FTSE 100 (INDEXFTSE: UKX) cut-price flyer easyJet (LSE: EZJ) continues to toil as investors digest the possible impact of Brexit on future revenues.
Brokers have taken the red pen to their earnings forecasts in recent weeks, prompted by profit warnings in the wake of the referendum. Consequently easyJet is now expected to endure a 22% bottom-line slide in the year to September 2016, breaking the firm’s long-running record of meaty earnings growth.
However, this leaves the Luton business dealing on a meagre P/E rating of 9.6 times, suggesting that the risks facing easyJet are more than priced-in at present.
While tough economic conditions in the UK have muddied the waters, I reckon surging traffic elsewhere — aided by easyJet’s steady route expansion programme on the continent — should underpin excellent long-term sales expansion. Indeed, the company moved 7.6m passengers in July, up 6.7% year-on-year.
And a brilliant 5.1% dividend yield, smashing the blue chip average of 3.5%, underlines easyJet’s position as a great value contrarian pick, in my opinion.
Parcels powerhouse
Packages giant Royal Mail (LSE: RMG) is also suffering following June’s EU referendum as the prospect of a lengthy recession — and with it significant pressure on consumer spending habits — hangs in the air.
This would of course have a huge impact on parcel volumes at Royal Mail, the company benefitting in recent times from the breakneck growth of online shopping.
I believe there’s still plenty of reason to be optimistic, however. Indeed, the likelihood of significant discounting by retailers should stop parcel activity falling off a cliff. Meanwhile, Royal Mail’s GLS European division should take some of the sting out of any immediate problems in its core markets.
A P/E rating of 12.3 times for the year to March 2017, created by an anticipated 1% earnings uptick, certainly suggests good value in my opinion. And a dividend yield of 4.5% puts the icing on the cake.
The right medicine
On paper, GlaxoSmithKline (LSE: GSK) doesn’t fall within the usual parameters associated with top value stocks.
For 2016 the drugs developer is expected to bask in a 27% earnings surge. But this results in a P/E multiple of 17.4 times, falling outside the FTSE 100 average of 15 times.
I reckon GlaxoSmithKline is still great value at this price however, particularly as 2016 is likely to prove a watershed in the firm’s growth story. The company has seen earnings collapse in each of the past four years as patent expirations in sales-driving labels have weighed.
But huge investment in fast-growing therapy areas like vaccines, helped by shrewd acquisitions and joint ventures in recent years, has transformed GlaxoSmithKline’s revenues outlook for the coming years. And I expect accelerating healthcare spending in emerging markets to drive earnings still higher.
Meanwhile, a planned 80p per share dividend — yielding a handsome 4.8% — offsets GlaxoSmithKline’s slightly-toppy earnings ratio.
