The story of last week on the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) can be told largely in the 5 shares that saw the biggest gains. While the US election caused a fair bit of turbulence throughout the week, there were legitimate growth stories. In fact, just like the week before, when the ASX 200 was rocked by 2 separate billion dollar takeover ploys within 4 days of each other, last week also had a few surprises.
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Last week on the ASX 200
Takeovers on the ASX 200
The Tabcorp Holdings Limited (ASX: TAH) share price rose 24.62% over last week, with most of it at the tail end of the week. On Friday, Tabcorp shares rose swiftly on rumours that private equity funds in the USA were running a ruler over the company with a view to acquisition.
The Australian believes the figure was likely to be around $9 billion, which is considerably more than Tabcorp was valued at when trading started on Friday.
Travel and tourism
The Flight Centre Travel Group Ltd (ASX: FLT) share price rose by 24.42% across the week, particularly after its AGM on Thursday. This ASX 200 share still faces a lot of uncertainty. Nevertheless, it has approximately $1 billion in liquidity to tide it over for an extended period. Moreover, the company has been very ruthless in cost cutting measures and believes it can be profitable at 40% of pre-COVID-19 revenues.
Webjet Limited (ASX: WEB) saw its share price jump by 20.34% in the week of its AGM. The company made many difficult decisions through FY20 resulting in a 50% reduction in costs, even to the point of closing once profitable businesses. Moreover, the company strengthened its balance sheet with a share placement and rights entitlement from April 2020. Webjet believes people will resume their travel patterns as soon as conditions permit. However, this recovery will be decidedly non-linear and will initially emerge where either there are vaccines, or in safe corridors.
Discretionary Retail
Eagers Automotive Ltd (ASX: APE) saw its share price rise by 16.48% upon news of the intention to acquire the Castle Hill site in NSW. This is on the back of a September announcement to purchase 5 properties currently leased by its dealerships. The latest purchase strengthens the company's tangible assets value and will provide a $15 million benefit over the current lease term. AP Eagers intends to reconfigure the site to house up to 8 auto brands.
REITs and infrastructure
Vicinity Centres (ASX: VCX) saw its share price jump by 15.7% across the week, after the announcement it intends to pay a dividend for this half. The ASX 200 REIT is heavily exposed to the Melbourne mall market, and is also impacted heavily by CBD workers staying home. Sales for the quarter ended 30 September across the portfolio were 32% below last year, largely due to the impact of Victorian centres being closed. Moreover, foot traffic has hit 80% of last year across the portfolio by early November.
