RE: Suprised21 May 2025 10:32
I'm also pleasantly surprised. Clearly the market expected worse, so a good marker.
When you delve into the numbers, the headlines are steady enough but the future potential is more interesting to me.
They're spending record levels of investment which will grow their businesses markedly over the next 5 years or so. They're targeting EPS of 175 to 200p per share but currently only paying out 60p odd on divis because of their capex needs.
Once their capex needs ease off in 5/10yrs time, they could be paying out 2 or 3 times more in divis.....meaning possible SP rerate to £25+. In the short term, they've also targeted 5 to 10% divi increases year on year.
What's not to like? Good risk/reward in a solidly performing company. One to hold for me, possibly top up on SP weakness.
GLA