I love searching through all the indices to find exciting companies with tremendous growth potential. To that end, I think I’ve found two great FTSE 100 stocks to buy before the end of the month. Let’s take a closer look.
Tapping into African telecommunications
Airtel Africa (LSE:AAF) has enjoyed upward movement in its share price. In the past year, the shares are up 92%, while in the last month they’ve gained 14%. At the time of writing, they’re trading at 160p.
For the year ended March, revenue climbed 21% to $4.71bn, while the firm – a telecommunications business in east Africa – reported that pre-tax profits surged by 75% to $1.22bn. It’s important to note, however, that continued profit growth is not guaranteed.
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Much of this is down to the company’s success in expanding its customer base. Over the same time period, this grew by around 9% to a total customer base of nearly 129m. Furthermore, revenue per customer rose by 15%.
It’s always possible that future balance sheets may be hit by issues such as inflation and energy costs. This could lead to a fall in the share price over the long term.
However, the firm clearly has growth potential and is expanding its operations into the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), investing $42m to support its wireless broadband rollout there
A recovery stock?
Second, Whitbread (LSE:WTB) is a company that was hit hard during the pandemic. Shares in the business are down 9% in the last year and have fallen 15% in the past six months. At the time of writing, they’re trading at 2,652p.
The firm – an owner of UK hotels and restaurants – slumped to a £1bn pre-tax loss for 2020. It’s possible, however, that a recovery is now in progress. During 2021, the business reported a £58m pre-tax profit.
Additionally, for the first three months of 2022, sales were up over 200% year-on-year. Compared to pre-pandemic levels, they’re still up 21%. Most hotels and restaurants have now reopened as restrictions have been scaled back.
However, the company expects cost inflation for 2022 to be around 8%-9%, which is about 1% higher than previous forecasts. This could start to weigh heavily on Whitbread’s operations and balance sheet as ingredients for use in restaurants become more expensive. Additionally, energy costs will inevitably rise as a result of tighter supply due to ongoing geopolitical issues, like the war in Ukraine.
Yet both of these companies still look like attractive prospects for investment this month. While there are, of course, risks involved with both purchases, it seems like the underlying businesses are financially solid. With Airtel Africa’s controlled expansion into the DRC and Whitbread’s comeback after the pandemic, I think I could be picking up two winners. I’ll be snapping up the shares of both businesses soon.
