With less than a month to go before the upcoming ISA deadline, investors still have time to take advantage of any unused tax-free allowance. If you’re unsure on which stocks to buy, then I’d consider these two FTSE 100 stocks which are currently trading at tempting valuations.
G4S
First up is the multinational security company G4S (LSE: GFS). Under the stewardship of Ashley Almanza, its chief executive since 2013, the company has worked hard to shake off its missteps of the past couple of years.
It has been a difficult task for the firm to put a series of scandals behind it, but its efforts appear to be finally paying off. With the launch of new technology-driven security services, G4S has delivered broad-based revenue growth, along with an improvement in margins.
Thursday’s results showed that 2017 was another successive year of robust growth for the company. Group revenue climbed 3.1% to £7,828m, while the firm’s preferred measure of adjusted operating profit rose by 6.5% to £491m.
Confident outlook
Looking ahead, although market conditions remain challenging in the Middle East, the company is confident about its outlook ahead. It’s aiming to grow revenues from core businesses by an average of 4%-6% per annum.
Turning to the cost front, restructuring and efficiency programmes are expected to deliver annual savings of between £70m-£80m by 2020. With both top-line growth and margin improvement on the cards, I reckon there is significant upside potential for its shares.
City analysts currently expect the company to deliver growth in adjusted earnings of 10% this year, with a further increase of 9% pencilled in for next year. As such, valuations are undemanding, with the shares trading at 11.8 times its expected earnings in 2019.
Coffee time
Elsewhere, I reckon there’s ‘hidden’ value waiting to be unlocked in shares of Whitbread (LSE: WTB). The company, which owns both Costa Coffee and the Premier Inn hotel chain, is under pressure from activist investor Sachem Head to consider a spin-off of its Costa Coffee chain from the hotels and restaurant businesses.
City analysts have suggested that a sale of Costa could fetch up to £2.5bn, which would imply the coffee chain is valued at a substantial premium to the rest of Whitbread. There could also be an opportunity to unlock value from selling and leasing back some of its freehold properties, as Whitbread’s total property portfolio is estimated to be worth up to £5bn.
Management has so far resisted these proposals, but it has realised the need for change. It is pushing ahead with plans to return to faster growth by expanding its hospitality business abroad and is midway through a transformation programme at Costa to lift revenues.
Looking ahead, City analysts expects earnings growth to remain in single-digits over the next few years. Nevertheless, valuations are inexpensive, even without any major restructuring, as shares in Whitbread currently trade at a forward P/E of 14.9, with a dividend yield of 2.6%.
