Today I am looking at four FTSE giants offering spectacular bang for your buck.
Financial favourite
Life insurer Prudential (LSE: PRU) has long touted Asia as the key to delivering stunning earnings expansion in the years ahead.
This comes as little surprise: a backcloth of rising disposable income levels, allied with booming population growth, is fuelling insurance product sales like never before. And through careful product roll-outs and acquisitions in the region, Prudential is putting itself in the box seat to enjoy resplendent returns.
In the near-term, however, the City expects Prudential to endure a 4% earnings slide in 2016 as emerging markets cool. Still, this results in a P/E rating of 10.9 times, far below the benchmark of 15 times that illustrates attractive value.
And Prudential’s reading drops to a mere 9.9 times for next year thanks to a predicted 9% bottom-line upsurge. I reckon this is a snip given Prudential’s terrific long-term prospects.
On the catwalk
But Prudential isn’t the only FTSE 100 star benefitting from galloping demand all over the world.
Indeed, premier fashion house Burberry Group (LSE: BRBY) has also ramped up its presence in established and emerging regions in recent years. The company saw underlying revenues rise 1% in October-December despite ongoing challenges in Asia, with sales in the rest of its territories proving broadly resilient.
The ‘Square Mile’ expects Burberry to bounce from an anticipated 8% decline for the year to March 2016 with rises of 1% and 8% in 2017 and 2018 respectively.
Subsequent P/E ratings of 18.5 times for 2017 and 17.1 times for 2018 may not be ‘conventionally’ cheap, but I reckon this is great value given Burberry’s unrivalled brand power and improving global presence.
Make smoking returns
In a bid to traverse the structural decline denting the cigarette industry, Imperial Brands (LSE: IMB) has decided to double-down on its so-called ‘Growth Brands’ like Gauloises and John Player Special to keep delivering sales growth.
And this strategy seems to be paying off handsomely — sales of these labels leapt 7.3% during October-December. On top of this, Imperial Brands is diversifying into other strong growth areas like e-cigarettes and caffeine strips to mitigate falling demand in its traditional markets.
As a consequence, the City expects the London firm to follow an 11% earnings rise in the period to September 2016 with a 6% advance the following year. These numbers leave Imperial Brands dealing on decent P/E ratings of 15.7 times and 14.7 times for 2016 and 2017 correspondingly.
Flying high
The growing phenomenon of low-cost air travel is not one that is likely to go away any time soon, a promising omen for the likes of Wizz Air (LSE: WIZZ).
Passenger numbers continue to surge as European holidaymakers find more dough in their pockets. And those concerned about economic cooling should take comfort from the fact that falling spending power benefits budget flyers like Wizz Air, as travellers switch down from more expensive operators like Lufthansa and British Airways.
With low fuel costs also helping, Wizz Air is expected to follow a predicted 27% earnings rise in the year to March 2016 with a 22% advance in 2017, and a 17% rise in 2018. These figures leave the travel giant dealing on ultra-low P/E ratings of just 12.5 times for the upcoming year, and 11 times for 2018.
