ASX 200 drops, BHP falls, Pro Medicus soars

The BHP share price decline was a large factor in the ASX 200 edging lower today.

white arrow dropping down representing the 10 most shorted shares on the ASX

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The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) fell 0.1% to 7,502 points today.

Here are some of the highlights from the ASX:

Pro Medicus Limited (ASX: PME)

The Pro Medicus share price surged 16% today after releasing its FY21 result. It was the best performer in the ASX 200.

It reported a 19.5% increase of revenue to $67.9 million. This led to the earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) margin increasing to 63.2%.

Underlying profit before tax increase 41% to $42.6 million, whilst net profit grew 33.7% to $30.9 million.

The board announced a final fully franked dividend of 8 cents per share, taking the full year dividend to 15 cents per share, up 25%.

During the year, Pro Medicus won a number of contracts during the year, in both Europe and the US.

Pro Medicus CEO Dr Sam Hupert said regarding its outlook:

Although we had a record year in terms of new contracts, our pipeline remains very healthy both in terms of quality and quantity. There is a good mix across the spectrum of opportunities; some cloud, some on-premise, some academic and some in the non-academic IDN space as well as in the for-profit and private sector.

Domino's Pizza Enterprises Ltd. (ASX: DMP)

The Domino's share price jumped 7% after releasing its FY21 result.

It reported that network sales increased by 14.6% to $3.74 billion, with online sales rising 21.5% to $2.93 billion.

Total underlying EBIT grew 27.2% to $293 million, with international EBIT rising 41.4% to $199.5 million. The international segment now represents 68.1% of group EBIT. Japan in-particular saw very fast EBIT growth, with EBIT rising 52.8%. EU EBIT rose 48.3%.

Free cashflow surged 40.2% to $216.2 million.

Domino's has decided to increase its dividend payout ratio to 80%, up from 70%. It is going to pay a final dividend of 85.1 cents per share.

The ASX 200 food business said that it opened 285 new stores (up 10.7%). Its three to five year outlook for new store openings has been increased to growth of between 9% to 12%, up from 7% to 9%.

It also said that it had expanded its debt facilities, at lower margins, to ensure it had sufficient resources for "strategic acquisitions".

BHP Group Ltd (ASX: BHP)

The huge miner made a number of announcements yesterday. But the BHP share price fell 7% today, making it the worst performer in the ASX 200.

It revealed that its oil business was going to merge with Woodside Petroleum Limited (ASX: WPL). The oil business will benefit from greater scale and growth options.

BHP also said that it was also going to end its dual structure in the UK, with the business shifting entirely to Australia.

In terms of the FY21 result, BHP said that profit from operations rose by 80% to US$25.9 billion. Attributable profit went up by 42% to US$11.3 billion. The attributable profit included an "exceptional loss" of US$5.8 billion largely relating to impairments of potash and energy coal assets. Underlying attributable profit jumped 88% to US$17.08 billion.

The ASX 200 miner's board announced a full year dividend of US$3.01 per share. Net debt decreased by 66% to US$4.1 billion after net operating cash flow went up 73% to US$27.2 billion.

Motley Fool contributor 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 and has recommended Pro Medicus Ltd. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of and has recommended Pro Medicus Ltd. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Dominos Pizza Enterprises Limited. 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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