We have a few impressive companies in the FTSE 100 covered by the less-than-exciting umbrella of “media”. And all of them have beaten the index over the past five years — in fact, some have stomped it into the ground.
Telly
Take satellite TV operator British Sky Broadcasting (LSE: BSY), whose shares are up more than 60% over five years to 879p after year-on-year growth in earnings, compared to the 37% managed by the FTSE.
That’s nice, but it’s nothing compared to good old ITV (LSE: ITV), whose shares are up 300% over the same period to 216p after the company revamped itself and brought home increasingly strong profits.
Publishing
Educational publisher Pearson (LSE: PSON) saw a sharp price drop early this year after a profit warning preceded weaker-than-expected first-half results. But at 1,136p, the shares are still up more than 50% over five years.
Anglo-Dutch multinational publisher Reed Elsevier (LSE: REL) is perhaps not hot on many people’s lips. But its share price has soared since mid-2012 to 993p today, more than doubling over five years.
Advertising
And finally, we have advertising giant WPP (LSE: WPP), with the second-best price performance of the five — up 135% to 1,274p, and with a solid track record of earnings and dividend growth.
Here’s how they compare:
| Â | British Sky Broadcasting |
ITV | Pearson | Reed Elsevier | WPP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Market cap | £15.2bn | £8.8bn | £9.2bn | £11.3bn | £17.1bn |
| Year ended | Jun 2014 |
Dec 2013 | Dec 2013 | Dec 2013 | Dec 2013 |
| EPS change | 0% | +23% | -15% | +9% | +8% |
| P/E | 15.1 | 17.3 | 19.1 | 16.6 | 16.4 |
| Dividend Yield | 3.5% | 1.8% | 3.6% | 2.7% | 2.5% |
| Dividend Cover | 1.88x | 3.20x | 1.46x | 2.20x | 2.46x |
| Year ending* | Jun 2015 |
Dec 2014 | Dec 2014 | Dec 2014 | Dec 2014 |
| EPS change | +4% | +16% | -8% | +4% | -1% |
| P/E | 14.1 | 16.8 | 17.4 | 17.5 | 15.6 |
| Dividend Yield | 3.9% | 2.0% | 4.5% | 2.7% | 2.9% |
| Dividend Cover | 1.84x | 3.00x | 1.28x | 2.13x | 2.24x |
| Year ending* | Jun 2016 |
Dec 2015 | Dec 2015 | Dec 2015 | Dec 2015 |
| EPS change | +10% | +11% | +16% | +6% | +10% |
| P/E | 12.6 | 15.1 | 15.0 | 16.5 | 14.1 |
| Dividend Yield | 4.1% | 2.3% | 4.7% | 2.8% | 3.2% |
| Dividend Cover |
1.92x | 2.81x | 1.42x | 2.13x | 2.19x |
* forecast
After such impressive price rises, we’re really not looking at bargain-basement P/E ratios or stunning dividend yields here.
Which is best?
The question is which, if any, are good prospects now?
I’ve always admired WPP over the years. It hasn’t paid market-busting dividends, but they’ve been solid. The shares have been more volatile than the FTSE and dipped a bit lower during the crunch, so if that worries you then it might not be your choice — but the upside has been much better than the downside.
I’m also impressed by ITV’s storming performance over the past couple of years, but I’m not sure how much longer it can keep up with the double-digit growth. And dividend yields aren’t great — although they’re the best covered of the lot.
Sky’s the one
But I have to say, at the moment I think Sky is looking the best value. We had a flat year of earnings in the year to June 2014 and there’s only a 4% rise forecast for the current year, and that’s probably taken the edge of investors’ appetite. But a stronger 10% EPS rise predicted for 2016 would make the valuation look attractive, especially with dividend yields of around 4%.