The S&P/ASX 200 (ASX:XJO) is down nearly 10% from this time a year ago. In that time we've seen drought, bushfires, and COVID-19. But not all ASX share prices have been beaten down by current events. On that note, let's take a look at the 5 top performing shares in the ASX 200 over the past year.
Afterpay Ltd (ASX: APT)
The Afterpay share price is up 189% over the past year. The buy now, pay later (BNPL) provider saw investor confidence evaporate in March when its share price fell to a low of $8.90. But demand for Afterpay's payment solution continued to grow as the pandemic took hold. This saw the Afterpay share price rise 672% from its March low to trade at $68.69 currently.
Afterpay has reported underlying sales of $11.1 billion in FY20, more than double the prior corresponding period. Underlying sales in 4Q FY20 were $3.8 billion, up 127% on Q4 FY19. This was the highest quarterly performance ever, reflecting the accelerating shift to eCommerce spending as a result of the effects of COVID-19.
Active customers grew to 9.9 million in the fourth quarter, 116% above FY19 which exceeded Afterpay's target of reaching 9.5 million customers by the end of FY20. This included 5.6 million customers in the United States, 1 million United Kingdom customers, and 3.3 million customers in Australia and New Zealand. Growth in customer numbers reflects the flight to online spending and attractiveness of Afterpay's budget-focused business model in the current environment.
Fisher & Paykel Healthcare Corp Ltd (ASX: FPH)
The Fisher & Paykel Healthcare share price has gained more than 130% over the past year. The healthcare company's role in fighting COVID-19 largely insulated its share price during the March bear market, and it has gone from strength to strength since. Fisher & Paykel announced record results for the year to 31 March 2020. Operating revenue increased 18% to $1.26 billion and net profit after tax rose 37% to $287.3 million.
The increase in revenue was largely driven by growth in the use of Fisher & Paykel's Optiflow nasal high flow therapy, demand for products to treat COVID-19, and strong hospital hardware sales. CEO Lewis Gradon said, "Beginning in January, demand for our respiratory humidifiers accelerated in a way that has been unprecedented. We managed to double, and in some cases triple, output for some of our hospital hardware products over just a few months."
For the first three months of FY21, Fisher & Paykel's Hospital product group has continued to accelerate with hardware growth of 300%. Hospital consumables are tracking at over a one third increase. Based on current assumptions about the impact and duration of COVID-19, Fisher & Paykel Healthcare is forecasting FY21 revenue of $1.48 billion and net profit of $325 – $340 million.
Perseus Mining Limited (ASX: PRU)
The Perseus Mining share price is up nearly 122% over the past year. Although the share price dipped as low as 71 cents during the March correction, it has since recovered to $1.42. The miner has benefited from rising gold prices over the course of 2020, with the cost of an ounce of gold increasing from less than $2200 in January to nearly $2600 currently. The rise in the Persus Mining share price saw it join the S&P/ASX 200 in the most recent quarterly rebalance.
During the third quarter, the miner produced 57,983 ounces of gold from its two producing gold mines, Edikan in Ghana and Sissingue in Cote d'Ivoire. An average sales price of US$1,491 was achieved with an all-in site cost of US$1,083 per ounce. Perseus Mining reported a cash and bullion balance of US$162 million at the end of the March quarter. Significant progress was made on the Yaoure Gold Mine in Cote d'Ivoire during the quarter, with works to enable the first pour of gold at the mine by December generally on schedule.
Mesoblast limited (ASX: MSB)
The Mesoblast share price has climbed more than 130% over the past year as the regenerative medicine company benefits from its work combatting COVID-19. The share price dropped to a low of $1.10 in the March market correction but has since recovered to $3.36. Its surging share price has seen Mesoblast join the ASX 200 in the most recent quarterly rebalance.
Mesoblast's product remestemcel-L is undergoing phase 3 trials to assess its use in treating adult COVID-19 patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome. The product is also available in the United States for compassionate use for child COVID-19 patients with cardiovascular and other complications of multisystem inflammatory syndrome.
During the nine months to 31 March 2020, Mesoblast reported a 113% increase in revenues which reached $31.5 million, up from $14.8 million in the prior corresponding period. Loss after tax reduced to US$45.3 million for the first nine months of FY20, compared to a loss of US$69.1 million for the first nine months of DY19. Cash on hand at 31 March was $60.1 million with an additional US$90 million capital raised in May 2020.
Megaport Ltd (ASX: MP1)
The Megaport share price is up just over 100% from this time a year ago. Shares in the technology company took a dive in March, falling from a February high of $12.37 to a low of $6.74. Now trading at $13.69, the increase in the Megaport share price saw this company also join the ASX 200 in the recent rebalance.
Magaport operates in the network-as-a-service space, providing bandwidth which allows users to connect to cloud services and data centres. Now operating in 21 countries, Megaport boasts customers including Amazon, Moody's, Facebook, Mastercard, and Fedex. The technology company has been recording high growth rates in key financial metrics, with revenue growing 10% quarter-on-quarter in March. Monthly recurring revenue increased 19% in the March quarter to $5.4 million.
Megaport plans to expand its sales team to access greater market share. An additional $66 million capital was raised in April with funds earmarked for sales acceleration, product development, and platform expansion. A high growth but cash burning company, Megaport has shored up its balance sheet to allow it to fund future strategic opportunities in the high growth cloud services space.
