana joint venture.
The transaction is being done by the two ASX 200 shares for a price of $400 million, which will be funded by a $400 million institutional raising, as well as a share purchase plan.
Evolution Mining said that these assets are located within 8km of Evolution's Mungari operations and represent an important strategic opportunity for Evolution to consolidate the region, optimise the value of its existing infrastructure and achieve "significant operational synergies".
Northern Star also announced its quarterly update for the three months to June 2021. It said it achieved gold sold of 444,000 ounces at an all-in sustaining cost of A$1,459 per ounce. The group all-in cost was A$1,850 per ounce. That compares to the average realised price of A$2,179 per ounce, for sales revenue of A$914 million. Gold sold for the full year was 1.6 million ounces.
Lynas Rare Earths Ltd (ASX: LYC)
The Lynas share price went up around 9% today after being awarded a $14.8 million grant as part of the Australian government's modern manufacturing initiative.
This grant will enable the ASX 200 share to commercialise an industry-first rare earth carbonate refining process that has been developed by its in-house research and development team. The new process has been tested at 'bench scale' and has proven effective in producing a higher purity rare earth carbonate that can feed the Lynas Malaysia plant as well as the proposed US rare earth processing facility.
The process will be installed during the construction of its rare earth processing facility in Kalgoorlie and the grant is expected to contribute approximately half of the implementation cost.
Lynas also said that it's keeping its commitment to sustainable and responsible rare earths production, the new refining process will contribute to reducing chemical consumption and processing costs.
