With geopolitical concerns and recovery from the pandemic, 2022 is already been an eventful year for FTSE 100 firms. The markets have reflected the impact of a series of event and as a consequence, the following are ranked as the top performers of the FTSE 100 from December 31, 2021.
Pearson +34%
Pearson, the education publisher, has seen rise of 34% since the beginning of 2022. The shares saw a sharp increase on March 11 to 766.6p with Pearson rejecting the bid offer from Apollo. Pearson shares have since continued the rally and are the FTSE 100’s top riser in 2022.
The group reported a £0.03bn increase in revenues in their latest financial reports while recording a loss of nearly £150mn pounds in pretax profits. However, the group announced a share-buyback program of £350m in 2022.
The forward P/E ratio is 19 which is lower than the trailing P/E of 22 pointing to a strong earnings outlook.
The dividend cover is 1.7 which shows that the company enough to pay the dividend yield of 2.7%, and even increase payouts.
BAE Systems +31.3%
BAE Systems has recently been making headlines with their acquisition of Bohemia Interactive to develop their military training simulation.
Investors are expecting the arms dealers will have a good year as a consequence of rising geopolitical tensions. In late February, the weapon makers reported revenue increase of £448m to £21.3bn with volume of orders exceeding expectations. The company also increased their dividends by 6%.
BAE Systems shares are up 31.3% since the beginning of this year. BAE Systems shares shot up on two major occasions which were the release of their annual reports and the acquisition of Bohemia.
The forward P/E ratio is 14.4, marginally below the FTSE 100 average 14.8. The dividend yield is 3.5%, covered 1.9x.
BAE Systems has a ROCE of 11.6.
Glencore +23%
Glencore, one of the world’s biggest commodity traders, has seen a 23% rise in share price since the start of 2022. The shares were trading at 461p on Tuesday afternoon.
With rising tensions between Russia and Ukraine, sanctions including the export of metals and energy, have driven commodity prices higher. As commodity prices rise, investors have flocked to mining shares making them some of the best performers of 2022.
Glencore mines copper, cobalt, zinc, nickel and ferroalloys.
The forward P/E ratio is 6.3 which is half that of the trailing P/E of 12. This means that the company’s market capital is not increasing as fast as the forecasted profits, resulting in a disconnect which may be attractive to investors.
The dividend yield is 4.1% and has a dividend coverage of 2 demonstrating the capability to finance their payouts to shareholders.
However Glencore’s ROCE is 16.8, the lowest of the FTSE 100 miners, suggesting their peers are more efficiently producing earnings.
Anglo American +20%
Anglo American shares have increased 20% over 2022 so far. The shares were trading at 3,655p on Tuesday afternoon.
Anglo American is another miner which is raking in the profits from rising commodity prices. Increase in prices of copper and platinum is also one of the many commodities facing volatility from the war in Ukraine and is likely to play into Anglo’s next earnings update.
The mining group also saw surge in their share price with the announcement of a dividend hike. EBITDA saw an 111% jump to $20.6bn in 2021 which was more than double that of 2020. The company announced a bumper dividend payout of $1.18 per share for final dividends amounting to $2.1bn.
The forward P/E ratio is to 8.1 compared to a trailing P/E ratio of 7.
The company’s dividend yield is 6% with 2.4 coverage with supporting a progressive dividend policy.
Anglo’s ROCE is 32, towards the upper end of mining sector’s average.
Shell +16.9%
Shell shares have shot up 16.9% since December 31, 2021 as the oil ban enforced on Russia resulted in upside pressure on oil prices, benefitting oil companies such as Shell.
The company’s ROCE is 8.6, below peer BP who has a ROCE of 10.3.
The forward P/E ratio is 6.3 and Shell yields 3.6% with a 2.3 cover.