Cashing in on Covid: The surprising companies that have surged during lockdown – and none are in tech
- The Australian share market on Friday hit record highs despite lockdowns
- Home building firms, banks outperforming benchmark S&P/ASX200 index
- Mirvac chairman John Mulcahy said business in the ‘strongest position’ ever
- Commonwealth Bank profits soared as bad loan expenses fell in 2020-21 year
Home building companies and banks have thrived because of Australia’s never-ending cycle of lockdowns.
The Australian share market has again hit fresh record highs with the benchmark S&P/ASX200 climbing by 25 per cent during the past year.
The index hit 7,628 on Friday, despite Sydney recording another 390 new Covid cases, and is 6.8 per cent above the pre-pandemic high of February 2020.
But a series of companies have outperformed a booming share market, that is thriving despite Sydney, Melbourne, Newcastle and now Canberra, being placed into a strict lockdown.
While buy now, pay later success Afterpay has been the market darling, some more traditional companies outside the tech space have done well out of lockdown, thanks to government stimulus measures.
Home building companies and banks have thrived because of Australia’s never-ending cycle of lockdowns. While lockdowns are causing economic havoc, Mirvac chairman John Mulcahy on Thursday described 2021 as the company’s best year since it began in 1972 (pictured are residents at the Everleigh community at Greenbank near Brisbane)
Residential building group Mirvac, which designs master-planned suburbs, has seen its share price climb by 39.9 per cent during the past year to reach $2.98.
Lockdowns are causing economic havoc but Mirvac chairman John Mulcahy on Thursday described 2021 as the company’s best year since it began in 1972.
‘Our business is in the strongest position we have ever been,’ he said.
Mirvac’s residential business, during the last financial year, had its best result in five years, with credit going to the federal government’s $15,000 HomeBuilder grants to build a brand new home.
It said government stimulus measures announced in June 2020, following the national Covid lockdowns, had seen an ‘unprecedented demand for master-planned communities’.
Mirvac’s statutory profit surged 61 per cent to $901million in the year to June 30, its annual report revealed on Thursday.
Ratings agency Moody’s Investors Service is expecting 2021-22 to be even better for Mirvac.
‘We expect solid earnings growth in fiscal 2022,’ it said.
The Australian share market has again hit fresh record highs with the benchmark S&P/ASX200 climbing by 25 per cent during the past year. The index hit 7,628 on Friday, despite Sydney recording another 390 new Covid cases, and is 7 per cent above the pre-pandemic high of February 2020
The Commonwealth Bank, Australia’s biggest financial giant, has seen its share price surge by 43 per cent to $103.78 during the past year, to near record-high levels.
Australia’s biggest home lender also saw its statutory net profit after tax surged by 19.7 per cent to $8.843billion in the year to June 30, covering the first four days of Sydney’s lockdown.
While the banks are again offering three-month mortgage repayment holidays, the Commonwealth revealed its loan impairment expenses had fallen by 78 per cent.
The big banks benefited from the Reserve Bank of Australia’s Term Funding Facility, which provided $188billion to underpin cheap business and home loans between March 2020 and June 2021.
The Commonwealth Bank, Australia’s biggest financial giant, has seen its share price surge by 46.2 per cent to $105.88 during the past year. Australia’s biggest home lender also saw its statutory net profit after tax surged by 19.7 per cent to $8.843billion in the year to June 30, covering the first four days of Sydney’s lockdown (pictured is CBA marketing manager Maria Papas)