The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) has just finished up one of its best financial years ever. As of market close on 30 June (Wednesday evening), the ASX 200 had managed to finish 24% higher than where it was at the end of FY2020 last year. That was its best financial year in the ASX 200's history.
In saying that, it was coming off of a low base, considering how June 2020 was only a few months after the dramatic COVID-induced market crash that hit the ASX in February and March. Still, not a bad effort.
However, the ASX's older index, the All Ordinaries Index (ASX: XAO), fared even better than the ASX 200. It managed to put on a hefty 26.5% over FY2021. So let's take a look at some of the best All Ords winners from FY21.
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5 top-performing All Ords shares in FY21
PPK Group Limited (ASX: PPK)
Mining equipment company PPK Group was a great share to have owned in FY21. It started out the financial year at just $3.11 a share but finished up on Wednesday at $15.80. That's a very pleasing gain of 408%. PPK seemed to really kick into gear in investors minds back in May. That's when the company announced that one of its subsidiaries – Li-S Energy – had developed a new lithium-sulphur battery with nanotube technology. The shares reacted extremely positively to this news when it was announced, and haven't looked back since.
Pilbara Mierals Ltd (ASX: PLS)
Pilbara is another top performing share from FY20. This ASX 200 lithium miner seemed to benefit from a triple tailwind in FY2021. Firstly, a rising lithium price helped Pilbara buff up its margins very nicely. Secondly, Pilbara also managed to increase its lithium production through the year, capitalising on those higher margins. And thirdly, ASX investors seemed to harbour rising excitement over any share in the lithium and electric battery space. Which of course, includes Pilbara. As such, this company rose from just over 23 cents a share at the start of FY21 to finish up the year to $1.44 – a gain of 480%.
Chalice Mining Ltd (ASX: CHN)
Another ASX miner, Chalice was another All Ords share that managed an enviable performance last financial year. Chalice is in the gold business. And investors can largely thank bullish developments at Chalice's largest mines and a rising gold price for its stellar performance in FY21. In particular, a potential discovery of nickel and copper at its Julimar project seems to have really upped the excitement over Chalice in the last financial year. If the company hadn't dropped around 15% of its value last month, its gains would have been even higher. Regardless, this company still gave investors a very healthy 657% gain in the 12 months to 30 June 2021, rising from roughly $1 a share to $7.42. Not much to complain about there!
Liontown Resources Limited (ASX: LTR)
Yet another mining company, Liontown also joins the All Ords winners for FY21. Liontown shares started the financial year at just over 10 cents a share but ended up finishing at a much healthier 84 cents. That gain is worth 672% for any lucky investor who enjoyed it. Liontown is another ASX lithium miner, and so benefitted from many of the same tailwinds as Pilbara did. Its Kathleen Valley lithium project (containing one of the largest lithium deposits in the world) is set to come online by 2025. More specifically though, Liontown told investors in April that it has also managed to find a significant gold deposit in its Moora project as well.
Imugene Limited (ASX: IMU)
Finally, we get to the best performing ASX All Ords share for FY21, and it's none other than biotech company Imugene. Imugene started FY21 at just 3.1 cents a share. But by Wednesday, this company was worth 35.5 cents a share – a massive gain of 1,045% for the 12 months. This company could seemingly do no wrong in FY21. In April, it informed the markets that its gastric cancer clinical trials had gone well. Following this, May saw the announcement of further clinical trials for the treatment of cancerous tumours with oncolytic virus and cell therapy technology. Not surprisingly, most of Imugene's share price gains came over the last quarter of FY21.
