The S&P/ASX 300 Index (ASX: XKO) finished up 0.52% to 6,987.6 points on Wednesday.
Earnings season continued with several companies reporting their FY22 or CY22 results today.
Here are the highlights from the earnings reports of these three ASX 300 companies.
Spark New Zealand Ltd (ASX: SPK)
The Spark New Zealand share price finished up 1.9% to $4.83 on Wednesday. The company reported its 2H FY22 earnings, claiming growth in its revenue, EBITDA, and net profit after tax (NPAT) in FY22.
Spark revealed it was increasing its total dividends for the first time since 2016. The ASX 300 share will deliver 25 NZ cents per share in dividends for FY22, with guidance of 27 cents for FY23.
ASX shareholders will receive a final dividend of 14.7 NZ cents per share. The total dividends will be 29.4 NZ cents per share. On today's currency conversion, this equates to 13 cents and 26.6 cents per share respectively.
Spark chair Justine Smyth said:
In a year marked by ongoing Covid-19 disruption and increasing economic volatility, Spark has delivered an incredibly strong result, returning to revenue growth and delivering earnings at the top end of guidance.
Spark's transition from its traditional telecommunications heritage to a more diversified and higher growth digital services provider continues at pace.
As we look to FY23 we have confidence in Spark's ability to grow free cash flow to ~$460-$500 million to fund our ordinary dividend.
Calix Ltd (ASX: CXL)
The Calix share price closed at $6.92, up 4.85% today.
In its FY22 full-year preliminary results, Calix revealed that product revenue dipped 4% to $18.47 million. Total revenue fell by 30% to $20.8 million. It reported a loss of ($12.14 million).
As at 30 June, Calix has $25 million in cash and cash equivalents, up from $15.1 million in FY21. It has a surplus of $16.5 million in total current assets over total current liabilities, up from $15.3 million in FY21.
This ASX 300 share is a technology developer seeking to deliver sustainability solutions for industries.
As we reported recently, the company has developed a kiln capable of decarbonising metals and minerals. The kiln can extract substantial amounts of carbon dioxide to potentially create products such as low-carbon iron ore.
G8 Education Ltd (ASX: GEM)
The G8 Education share price closed the session on Wednesday at $1, up 3.09% for the day. Earlier, the company reported its CY22 half-year earnings.
The childcare operator reported an operating EBIT (earnings before interest and taxes) of $21 million (after lease expenses) for 1H CY22. This is 85% lower than the prior corresponding period (pcp) of H1 CY21.
The company said it was "significantly impacted in Q1 by COVID-19 and floods but recovered in Q2 with 'core' centres delivering higher EBIT than pcp".
Once the impact subsided, the company's strategic improvement program helped create "solid performance in quality, occupancy and profitability".
G8 Education embarked on a cost reduction program in Q2 CY22, with $2.8 million in costs removed in 1H CY22. It says it is now "on track to deliver targeted $13 million-$15 million cost reduction to streamline the business and mitigate inflationary impacts" by the end of 2H CY22.
The company said its balance sheet "remains strong" with net debt at $86.3 million as of 30 June. This is "in line with expectations and reflecting the capital management initiatives and seasonal cash flow profile".
