In my opinion Bank of Georgia (LSE: BGEO) is a share that offers the perfect blend of value and income.
The banking colossus currently trades on a forward P/E ratio that’s a country mile below the accepted bargain benchmark of 10 times (and below), at 5.5 times. But this isn’t a reflection of Bank of Georgia’s high risk profile, but investor preference for banks in more historically stable markets, like Lloyds and Barclays to name just a couple. There’s some comfort in sticking to what’s familiar over lesser-known operators specialising in emerging markets, I suppose.
Gorgeous Georgia
I fear that the market might be missing a trick here. The Georgian economy continues to grow at a rate of knots, up 5% in the first eight months of 2019 according to most recent data and speeding up from 4.8% from the corresponding period last year. Compare this to the paltry growth rate here in the UK (according to the Office for National Statistics, the domestic economy expanded just 0.3% in the last three months).
And this clearly opens up some terrific profits possibilities for Bank of Georgia. This was apparent in most recent trading details in which the FTSE 250 firm declared that, even in spite of regulatory interventions to strengthen the banking sector which have curbed lending activity more recently, profits exploded by almost a third during the six months to June.
What’s more, Bank of Georgia is expanding its range of services quickly to capitalise on this fertile trading landscape. As well as launching Apple Pay to allow its customers to make payments simply and quickly in early September, the bank followed this up with the launch of its Optimo digital platform a few weeks later, which allows small-to-medium-sized businesses run their day-to-day operations more easily.
Bricking it up
All things considered, then, I think the financial giant’s in great shape to deliver some titanic profits growth in the years ahead. And helped by that rock-bottom valuation, I expect its share price to sail higher as well.
And at current prices I consider Bank of Georgia to be a brilliant pick for income chasers as investors can currently dial into monster yields of 5.9% for 2019.
Before you go, though, I’d like to bring Ibstock (LSE: IBST) to your attention too. This is another share from the FTSE 250 that offers brilliant dividends on a budget — at recent prices it boasts a forward P/E multiple of 13.3 times and chunky dividend yields of 6% for 2019.
Why am I lauding the brick manufacturer, you ask? Well for the same reason that I believe the UK’s housebuilders are brilliant buys today. Britain’s colossal homes shortage means that the need to supercharge new-build construction will be here for many years yet. Indeed, some analysts believe that we need to build up to a staggering 250,000 new homes each and every year, a scenario that clearly plays into the hands of the likes of Ibstock. This is why I myself added the business to my own Stocks and Shares ISA back in 2017 and am considering buying some more today.
