The months following the EU referendum were supposed to be hugely problematic for the UK and for the global economy. Brexit was meant to cause profitability to fall, confidence to decline and share prices to slump. However, many stocks have bucked that trend and have soared in recent months. In fact, these two companies are up by over 10% in the last month and judging by today’s results, more growth is on the horizon.
Growth potential
Hard landscaping products supplier Marshalls (LSE: MSLH) has reported a rise in revenue of 3% in the first 11 months of the year. Since the half-year, its top line has risen by 4% compared with the 2015 comparatives and was particularly strong in the domestic end market.
This represents 31% of sales, so a rise of 10% is highly encouraging for the company’s future. And with a survey of domestic installers revealing an order book of 11 weeks versus 11.2 weeks last year, there’s little sign that Brexit is negatively impacting its performance.
Marshalls is confident of meeting its full-year expectations for the current year. It’s also confident about its 2017 potential as a result of its sound balance sheet, strong market positions and increasingly innovative product range.
It’s expected to record a rise in earnings of 23% this year, followed by further growth of 16% next year. Despite this high level of growth, it trades on a price-to-earnings growth (PEG) ratio of just 0.9. This indicates that there’s capital gain potential on offer even after its 12% rise in the last month.
Better than expected performance
Today also saw the release of an update from international staffing specialist SThree (LSE: STHR). It expects profit for the full year to be slightly above the top end of market forecasts. It has seen robust growth across ICT and Engineering, with gross profit up by 12% and 9% respectively.
This has been driven by notably impressive performance in Continental Europe, where gross profit has risen by 13%, while in the US SThree has also recorded upbeat performance. Its gross profit has risen by 9% excluding energy in the US, despite difficult operating conditions within the Banking & Finance sector.
In the UK, the Banking & Finance sector has contributed to a fall in gross profit of 8%. However, this has largely been offset by stronger performance elsewhere. And with SThree likely to benefit from weaker sterling brought about by the Brexit vote, its medium-term outlook remains positive.
Trading on a price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 13.4, SThree offers good value for money. Certainly, the outlook for the UK and Europe is uncertain, but with it being well-diversified and having a sound business model, its shares look set to rise further following their 10% gain in the last month.
