Azzet reports on three ASX stocks with notable trading updates today.
FleetPartners lifts after updating on its “Accelerated” project
Despite reporting a 17% drop in new business, shares in FleetPartners (ASX: FPR) were up over 4% an hour out from the open after the mid-cap vehicle lender posted its 1H FY25 results today.
While net profit was down 6.9% for the half to $38.9 million, the market seems to have taken some solace from management’s update on its now-completed transformation project.
Group CEO Damien Berrell told the market today that the completion of its “Accelerated” project – which is expected to deliver at least $6 million in annualised cost savings - shifts the business to one operating system and marks the beginning of the next chapter for FleetPartners.
Despite the unwinding of some business orders – which saw a drop in new business for the half – the shift to one operating system increased the returns from new and existing business and delivered a more integrated experience for customers throughout the lease lifecycle.
“Operationally we are better placed than we have ever been to execute our strategic agenda and pursue growth,” said Berrell.
Highlights for 1H FY25 include:
- Assets under management or financed (“AUMOF”) of $2.3 billion, up 6%.
- Balance sheet funded AUMOF increased 14%.
- Net operating income (“NOI”) pre-EOL and provisions of $82.1 million, up 8%.
- End of lease income (“EOL”) of $29.5 million, down 18%.
- New Business Writings (“NBW”) of $370 million, down 17%.
Asset growth
While the major system cutover has resulted in some disruption to operations – and temporarily impacted NBW, net debt, plus provisions and arrears – these are expected to normalise over the remainder of FY25.
As the transformation benefits are realised, the group expects continued asset growth, reflecting the combined strength of recent tender wins, and new and existing customer activity.
The group also reiterated FY25 operating expense guidance of $91 – $92 million, which incorporates the $6 million annualised cost reduction delivered by Accelerate.
As of 31 March 2025, the group’s balance sheet had a net debt position of $17.1 million.
But excluding Accelerate impacts, the group would have maintained a net cash position of around $24 million.
Since FY21 the group has returned $255 million to shareholders and cancelled 100 million shares, representing 33% of the shares on issue at commencement. | FleetPartners has a market cap of $700 million putting it just outside the ASX400; the share price is down 15% over one year and up 15% year to date.
The stock's shares appear to be in a near-term uptrend confirmed by the relationship between the 5 and 20-day moving averages.
Consensus is Strong Buy.
Dyno Nobel moves higher on fertiliser business offload
Shares Dyno Nobel (ASX: DNL), formerly Incitec Pivot, were up around 2% at noon after disclosing plans this morning to on-sell its fertiliser distribution business (IPF) to agricultural services group Ridley Corporation (ASX: RIC) for $375 million.
Ridley, which entered a trading halt prior to the announcement, plans to raise $125 million to help fund the buyout.
This is expected to include a $90 million entitlement offer and a $35 million fully underwritten institutional placement.
Ridley also has an option to buy Dyno Nobel’s Geelong North Shore manufacturing and distribution centre for $75 million within two years of the deal being settled.
Today’s sell-down by Dyno Nobel consolidates previously flagged plans to exit the fertiliser sector and focus solely on the explosives market.
Commenting on today’s announced acquisition, Ridley Chairman Mick McMahon highlighted the unique opportunity to add Australia’s number one fertiliser distributor to its market leading position in animal nutrition products and services.
“The opportunity arises following Ridley’s strong financial performance over recent years and represents a further opportunity to invest in the continued growth of Australian agriculture."
IPF Distribution is Australia’s largest fertiliser distributor with around 46% market share on the east coast, distributing about 2.2 million tonnes of products nationally in the 12 months ended 30 September 2024.
The acquisition has been struck at a valuation of five times FY24 earnings, including expected synergies of $7 million over the next two years.
Dyno Nobel has a market cap of $4.8 billion; the share price is down 7% in one year and down 10% year to date.
The stock’s shares appear to be in a long-term bearish trend confirmed by multiple indicators.
Consensus is Moderate Buy.
Ridley Corporation has a market cap of $735 million; the share price is up 7% in one year and 13% year to date.
The stock’s shares appear to be in a near-term downtrend confirmed by its 20-day moving average.
Consensus is Moderate Buy.
Goodman rises on broker upgrade
Shares in Goodman Group (ASX: GMG) were trading around 2% this afternoon following a UBS upgrade on the stock to Buy with a $36 price target down from $36.80.
While the stock’s share price shares fell to $25.01 in April following broader pressure on data centre stocks in the wake of Donald Trump’s tariff policies, the broker has cause for renewed confidence around the DC funding dynamic.
Despite recent bearish sentiment towards the sector – compounded by Microsoft axing data centre expansion plans and Alibaba Chairman warning of a data centre bubble - recent corporate updates paint a more optimistic outlook.
Underscoring renewed optimism, the recent earnings from Magnificent 7 names like Meta, Alphabet, Amazon and Apple beat market expectations and reaffirmed or exceeded their capex guidance.
UBS is optimistic about the outlook of the data centre market and its 5GW pipeline and sees potential for even more upside if data centre demand from AI and cloud computing underpins even stronger growth than Goodman's planned capacity can cater for.
Goodman Group has a market cap of $65 billion; the share price is down 4.5% over one year and down around 10% year to date.
The stock’s shares appear to be in a long-term bearish trend confirmed by a falling 200-day moving average.
Consensus is Strong Buy.
This article does not constitute financial or product advice. You should consider independent advice before making financial decisions.
