Today I’m looking at three FTSE giants offering irresistible value for money.
Post terrific returns
Thanks to the relentless rise of online retailing, I believe that Royal Mail (LSE: RMG) should deliver stunning earnings growth as parcels traffic steams higher.
The London firm saw British package volumes gallop 6% higher during the crucial Christmas period, to 130m, a result helped by a spate of contract wins with major retailers. This helped to drive total volumes for the nine months to December 4% higher. On top of this, volumes at its GLS European division rocketed 11% during the period.
The City expects Royal Mail to recover from a 20% earnings decline in the year to March 2016 with a 10% bounceback in 2017, pushing the company from a P/E rating of 12.3 times for the current period to 11.5 times. A reading below 15 times is generally regarded as terrific value.
And the impact of rampant restructuring on the firm’s capital pile is expected to drive the dividend from 21p per share last year to 21.7p in 2016, resulting in a monster yield of 4.6%. And this reading advances to 4.9% for 2017, thanks to predictions of a 22.7p dividend.
Build smashing gains
With UK construction activity improving again in recent months, and investment in private and public sector building projects expected to rise from 2016 onwards, I believe that contractor Carillion (LSE: CLLN) should prove a lucrative stock pick in the years ahead.
The company said in December that it expects revenues to have grown “strongly” in 2015, with new contracts having flooded-in following last year’s British general election. Carillion added that its pipeline of contract opportunities is expected to exceed £41bn as of December, up from £39.2bn a year earlier.
Following three years of earnings dips, Carillion is expected to have stopped the rot with a 1% uptick in 2015. And the bottom line is expected to edge 3% higher in 2016, resulting in an eye-popping P/E multiple of just 8.8 times.
On top of this, Carillion is expected to lift a projected dividend of 18p per share for 2015 to 18.6p in the current year. Such an estimate produces a gargantuan yield of 6.1%, comfortably trouncing the FTSE 100 average of around 3.5%.
Bank a fortune
The effects of huge divestments and the subsequent re-focus on the British high street mean that Lloyds (LSE: LLOY) may not carry the same exciting growth prospects of many of its banking rivals.
But for safety-first investors this may make the ‘Black Horse’ bank just the ticket. The outlook may not be totally clear, however, thanks to the ongoing issue of vast PPI-related claims, not to mention the possible drawbacks of a slowing domestic economy on Lloyds’ top line.
Indeed, City forecasts suggest that Lloyds will be expected to backtrack from a forecast 8% earnings rise in 2015 with a 3% slip this year. But this still results in a great P/E multiple of 9.6 times. And I believe the fruits of the bank’s multi-year restructuring drive should make the business an efficient earnings-generating machine in the long term.
And with the firm’s Simplification plan still boosting the balance sheet — Lloyds’ CET1 ratio clocked in at a healthy 13.7% in September, advancing from 12% a year earlier — the bank is expected to hike a projected dividend of 2.4p for 2015 to 3.7p in the current year. Consequently Lloyds carries a delicious prospective yield of 5.1%.
