It's been a fairly unremarkable start for the S&P / ASX 200 Index (Index: ^AXJO) (ASX: XJO), breaking through 5000 points today, but down around 6% year to date. This hasn't stopped 10 of our star performers from comprehensively trouncing the index by a minimum of 28.7%. If you believe in momentum investing, then maybe these 10 still have some major upside:
| Company | Outperformed the ASX200 YTD |
| OceanaGold Corporation (ASX: OGC) | 58.16% |
| Northern Star Resources Ltd (ASX: NST) | 45.69% |
| Mineral Resources Limited (ASX: MIN) | 41.14% |
| EVOLUTION FPO (ASX: EVN) | 36.69% |
| Star Entertainment Group Ltd (ASX: SGR) | 34.45% |
| OZ Minerals Limited (ASX: OZL) | 32.16% |
| BlueScope Steel Limited (ASX: BSL) | 30.18% |
| Newcrest Mining Limited (ASX: NCM) | 29.07% |
| Idp Education Pty Ltd (ASX: IEL) | 29.00% |
| Primary Health Care Limited (ASX: PRY) | 28.70% |
(Source:Commsec)
OceanaGold Corporation
Gold and copper miner, OceanaGold had a cracking start to the year. Reported net profit was down 52% to US$53 million. The company said annual profit was halved due to low commodity prices and extra costs from its purchase of the Waihi Gold Mine and the construction of the Haile Gold Mine in South Carolina. The company is still well placed, with a strong financial position and high operating margins.
Northern Star Resources
Australia's largest gold producer recently reported a steep decline in profits, compared to the previous corresponding period (pcp). Net profit fell to US$81 million, down 55% from last year's US$180 million. The company is still in a strong position having boosted its reserves by exploring deep underground near existing mines using 2-D and 3-D technology from HiSeis, a company spun out of Curtin University in Western Australia.
Mineral Resources Limited
Mineral Resources recently reported net profit down 5% to $48 million compared to the pcp. First half results show continued growth of the company's mining infrastructure services business and its ongoing success in delivering productivity enhancements and cost reductions across its commodity operations in the Pilbara and Yilgarn.
Evolution Mining
Evolution recently reported a loss of $15 million, down 136% for the pcp. Evolution continues to increase its gold production while reducing its costs. All operations produced positive cash flows totaling $202.9 million after all sustaining and major capital expenditure, including capital stripping, representing a 250% improvement over the prior corresponding half-year.
Star Entertainment Group Ltd
Casino operator Star Entertainment recently announced its profits were down 38% to $60 million. The company is suffering from high win rates from its VIPs, which is not expected to continue. Star Entertainment's CEO described the company's win rate on VIP gambling for the period as a "freakish" result.
OZ Minerals Limited
Copper miner OZ Minerals recently reported net profit up 168% from the pcp. The company's Prominent Hill copper-gold mining operation underground mine is proving be an excellent asset. Prominent Hill has amongst the lowest C1 costs and is within the bottom quartile of C1 cost producers.
BlueScope Steel Limited
BlueScope recently reported net profit of $200 million up 116% on the pcp. The company has been able to grow its profit margins by cutting costs and growing domestic volumes. BlueScope is also one of the main beneficiaries of falling steel prices which have decimated Chinese steel mills, losing a cumulative US$7.3 billion in 2015.
Newcrest Mining
Newcrest recently reported a net profit of $81 million, down 55%. Newcrest was hurt by volatile gold prices and a lower Australian dollar. The company recently switched to US dollar reporting to be in line with global peers. Gold production for the half year rose 6% and the company reported a pre-feasibility study at the Lihir operation showed it could build a seepage barrier for $US215 million, instead of $1.3 billion estimated earlier.
Idp Education Pty Ltd
IDP recently announced that its profits had grown by 19.4% when compared to the pcp. IDP is well placed with strong demand for its English courses, and establishment of its schools in countries with lower levels of English literacy.
Primary Health Care Limited
Primary recently reported its profits grew 28.5% to $68.5 million compared to the pcp. Profits have increased thanks in part to gains from the stake sale in Vision Eye and a tax settlement gain. The gains offset a restructuring charge. In a bid to save more money, Primary Health plans to close more collection centres over the next few months after shutting around 100 centres in the first half.
