Today I am looking at two FTSE 100 titans that I believe have exceptional growth and income prospects.
Mail mammoth
I am convinced Royal Mail’s (LSE: RMG) dominance of the UK parcels market should deliver solid shareholder returns in the years ahead.
Britain’s oldest courier has seen its share price shuttle to eight-month lows in recent sessions as investors reacted badly to its latest set of financials.
While Royal Mail advised that revenues edged 1% higher during April-September, to £4.58bn, an 8% decline in UK marketing mail revenues really shook investor appetite. The letters leviathan advised that “uncertainty leading up to and after the EU Referendum led to a reduction in overall UK marketing activity.
Still, Royal Mail’s release underlined the resilience of its parcels business, and revenues here rose 3% during the six months. And I expect the top line to keep ticking higher as the steady growth of e-commerce keeps driving package volumes.
On top of this, Royal Mail’s update again highlighted the stunning momentum of its GLS European parcels division. The unit, which operates in 41 countries across the continent, punched revenues growth of 9% during the first fiscal half, at £942m. And Royal Mail plans to focus investment on its operations over the Channel to drive earnings growth.
Royal Mail is expected to see earnings flatline in the year to March 2017 before a 3% bounce transpires in 2018. These figures create P/E ratings of just 11.3 times and 10.9 times, some distance below the Footsie average of 15 times.
And predicted dividends for these periods are also something to shout about. Yields clock in at 4.9% for this year and 5.1% for 2018, obliterating the big-cap forward average of 3.5%. And I expect dividends to keep rising as ambitious restricting bolsters the balance sheet.
Ring up a fortune
Telecoms titan BT Group (LSE: BT) has been dominating the business headlines in Tuesday business after Ofcom ordered the separation of Openreach from its big brother.
But the market seems unworried by the development, BT’s stock last dealing 1.5% higher from last night’s close.
Indeed, investors have breathed a sigh of relief as Ofcom stopped short of ordering a complete break-up of the group. This is despite the regulator commenting today that “we are disappointed that BT has not yet come forward with proposals that meet our competition concerns.”
The long-running saga is not yet finished, as Ofcom has applied to the European Union to push through a full separation of the two entities. But the news gives BT more time to engineer a voluntary settlement with the regulator.
And today’s news is likely to prompt fresh bouts of buying from more optimistic investors.
Like Royal Mail, BT is expected to endure some earnings woe in the near-term, and a 10% fall is expected in the period to March 2017. But a 7% bounceback is predicted in 2018 as demand for the company’s broadband and TV services is expected to keep surging — BT saw revenues at its Consumer arm shoot 11% higher, to £1.25bn, during April-September.
These growth projections result in dirt-cheap P/E ratios of 11.9 times and 11.1 times respectively. And BT also provides dividend chasers with reason for cheer, the firm carrying chunky yields of 4.3% for this year and 4.8% for 2018.
I believe both BT and Royal Mail should remain hot picks for growth and dividend chasers for some time to come.
