BHP, CSL, FMG, COL, WOW: How are these ASX50 stocks performing?

Highlights:

• ASX 200 closed 0.71% up to 7,048.10 points today (25 August 2022).
• The benchmark S&P/ASX 50 ended 0.702% higher at 6832.9 points.
• Nine out of eleven significant sectors ended in green, with A-REIT as the best performing sector gaining 2.37%.

Australian stock market index, S&P/ASX 200 (INDEXASX:XJO) closed 0.71% up at 7,048.10 points, crossing above its 20-day moving average. In last five trading days, the index has lost 0.91% and shed off 6.42% over last 52 weeks.

The sectors displayed a mixed tone as nine out of eleven ended higher along with the ASX 200 index. A-REIT was the best performing sector with a surge of 2.37%. Consumer Staples was the worst performing sector with a fall of 1.57%. 

The present article incorporates few ASX50 stocks and their performances in this earnings season. Discussed here are BHP Group Limited, CSL Limited, Fortescue Metal Group Ltd, Coles Group Limited and Woolworths Group Limited are discussed here.

BHP Group Limited (ASX:BHP)

Mining giant, BHP Group produces essential commodities such as metallurgical coal, potash, nickel, copper and iron ore via its assets. The company’s assets are owned and operated by the group, or the assets are owned through a joint venture and operated by BHP.

BHP’s business, project, other assets and corporate offices are spread across over 90 locations globally.

BHP posted a record US$41 billion of EBITDA with the underlying EBITDA at a 65% margin in FY22 (the financial year 2022). Underlying attributable profit grew by 26% from continued operations, and the underlying earnings per share (EPS) increased by 39% from total operations.

Mike Henry, Chief Executive Officer, BHP, said that these solid results were followed by reliable and safe operations, capital discipline and project delivery, which empowered the company to capture the value of solid commodity price.

Full-year dividend per share grew by 8% to 325 US cents per share.

Today, the share price of BHP closed 0.67% higher than the previous close at AU$42.19 per share. In last month, the stock has gained 10.24% and in last six months the shares have shed down 9.58%. In last five years, the shares have gone up 53.87%.

CSL Limited (ASX:CSL)

Image source: © Babar760 | Megapixl.com

Australian healthcare company CSL is engaged in marketing, manufacturing and development of diagnostic and pharmaceutical products, human plasma fractions and cell culture media. With the combined expertise of CSL Vifor, CSL Seqirus, CSL Plasma and CSL Behring, the company provides diverse offerings to give treatment to people and patients everywhere. According to the company’s website, it demonstrates global leadership in iron deficiency and nephrology, influenza vaccines and rare and serious diseases.

In FY22, the company posted a 3% rise in revenue and a 6% fall in NPAT. Reportedly, NPAT was at the top end of the guidance. The yearly performance was affected by the challenges presented by the Covid-19 pandemic. Also, during the year, the company made a significant investment in research & development.

The company announced a final dividend of US$1.18 per share. With this, the full-year dividend was stable at US$2.22 per share.  

Meanwhile, the share price of CSL closed 0.412% up at AU$289.820 apiece, and in the last five years, CSL recorded a gain of 121.25%.

Fortescue Metals Group Ltd (ASX:FMG)

ASX-listed materials company, Fortescue is a resource group that utilises green energy solutions in transporting, processing and mining iron ore. As per the company’s website, through the iron ore business, the company exports more than 1870 million tonnes of iron ore in a year.

FMG is yet to share its full-year results, and recently, the company has shared the quarterly production update. Reportedly, in the June quarter, the company reported a record iron ore shipment of 49.5mt (million tonnes) and the FY22 shipments reached 189.0mt, ahead of the FY22 guidance.

The company managed to deliver these exceptional results despite Covid-19 impact throughout the year.

Fortescue’s share price closed 0.104% up at AU$19.140 per share. With this, in five years, FMG shares surged by 221.68%.

Coles Group Limited (ASX:COL)

Image source: © Martingraf | Megapixl.com

Australian food and staples retailer, Coles operates 2500 retail outlets across the nation. Coles claims that it processes over 20 million customer transactions in a week, offering a range of products to its customers, from fresh food to fuel.

Coles businesses include Coles Supermarkets, Coles Online, Coles Liquor, Coles Express, flybuys and Coles Financial Services.

In FY22, the company posted a 2% rise in sales revenue on FY21, following which the EBITDA increased by 0.2%. Reportedly, the sales revenue was driven by the solid performance of eCommerce in Supermarkets and liquor cycling. Net profit after tax improved by 4.3% despite transformation project costs, covid-19 related costs, lower Express earnings and flood events.

On 24 August 2022, the company announced a final dividend of 30 cents per share. With this, the full-year dividend reached 63 cents apiece.

The share price of Coles dropped 1.07% to close at AU$17.65 per share. In last five years, the share price rose by 37.46%.

Woolworths (ASX:WOW)

Australian retailer Woolworths is on a mission to offer the best in value, quality and convenience to its customers through its support offices, distribution centres and stores. Woolworths claims that it is one of the largest retail groups in New Zealand and Australia.

The company operates or manages Countdown Supermarkets, Woolworths Supermarkets, Big W brands, eCommerce business and B2B business that addresses export and wholesale markets.

Today (25 august 2022), Woolworths shared its full-year results for the FY22 along with the final dividend. In 52 weeks, ending on 26 June 2022, the company reported a 9.2% surge in group sales and a 39% increase in eCommerce sales. The Group Ebit dropped by 2.7%, and Group NPAT grew by only 0.7%.

Woolworths said in a statement that the full-year results were impacted by product shortages, supply chain disruptions, flooding across the nation and team absenteeism.

In comparison to the previous year, the company has increased its full-year dividend by 1.1% to 92 cents per share.

On Thursday, Woolworths closed 3.21% down at AU$36.20 per share. In last five years, the share price grew by 65.68%.