With investors now over halfway through reporting season in terms of days (but expect an avalanche of companies to report in the final week) there are a large number of company profit results to review and analyse.
As usual there have been both positive and negative surprises.
Some companies have sorely disappointed investors and seen their share prices smashed. Meanwhile, other companies have beaten expectations and seen their share prices zoom higher.
Here are two companies to report results that have caught my eye as potential investment candidates.
Ansell Limited (ASX: ANN)
Shares in latex product manufacturer Ansell surged over 15% after investors reacted enthusiastically to the group's profit results and outlook.
While the statutory results were affected by currency movements, the underlying business operations held up reasonably well.
What appeared to get investors most excited however was news that the board was contemplating a sale of the condom division. One analyst who was quoted in the Australian Financial Review suggested a price tag of between US$400 million and US$800 million could be achieved for this business unit.
The prospect of a divestment of the condom division, coupled with the long term outlook for Ansell's global market leadership position in gloves makes this an appealing story which I'd seriously consider investing in.
Orora Ltd (ASX: ORA)
Shares in this packaging company jumped by around 10% after the group reported an outstanding set of full year numbers which saw revenues increase 13% to $3.8 billion, underlying profit leapt 24% to $163 million and total dividends paid for the year were increased by 27% to 9.5 cents per share.
Commenting on the group's outlook for the current year, management stated the following:
"It is expected the Group will continue to drive organic growth and invest in innovation and growth during FY17, with earnings expected to be higher than reported in FY16, subject to global economic conditions."
As investors will have observed with fellow listed packaging companies Amcor Limited (ASX: AMC) and Pact Group Holdings Ltd (ASX: PGH), the economics of packaging can be appealing.
Considering the outstanding double digit growth rates achieved coupled with guidance for continued positive momentum, I think Orora makes for another interesting potential investment candidate.
