The Seven Group Holdings Ltd (ASX: SVW) share price closed 3.88% higher at $15.79 per share on Thursday following a 5.57% increase in the Beach Energy Ltd (ASX: BPT) share price to $1.80 per share at market close.
Why did the Beach share price surge today?
Beach saw its share price surge as much as 7% in early trade following its December 2018 quarterly update. It's been somewhat of a mixed bag in the energy and mining sector quarterly reports, but there was no doubting the solid result today.
Beach produced 7.4 million barrels of oil equivalent (MMboe) and increased its FY19 production guidance to 28-29 MMboe (up from 25 – 27 MMboe) and reduced its net debt by $155 million throughout the quarter to $331 million at calendar year-end.
What's that got to do with the Seven share price?
Great question! Seven Group, through its wholly-owned subsidiary, Network Investment Holdings Pty Limited, holds a majority stake in Beach Energy. Seven recently increased its stake even further, purchasing a further 68 million shares in mid-November to take its total outstanding position to over 650 million shares.
Given Seven picked up those extra shares at $1.635 per share, that's a tidy 10.09% profit on just those holdings alone – a cool $6.8 million right off the bat. Seven has diversified away from its media roots in recent years into core areas such as mining and energy, and if it continues its recent run of form it could go even higher.
Foolish Takeaway
Seven's share price was a star performer in a disappointing day for Aussie equities, with the S&P/ASX200 (ASX: XJO) closing 0.4% down at 5,864.7 points. With reporting season nearly upon us, I'd be keeping an eye on Seven Group and another favourite conglomerate of mine in Wesfarmers Ltd (ASX: WES) for further outperformance in their mining and energy portfolios.
