Despite experiencing a decade-long bull market, the FTSE 100 continues to offer good value for money. Evidence of this can be seen in a number of its constituents that offer high yields, growth potential and fair valuations. As such, now could be a good time to buy into the FTSE 100’s long-term future.
With that in mind, here are two FTSE 100 income shares that could be worth buying today and holding for the long run.
Standard Chartered
Standard Chartered (LSE: STAN) released an interim management statement on Tuesday, with its first quarter performance being relatively impressive. Its underlying profit before tax increased by 10% to $1.4bn. During the period, it announced a number of digital initiatives across Africa, Hong Kong and India, which have the potential to increase its customer base. They could catalyse its performance in an increasingly digitalised banking sector.
With Standard Chartered having resolved its legacy conduct and control issues, it can now manage its capital position more dynamically. This may lead to improving growth prospects after what has been an uncertain period for the bank. With the world economy continuing to grow rapidly, the bank could deliver a fast-growing bottom line over the medium term.
With Standard Chartered yielding 3.4% at the present time from a dividend that is covered 2.8 times by profit, it seems to have scope to raise shareholder payouts over the medium term. Its bottom line is expected to rise by 18% in the current year, with its price-to-earnings growth (PEG) ratio of 0.6 suggesting that it has a wide margin of safety. Therefore, it could have investing appeal from a growth, income and value perspective, and may be worth buying today.
RSA
Also experiencing a challenging period in recent years has been RSA (LSE: RSA). However, it has been able to turn its performance around, with its dividends per share increasing at an annualised rate of 80% over the last four years. Further growth in its dividend is expected in the current year, with it on track to yield 6.1% in the 2019 financial year.
Since RSA’s dividend is due to be covered 1.6 times by profit in the current year, there could be scope for it to rise further. Its increase could be boosted by a forecast rise in net profit of 12% for 2019.
With RSA’s recent updates having been somewhat mixed, the company’s share price has experienced a disappointing year. It has fallen by 17% in the last 12 months, which means it now trades on a price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 10.1. This suggests that it offers a wide margin of safety, and could post a successful share price recovery over the long run. Alongside its high and growing dividend, this could lead to an impressive total return over the coming years. As such, now may be the right time to buy a slice of it for the long term.
