The FTSE 100 (FTSEINDICES: ^FTSE) continues to creep back after six consecutive weeks of losses. Gaining 15 points by mid-afternoon to 6,501, the UK’s top-drawer index is up 61 points on the week so far — but anything could happen when we hear the outcome of the US Federal Reserve’s latest two-day meeting, set to end today.
But whatever the Fed says, there are individual shares settling around their 52-week highs approaching the Christmas hols. Here are three from the various FTSE indices:
International Consolidated Airlines
International Consolidated Airlines (LSE: IAG) hit a new 52-week high of 386p yesterday, and is just a little down from that to 381p as I write.
The company formed from the merger of British Airways and Iberia has seen its shares climbing since it became clear it is set to return to profit this year, and the price has now more than doubled over the past 12 months.
The modest earnings expected this year puts the shares on a P/E of 25, but that would drop to only 10.5 for 2014 if current forecasts prove accurate.
Booker
Shares in wholesaler Booker Group (LSE: BOK) haven’t soared quite as high, but they’re still up more than 65% over a year. And yesterday they came within a smidgen of their recent record price of 168p, touching on 165.5p before dropping back a bit to today’s 163.3p.
October’s interim results, showing a 17% rise in profits, gave the shares a boost. But after such a strong bull run the shares are now on a forward P/E of 30 based on forecasts for March 2014, and that only drops to 26 for the following year.
ASOS
Online fashion retailer ASOS (LSE: ASC) has put in the biggest annual rise of today’s three, with its shares up more than 130% over 12 months.
Its recent high of 6,097p came on 11 December, but the price has been pushing up against that in the days following — we saw an anagrammatic 6,079p on Monday, with the price hovering around 5,970p today.
And if you expect ASOS’s meteoric rise to have pushed the shares up to a high valuation, stand by with handkerchiefs at the ready to dab watering eyes — the shares are on a P/E multiple of 93 based on August 2014 forecasts!
