Investing in growth companies is about seeking out up-and-coming firms with great long-term prospects. They may have just appeared on the horizon in the past few years. Often you’ve seen their advert on TV, you’ve visited one of their stores, and you’ve seen that business is booming. Here are 3 such companies.
Just Eat
The adverts on TV are fun, and they’re the best way to buy takeaway food in the UK, so what’s not to like about Just Eat (LSE: JE.)?
This is a firm that has only appeared in the past few years, seemingly from nowhere. Yet its stock is valued at £3bn. It reminds me a little of Domino’s Pizza, which was one of the UK’s growth success stories of recent years.
A website that allows you to buy takeaway food from anywhere is a great idea, and this company is expected to expand rapidly over the next few years.
And revenues and earnings are thus rising at a pace of knots. Turnover was just £96.75m in 2013, but that has grown to £247.60m in 2015. That is explosive growth. And the eps is expected to jump from 1.20p in 2013 to 15.14 in 2017.
That explains the business’s high rating, and a 2016 P/E ratio of 43.48 looks pricey, but this company really is a growth star.
Purplebricks Group
Purplebricks (LSE: PURP) is the leading online estate agency in the UK. Its quirky TV ad has been driving growth and this very young company went public late last year.
Estate agency is a business that has been stuck in the past compared to many other sectors, and it is companies like Purplebricks that are pulling it into the future. Online estate agencies are cheaper than their bricks and mortar counterparts, and there is likely to be a flurry of online startups in this area.
If you consider that the whole UK property market is booming anyway, then you can see that Purplebricks has substantial scope for growth.
B&M European Value Retail
B&M European Value Retail (LSE: BME) is a low cost retailer that has been expanding across the UK and Germany. Unlike the own-brand kings Aldi or Lidl, it sells consumer products from leading FMCG manufacturers such as Unilever and Procter & Gamble, at knockdown prices.
It sells to value-conscious consumers who have realised they can save a whole bundle of money if they shop here rather than at Tesco or Asda. Its part of the reason why the supermarket sector is so squeezed, and its growth is something that you should buy into. This company is buying up cheap retail sites around Britain and has quickly converted them to B&M outlets. It is a business that has emerged out of nowhere to be worth £2.82bn.
Like Just Eat and Purplebricks, its revenues and profitability are climbing rapidly and with plenty more growth to come, this is a great time to buy in.
