The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) fell by 0.8% to 6,714 points.
Here are some of the highlights from the ASX today:
Afterpay Ltd (ASX: APT) and Zip Co Ltd (ASX: Z1P) have opposite performances
It was a differing performance for some of the largest ASX 200 buy now, pay later (BNPL) companies.
The Afterpay share price jumped 8.4%, but the Zip share price fell 3.8% today.
It was recently announced that PayPal will be launching its buy now, pay later offering for Aussies by early June 2021.
PayPal has over 9 million active accounts in Australia and will be ready for the end of financial year sales. Consumers will be able to access this using the standard PayPal button at the checkout. Merchants can also have a payment option on the website.
Andrew Toon, General Manager, Payments, PayPal Australia said:
Australian consumers are looking for more choice and flexibility and PayPal Pay in 4 gives them yet another way to purchase securely using PayPal. PayPal's digital wallet is the only solution that provides multiple ways to pay all in the one place – instantly with debit or credit card; 21 days later with our Pay After Delivery option; and now in four interest-free instalments using PayPal Pay in 4.
Our Australian business customers have been requesting buy now pay later functionality from us, and we're excited that we can offer PayPal Pay in 4 to them at no additional cost.
Shopping habits are changing at an unprecedented rate and during the pandemic we saw more than two million Australians start shopping online for the first time. We will continue to support Australian businesses of all sizes to adapt to rapidly changing consumer behaviours by evolving our service to meet their needs.
Afterpay has completed the acquisition of its European purchase called Pagantis.
Gold Road Resources Ltd (ASX: GOR)
The Gold Road Resources share price went up more than 5% after announcing its result and declaring a final dividend.
Gold Road said that it generated $294.7 million of revenue from 126,434 ounces of gold sales. It generated earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) of $170.6 million, at an EBITDA margin of 58%.
The ASX 200 gold miner generated net profit after tax (NPAT) of $80.8 million, with operating cash flow of $142.7 million. It also made $105.5 million of free cash flow, translating to $817 free cash flow per ounce of production for 2020.
It became debt free after fully repaying its borrowings on 21 July 2020. Gold Road finished the period with cash of $126.4 million.
The board declared a dividend of 1.5 cents for the six month period to 31 December 2020. Its dividend policy is 15% to 30% of free cash flow for the six-month period.
Treasury Wine Estates Ltd (ASX: TWE)
The Treasury Wine Estates share price rose by around 3% after announcing some news.
The ASX 200 share said that it has reached a long-term agreement The Wine Group for several commercial tier brands in its US portfolio.
Under the terms of the long-term licensing agreement, The Wine Group will source and sell Beringer Main & Vine, Beringer Founders' Estate, Coastal Estates and Meridian brands in the Americas.
The Wine Group will acquire existing inventories associated with these brands on a progressive drawdown basis and will assume responsibility for related future bulk wine supply contracts.
Tim Ford, the CEO of Treasury Wine Estates, said:
We are delighted to be entering into this long-term transaction with The Wine Group, which will be of mutual long-term benefit to our respective organisations. For TWE, this transaction is a significant milestone towards our plans to deliver the future state remium US wine business and we can now focus solely on continuing the growth of our premium brand portfolio to drive future performance in the Americas.
