The S&P/ASX 200 (ASX: XJO) managed to finish the financial year on a positive note, adding 0.2% on Wednesday with the communications sector the biggest contributor, up 2.7% .
The result took the quarterly return to 7.7% and the financial year to 24%, the best since the 1980s.
There were two trends pervading markets on the final day of the financial year: buy backs and tax loss selling.
It’s clear that a number of the year’s biggest losers, including Nuix Ltd (ASX: NXL) which was down 9.5% and AGL Energy Limited (ASX: AGL) down 10.0%, were being sold off by investors to realise capital losses after what has been a generally strong year for the market.
AGL announces demerger
AGL’s sell off came as the company confirmed its decision to demerge the retailing business in an effort to separate it from the labour intensive baseload power division.
Under the split, which will occur in the final quarter of the 2022 financial year, retailing will be renamed AGL Australia and the power stations transferred to a new entity Accel Energy, which will focus on redeveloping its baseload power sites into lower carbon industrial energy hubs.
The decision has been questioned by many and is clearly not welcomed by the market, at least for now.
Telstra sells towers, announced buyback
Telstra Corporation Ltd (ASX: TLS) waited until the final day of the financial year to announce the sale of 49% of its yet to be seperated InfraCo towers business.
The telecommunication towers located across the country will be packaged up and sold to ventures between the Future Fund, Commonwealth Super Corporation and Sun Super in a $2.8 billion deal.
Telstra will remain controlling interest of 51%. The deal values the business at $5.9 billion, a multiple of 28 times, well above Telstra’s current market valuation.
Management confirmed that a significant amount of capital would be returned to investors, likely via a share buy back, with a portion retained to continue investing in its regional network. Telstra shares responded with a 4.4% rise.
Thorn under pressure
Embattled lender Thorn Group (ASX: TGA) fell 1% after flagging a ‘material operating loss’ in the 2022 financial year if disappointing trends in the current quarter persist.
ASIC warns on Bitcoin
Finally, the corporate regulator released guidance warning that a Bitcoin exchange traded fund could create the ‘real risk of harm’ if proper protections aren’t put in place beforehand.
ASX 200 today
The ASX 200 is set to edge lower when the market opens on Thursday as we start the new financial year. This comes following a mixed lead from US markets, with the Nasdaq surging 43% over the 12 months. To learn more, read my daily US stock market report.
