The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) rose 0.4% to 7,532 points today.
Here are some of the highlights from the ASX:
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WiseTech Global Ltd (ASX: WTC)
The WiseTech share price was the best performer in the ASX 200, it rose 26% after revealing its FY21 result.
It said that total revenue increased by 18% to $507.5 million. This was at the top end of the guidance range. CargoWise revenue grew 26% to $331.6 million, reflecting growth in usage. Acquisition revenue growth was 6% up to $175.9 million.
WiseTech said that market penetration is gaining pace with six new global rollouts secured in FY21 and the sign up of FedEx after 30 June 2021.
It generated earnings before interest, tax, deprecation and amortisation (EBITDA) growth of 63% to $206.7 million, exceeding guidance. The EBITDA margin was 41%, which was an increase of 11 percentage points. This occurred because of enhanced operating leverage and cost reductions.
Organisation-wide efficiencies and acquisition synergies delivered $22 million of cost reductions in FY21.
Underlying net profit grew 101% to $105.8 million, with free cashflow rising 149% to $139.2 million.
The board decided to increase the final ordinary dividend by 141% to 3.85 cents per share.
WiseTech is expecting FY22 revenue to grow by between 18% to 25%, with EBITDA growth of between 26% to 38%.
Zip Co Ltd (ASX: Z1P)
The Zip share price fell 2.6% after it reported its FY21 result.
Zip reported that revenue increased 150% to $403.2 million and total transaction volume increased by 176% to $5.8 billion.
Customer numbers increased by 248% to 7.3 million and merchant numbers went up 109% to 51,300.
Earnings before tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBTDA) was a loss of $22.9 million.
The buy now, pay later company said that it maintained strong unit economics while investing for growth. The cash transaction margin was 3.5%.
The ASX 200 business said that it has delivered a strong credit performance in light of COVID-19, driven by repeat customer usage and investments in its decisioning capabilities. Net bad debts as a percentage of transaction volumes were 1.28%.
Zip said it's executing on its global strategy. It's now operating across 12 months in five continents, with the official additions of the US, the UK, Canada and Mexico, plus regional market entry points in Europe, the Middle East and Southeast Asia.
The ASX 200 company also revealed that it has agreed to acquire the remaining shares in the South African buy now, pay later business, Payflex. Zip explained that Payflex has access to a "sizeable underbanked, young and fast-growing African population".
Zip managing director and CEO Larry Diamond said:
The trend and shift away from the unfriendly world of credit cards that was the genesis of the Australian business has proven to be a global phenomenon, and Zip continues to accelerate in all our key markets. This global play supporting consumers and global retailers alike, provides a real point of difference as we strive to fulfil our mission to become the first payment choice everywhere, every day.
Afterpay Ltd (ASX: APT)
The Afterpay share price fell 1.2% after the ASX 200 buy now, pay later business reported its FY21 result.
Afterpay reported that underlying sales increased 90% to $21.1 billion. This was helped by a 63% increase of active customers to 16.2 million and 77% rise of active merchants to 98,200.
Group total income went up 78% to $924.7 million.
Some of its margins remained stable. The gross loss percentage of underlying sales was flat at 0.9%. The Afterpay income margin was also 3.9%.
However, the Afterpay net transaction loss as a percentage of underlying sales rose to 0.6%, up from 0.4%. Afterpay's net margin as a percentage of underlying sales dropped from 2.3% to 2.1%.
Underlying earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) fell 13% to $38.7 million.
On 2 August 2021, Afterpay and Square announced that they had entered into a scheme implementation deed where Square will buy Afterpay in an all-share offer. At the time of the offer, this valued Afterpay at $39 billion.
