The ASX 200 (ASX: XJO) is up another 2% today as investor confidence comes rushing back.
ASX banks are leading the charge
It has been an astonishing week for the ASX 200 banks, with some showing gains of around 20%.
Today we’ve seen yet more strength from the banking sector as it seems the Australian economy will be less affected than first feared from COVID-19.
The ANZ (ASX: ANZ) share price is currently up 6.3%, the CBA (ASX: CBA) share price is up almost 4%, the Westpac (ASX: WBC) share price is up 5% and the NAB (ASX: NAB) share price is up 6%.
Looking at the regional banks, the Bendigo Bank (ASX: BEN) share price is up an even more impressive 7.6%. It gave an update today for the March 2020 quarter outlining its COVID-19 provision.
Bendigo Bank has provisioned an extra $148.3 million for the potential COVID-19 impacts. It will decrease the bank’s common equity tier 1 (CET1) capital ratio by 40 basis points, meaning a calculated CET1 of 9.3% at 31 March 2020. This is above APRA’s unquestionably strong benchmark target for a bank of Bendigo’s stature.
Read next:
3 tech stocks to add to your watchlist right now: Tyro, Afterpay & Xero
Is it time to buy Afterpay (APT) shares for US growth?
3 reasons why I’d buy the BetaShares NASDAQ 100 ETF
Nearmap (ASX: NEA) jumps
The Nearmap share price is up 18% after giving investors an update.
Nearmap said that annualised contract value (ACV) continues to grow, it is now more than $102 million using a foreign exchange rate to the US dollar of $0.70. Management was able to narrow guidance to $103 million to $107 million. At today’s foreign currency exchange, the existing portfolio is above $104 million of ACV.
The aerial imaging business has been implementing a number of initiatives to preserve cash to strengthen its balance sheet without raising capital. The savings amount to 30% of operating and capital costs. It should make Nearmap cashflow breakeven by the end of FY20. There have been job cuts and salary reductions for this year. Nearmap expects to end the period with a cash balance of between $32 million to $35 million.
[ls_content_block id=”695″ para=”paragraphs”]
