4 Diversified Stocks under the Scanner - APA, ZNO, KGN, RKN

Today, the S&P/ASX 200 index is slightly down by 0.31%. However, two stocks namely, Zoono Group Limited and Reckon Limited, have witnessed a significant increase in their share prices during the session. Both these stocks have come up with significant updates. Let us take a quick look at the updates of these stocks and two other stocks which have been released today.

APA Group (ASX: APA)

Australia’s leading energy company, APA Group continues to focus on investing in quality growth assets to help its customers meet their energy portfolio requirements and contribute to the success of APA’s business.

In the recently released interim results, the company confirmed that it earned EBITDA of $842.2 million in the first half of FY20 and remains on track to deliver FY2020 EBITDA within the guidance range of $1,660 million to $1,690 million.

For the first half of FY20, the company earned a Net profit after tax of $175.0 million, up 11.2% on pcp and Operating cash flow of $511.9 million, up 8.9% on pcp. The results include six months of revenues flowing from completed organic growth projects, including the Gruyere Power Station and Yamarna Gas Pipeline, the Darling Downs Solar Farm, and the Badgingarra Wind Farm.

As per APA Group Managing Director, Mr Rob Wheals, the result for the half year demonstrates the benefits of the growth strategy that is set to meet the company’s customers’ collective needs for more capacity and more optionality. He further commented that the completion of around $1.5 billion of growth projects over the last three years has seen the expected increase in operating cash flow flowing into the business and through to the company’s Securityholders by way of increased distributions and returns.

The Board had increased the interim dividend by 7.0% or 1.5 cents per security 23.0 cents, with Franking credits of 3.65 cents per security. For the full year, the company expects its total distributions to be 50.0 cents per security.

APA continues to hunt opportunities to expand into the North American gas transmission and distribution sectors.

Zoono Group Limited (ASX: ZNO)

Global biotech company, Zoono Group Limited is involved in the manufacturing of products which are well suited for skin care, surface sanitisers, and mould remediation treatments. Due to the recent outbreak of coronavirus, Zoono Group’s products have started gain exceptional interest. It has been believed that Zoono’s longevity and killing methodology can prevent cross contamination and assist in minimising the spread of the virus.

The company is currently focused on distributing its products in Singapore as it is recognised as the hub of the ASEAN country group and a lot of companies’ head offices are domiciled there. Today, the company announced that it has choosen Linco Investments Pte Ltd as its exclusive distributor for Singapore. Following the release of this news, the company’s stock price jumped by over 9.5% on ASX during the intraday trade. As at 1:47 PM, the stock was trading at a price of 9.561%.

Few days back, the company had entered to an exclusive distribution agreement with Beijing Youmeng Technology and Development Limited for the childcare and hotel sectors in China in line with Zoono's strategy to focus on specific sectors and on the appointment of reputable distributors with explicit expertise in these market segments.

Kogan.com Limited (ASX: KGN)

Kogan.com Limited is a portfolio of retail and services businesses which are focused on making in-demand products and services more affordable and accessible to consumers. The company’s growing portfolio of businesses provides diversification of income, making it a more resilient Business.

For the half-year ended 31 December 2019 (1HFY20), the company reported Gross Sales of $322.9 million which is 16.4% higher than prior year. Over the period, the company earned revenue of $219.5 million, down 5.3% on prior year following the launch of Kogan Marketplace, where only the seller fees are recognised as revenue. The company’s gross profit was $49.9 million, up 10.6% on prior year reflecting an increase in Gross Margin of 3.3pp to 22.7%.

The company has also increased the fully franked Interim Dividend to 7.5 cents per Share which is 22.9% higher than prior year.

Key highlights

• Exclusive Brands Revenue grew 17.0%.
• Kogan Marketplace Gross Sales grew 44.6% QoQ in the December quarter.
• Kogan Mobile Australia grew customers by 5.1% year-on-year and grew commission based revenue 6.8% year-on-year.
• Kogan Internet grew customers by 344.4% year-on-year and grew commission-based revenue 642.0% year-on-year.
• Kogan Insurance grew commission-based revenue by 44.0%;
• Kogan First loyalty program continues to grow and resonate with customers

With regards to the growth in Kogan Marketplace, the company has informed that its customers and sellers alike are loving its new marketplace, resulting in Gross Sale to increase by 44.6% in 2Q FY20, as compared to the previous quarter.

At the end of the half year period, Koga had cash of $34.1 million and an undrawn bank debt facility of $30.0 million.

Reckon Limited (ASX: RKN)

Online accounting software provider, Reckon Limited has remained focused on its long-term strategies, and some of the initiatives have now started to bear fruit. Today, the company has released its half year results for six months ended 31 December 2019. For the period, the company witnessed increase in its profitability with both EBITDA and NPAT up by 5% and debt reduced by $7 million.

The second half of 2019 was much stronger for the Business Group with revenue growth of 6% for the HY, compared to the 1st half which was flat. The company witnessed 9% increase in Cloud revenue while increasing the number of cloud users to 75,000.

Over the period, the Legal Group witnessed growth of 9% in 2019 despite transitioning from an upfront sales model to a subscription model. The new products (scan and print) are gaining good traction and generated most of the new revenue in 2019.

Reckon Group CEO, Sam Aller commented that the company has now pivoted the business away from a desktop software company to a cloud first software company and is excited by its expanded product suite and the product roadmap in 2020 that is expected to provide long-term sustainable revenue opportunities.

Following the release of the half year results, the company’s stock price witnessed an increase of 10.448% on ASX during the intraday day. As at 1:01 PM, the stock was trading at $0.740.