In January the Australian Growth Fund rose +3.2%, compared to the benchmark index which returned +4.5%. In a relatively light month for company specific news flow, the Australian equity market’s return correlated with the positive start to 2025 for major global equity markets. The Australian market’s rally was broad based with 10 of the 11 sectors finishing the month in the green.

Atlassian (+26% in A$) was our best performing position in the month. The company released a strong set of quarterly results that were ahead of guidance and the market's expectations. Its key divisions grew revenues 30% in the December quarter. This was driven by Atlassian’s business customers increasing the number of employees that use Atlassian’s products, and with more of Atlassian’s products being used by those employees than in the prior year. It also benefitted from price increases which it has passed onto its customer base. Management also upgraded Atlassian’s full year guidance for FY25 given the strong performance of the business in recent months. This was well received by the market.

The share price of recent addition to the portfolio, construction materials business Maas Group, fell -5% in the month. There was no material news related to the business, albeit we note that Maas undertook an equity raising late in 2024 to fund a clutch of new acquisitions. This may have elevated the share trading in Maas Group in the Christmas-New Year period and possibly weighed on the share price. Maas Group reports its interim financial result in February, and we look forward to getting a business update from the company then.