I’ve long been ultra-bullish over drugs giant GlaxoSmithKline’s (LSE: GSK) future earnings prospects. And a steady stream of testing data suggests that the patient is firmly back in recovery following years of patent expirations smashing the top line.
Just this week the Brentford business presented its Sirukumab treatment for rheumatoid arthritis to EU regulators. And submission in the US is expected in the coming weeks.
The company saw new product sales hit £1.05bn during January-June, led by new lines in hot growth areas like respiratory and HIV. These labels now account for 23% of new pharmaceutical revenues, up from just 11% a year ago. And I believe GlaxoSmithKline’s rapidly-improving pipeline should keep on delivering the goods.
With its revenues troubles now behind it, GlaxoSmithKline is expected to see earnings grow for the first time for five years in 2016. A 27% rise is currently pencilled-in by City brokers, and an extra 7% advance is predicted for next year.
These readings create P/E ratings of 16.8 times 15.7 times. While above the FTSE 100 (INDEXFTSE: UKX) average of 15 times, I reckon GlaxoSmithKline’s powerful progress in the lab justifies such slightly-heady ratings.
Besides, the pharma giant’s pledge of 80p-per-share dividends through to the close of next year — figures backed up by the Square Mile’s abacus bashers — should go a long way to assuaging income hunters. The proposed payments yield a spectacular 5%.
Marketing mammoth
Thanks to its huge global presence, I believe WPP (LSE: WPP) is also a great pick for those seeking exciting returns in the years ahead.
The Martin Sorrell-steered company saw revenues leap an impressive 11.9% during January-June, to £6.5bn, with WPP noting “particularly strong growth geographically in Western Continental Europe and Asia Pacific, Latin America, Africa & the Middle East and Central & Eastern Europe.”
And the business remains busy on the M&A front to stay at the front of the industry — indeed, WPP’s Plista division snapped up Norwegian real-time content analytics specialist Linkpulse just this week.
WPP has long proven to be a winner for those seeking reliable earnings expansion year after year. And City brokers don’t expect this trend to hit the buffers any time soon — the ad giant is expected to suffer no major effects from Brexit, with 2015’s 10% advance expected to improve to 16% this year and 11% next year.
These figures result in P/E multiples of 16.1 times and 14.5 times for 2016 and 2017 respectively, a bargain in my opinion given the firm’s terrific growth record.
Dividend chasers may not be bowled over at first glance, however. WPP yields 3% for this year and 3.4% for next year, below the FTSE 100 average of 3.5%.
But dividends are still growing at an electric rate, and last year’s reward of 44.6p is predicted to rise to 53.9p in the current period and 59.9p in 2017. And I expect dividends to keep dancing higher given WPP’s hot profit prospects.
