Hey hey Flux fam!

Here's everything you need to know today - in under 3 minutes.

Today's big stories:

💸 Metcash profits and sales soar

⛽️ BHP could up its dividends after oil and gas divestment

👋 Didi will delist from the NYSE and head to Hong Kong

Oh and get this...

As governments commit to slashing carbon emissions...banks are facing pressure from investors to shift away from fossil fuels. Now, analysts reckon bank CEOs could see their pay packets linked to climate change targets in the future.

‍IGA owner Metcash sees profits rise thanks to neighbourhood shopping and cheers COVID

Background: Metcash are an Aussie grocery, hardware and liquor store owner. Think: IGA, Foodland, Mitre 10 and Celebrations Liquor.  

What happened: Despite locky-d killing retailers, Metcash have seen their revenue and profits up over the six months to October 31. And they reckon it's only gonna get bigger and better as we head into Christmas.

What else: Metcash are saying that while the pandemic triggered panic buying, it also triggered a rise in popularity for neighbourhood supermarkets (the cherry on top).

So what's the key learning?

💡The local village has made a bigger comeback than Adele after her latest album.

💡With lockdowns (and 5 and 10 km-radiuses), Aussies were forced to stay in their local radius. In fact, nearly two-thirds of consumers have chosen to buy closer to home in the last year.

💡This triggered a rise in popularity for neighbourhood supermarkets and the like...which has been tops for businesses like Metcash's local IGAs. Now, let the good, local times roll.

BHP could up its dividends to shareholders after saying bye-bye to oil and gas

Background: BHP are the golden child of Broken Hill (aka the BH in BHP). They're the $120 billion Aussie-born mining company that went onto become one of the biggest miners in the world.

What happened: This crew went through a massive change this year. They sold their oil and gas assets to Woodside Petroleum, which marked a pretty big step towards BHP's plans to go green.

What else: Once the sale is complete, BHP's total expenses could be reduced pretty significantly...so naturally, it's expected that investors will receive a beefed-up dividend payment. But, it just depends on BHP's capital allocation.

So what's the key learning?

💡Capital allocation is all about how a company’s CEO or board decides to spend the money that the company has on its balance sheet.

💡The 'capital' on hand might be allocated towards:

• Re-investing in the operations of the current business to make it more efficient
• Invested in future projects to generate new revenue streams
• Paid out to investors as a little reward in the form of dividends.

💡So with less expenses and more money in their back pocket, shareholders just might get a bigger slice of the BHP pie.

CYA: Didi is doing a 180 on the NY Stock Exchange and they might not be the only ones

Background: Didi are the Chinese ride-hail giants that started back in 2012 after beating out Uber in China. They have over 550 million users across over 400 cities

What happened: In June this year, Didi listed on the New York Stock Exchange and raised around US$4.4 billion.

What else: Two days after the company's IPO, Didi was rocked by an investigation from Chinese regulators. Their shares are down around 63% from their June listing, and they've decided to yeet away from the NYSE. Instead, they plan to list in Hong Kong.

So what's the key learning?

💡Geopolitical tensions can (and often do) have a knock-on effect to sharemarket movements.

💡The US have just finalised rules to forcibly de-list Chinese companies that don't abide by certain auditing requirements...and while Didi ain't on that list, the company's de-listing sends a pretty clear sign that US-China tensions are causing uncertainty in the market.

💡On top of that, Chinese regulators have been cracking down on big tech firms' power this year...so Didi's de-listing could be the start of a wider trend - one that sees other big Chinese tech firms bounce from Western stock exchanges and re-list on China-controlled exchanges.