I’m looking for stocks in the FTSE 100 that I think could perform well in 2022 and beyond. Here are two I’m considering buying for my own portfolio.
Delivering success
The first is Royal Mail (LSE: RMG), which I think is a great way to gain exposure to the growing e-commerce industry. The stock is up nearly 26% this year, and 53% over one year, as the pandemic has shifted consumer buying patterns towards online shopping. I can’t see this stopping, even as economies continue to open up more.
Back in September, Royal Mail issued a trading update that confirmed revenue across the business has continued to grow in the first five months of the financial year. Even better was that the company is increasingly confident that domestic parcels are re-basing at a “significantly” higher level than before the pandemic. Crucially, Royal Mail also confirmed it’s maintaining market share.
For the full financial year to March 2022, analysts are forecasting that earnings will grow by almost 18%. The dividend is predicted to rebound over 100% from the previous year’s pandemic-induced dip.
I also think the stock is attractively valued on a lowly price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 7.2. The forward dividend is a punchy 4.7% too.
There might be some difficulty over the Christmas period though. Royal Mail is planning on hiring 20,000 seasonal workers to help with the festive season surge in demand. With a general shortage of staff right now, and upward pressure on wages, Royal Mail might suffer from an increased cost base. This risk may lead to a miss on current earnings expectations.
Crucial infrastructure for a digital Britain
In a similar way, I think BT (LSE: BT.A) is primed to take advantage of an ever-more-digital Britain. But here, BT provides the much needed infrastructure for our communications network and the internet.
The stock is up almost 36% over one year, but this does hide a longer period of underperformance. In fact, the share price topped 500p in 2015, but slipped all the way down to 100p in 2020. It does leave me questioning if the recent share price rise is going to be sustained.
The question is, will this past year’s share price recovery continue? I think there’s a good chance it might.
Back in June, billionaire investor Patrick Drahi, who owns a controlling stake in the second-largest telecoms operator in France, set up Altice UK. This new operation subsequently bought a 12.1% stake in BT. Drahi stated that BT has a significant opportunity to upgrade to full fibre broadband in the UK, which is something I agree with.
In support of this, BT’s Openreach division is rolling out full fibre broadband across the country. As it stands, 6m houses have it, with a huge upgrade on the current speed of broadband. This might sound like a lot of additional cost, but BT just announced that it has delivered on its £1bn cost savings plan a whole 18 months ahead of schedule.
On a forward P/E of 8.1, the shares are looking like good value too. But I admit that there’s still considerable execution risk going forward.
Closing thoughts
There’s a good mix of value and growth potential for both of these stocks, in my view. I’ll be looking to add the shares to my portfolio.
