Billabong bounces back to full-year profit; PayPal brings one-touch payment to Australia: Midday Roundup

Surfwear brand Billabong has posted its first full-year profit in four years.

Billabong recorded a profit of $4.2 million for the year ending 30 June, 2015, up from a whopping $233.7 million loss last year.

Billabong chief executive Neil Fiske said in a statement the turnaround in the company’s fortunes is due to a growth in US and European sales.

“Two years into our turnaround, Billabong is back to full-year profit and back to doing what it does best – building great global brands,” Fiske said.

“Growth has returned in the key United States market and Europe is again profitable. Challenges remain, but this result confirms our confidence in the resilience of our brands and provides the conviction to see through the complex changes we’re undertaking globally to deliver sustained, long-term profitable growth.”

Investors responded positively to the news this morning, with the company’s share price jumping 4.7% to 66 cents a share.

PayPal brings one-touch payment to Australia

PayPal has rolled out its one-touch payment platform for the web in Australia in a bid to boost sales for local retailers.

The service allows online shoppers to bypass the PayPal log-in process if they have already signed into the account from another online store or tab.

Libby Roy, the managing director of PayPal Australia, said she hopes the new feature will boost customer conversion rates for Aussie retailers.

“We know that speed and ease of checkout is a key factor in driving sales conversions for our merchant partners at the checkout,” Roy said.

“The extension of One Touch to the web means that our merchants are now positioned to offer the very best customer experience across all devices.”

Around 5.6 million Australians have an account with PayPal.

Shares up on open

Aussie shares have rebounded this morning off the back of a positive lead from Wall Street.

Tristan K’Nell, head of trading at Quay Equities, said in the Australian share market owes its positive start to US stocks rallying.

“Overnight, Wall Street shrugged off seven days of losses to be up over 4% as positive economic data with a surge in US durable goods boosting sentiment slightly,” K’Nell said.

“Locally, market turnover into lunch was much more active at $2.2 billion. The market will be watching closely at the Shanghai Composite which has rebounded on the open, with an interesting session after yesterday’s volatile losses.”

The S&P/ASX200 benchmark was up 91.1 points to 5263.9 points at 11:37am AEST. On Wednesday, the Dow Jones closed up 3.95%, rising 619.07 points to 16,285.51 points.