Rupert Hargreaves: Trifast

Trifast (LSE: TRI) specialises in the design and manufacture of high-quality industrial fastenings. After a slowdown in demand last year, sales have rebounded this year. Revenues in the first half increased 30% compared to 2020 and are now ahead of 2019 levels.

As the global economy continues to rebuild after the pandemic, I think this trend could continue. Management is also looking to complement organic growth with acquisitions.

At the beginning of September, Trifast acquired Falcon in the USA, and management has said that the search for additional acquisitions continues “apace.”

Considering the growth potential, I would buy the stock for my portfolio. Some challenges it could face that may hold back growth include cost and wage inflation pressures.

Rupert Hargreaves does not own shares in Trifast.

Christopher Ruane: Card Factory

As people buy Christmas cards, small-cap stock Card Factory (LSE: CARD) is on my radar. It’s 56% higher than a year ago, but well below its Spring highs.

The company sharply cut its loss in the first half. The Christmas season should be busy. Increasing moves online could help grow sales. The company is cash generative and cut net debt by a third in the first half. But Card Factory remains risky. Its shops can see sales plummet if there are lockdowns, and supply chain inflation could hurt profits.

Christopher Ruane does not own shares in Card Factory.

Roland Head: Spectra Systems

I think that security technology specialist Spectra Systems (LSE: SPSY) could be a quality company at a reasonable price.

Spectra specialises in providing authentication technology for documents, consumer goods and currency. For example, Spectra provides the security features for many countries’ banknotes and the equipment needed to test them.

Banknotes are Spectra’s biggest market, and this is probably the main risk for investors. Use of paper money is falling and the business could struggle to grow.

However, Spectra is diversifying and continues to win new contracts. The group also upgraded its profit guidance for 2021 in October. I think the shares look reasonably priced at current levels. There’s also a tempting 4.7% dividend yield. This is a stock I’d buy today.

Roland Head does not own shares in Spectra Systems.

Andy Ross: finnCap  

Financial company finnCap (LSE: FCAP) is a great small-cap stock in my opinion. Apart from its small market capitalisation, which gives it plenty of headroom to grow into a much larger company, I really like finnCap’s financials. They indicate to me a stock that has serious growth potential. 

The group has a three-year compound annual growth rate (CAGR) for sales of 29%. This is important because, as an investor, I want to know that demand for a company’s products/services is continuously increasing. The operating margin is improving, so all in all it seems like potentially a great time to buy the shares.  

Andy Ross does not own shares in finnCap.

Royston Wild: Science in Sport 

I’d use recent price weakness at Science in Sport (LSE: SIS) as a dip-buying opportunity. The sports nutrition giant has fallen 10% in value over the past month. Demand for the products it makes is rocketing as peoples’ desire to live healthier lifestyles grows and fitness activities become more popular. Science in Sport’s revenues jumped 24% during the six months to June. 

This small cap’s more than doubled in value during the last year. If industry analysts are to be believed there should be plenty of opportunity for Science in Sport’s share price to continue soaring too. Experts at Statista for example think the global sports nutrition market will be worth $35.4bn by 2026. That’s up significantly from the $16.5bn it was valued at last year. Through its popular products I think the business should make big profits in this favourable landscape.  

Royston Wild does not own shares in Science in Sport.

Zaven Boyrazian: iomart

iomart (LSE:lOM) is a cloud-computing business trying to take on industry giants like Amazon, Alphabet, and Microsoft. That’s quite a tough bunch of competitors, so it’s not surprising to see revenue growth struggle. However, management has since begun pursuing a niche in the hybrid-cloud market through bolt-on acquisitions.

It will take some time before this new strategy starts yielding results. However, iomart continues to be supported by fairly impressive cashflows courtesy of its high customer retention and 93% recurring revenue.

There is obviously no guarantee of success. And using an acquisitive approach has led to an increased debt position that adds more risk. But given the potentially explosive returns of becoming a new leader in cloud computing, I think the risk is worth the reward.

Zaven Boyrazian does not own shares in iomart, Amazon, Alphabet or Microsoft.

Paul Summers: Bioventix

Although still far from being cheap, I think shares in biotech firm Bioventix (LSE: BVXP) are starting to look attractive. Stock in the small-cap antibodies supplier has fallen 20% in value in 2021 so far. 

At least some of this selling pressure has been due to hospitals continuing to prioritise dealing with the pandemic over diagnosing people for other things. To make matters worse, understandably cautious patients aren’t even reporting symptoms to healthcare professionals. As a result, Bioventix’s main business has been suffering.

I reckon this might be a great contrarian opportunity. BVXP’s returns on capital and margins are some of the best on the market. The balance sheet also looks sound. Any indication that Covid-19 is being beaten back and the shares could rally. 

Paul Summers has no position in Bioventix

There are undoubtedly countless reasons for this lacklustre performance. However, in my experience, such events can be opportunities to buy businesses at better prices. After all, stock prices might be idle, but the underlying companies are still moving forward (in some cases anyway). With that in mind, here are two UK shares I’ve got my eye on this month as potential new additions to my portfolio.

A rising chocolate empire

One UK share that has been an impressive story to watch recently is Hotel Chocolat (LSE:HOTC). The firm is a vertically integrated premium chocolatier. Using cocoa grown on its own plantations in St. Lucia, Hotel Chocolat designs and producers high-quality (and in my opinion, rather tasty) chocolate treats, as well as other cocoa-based products.

For years, the business has been developing itself into a multi-channel retailer by launching new partnerships with Amazon and Ocado, as well as its own online store. At the same time, its loyalty programme, VIP.ME, has grown to over 2.1 million members. So, when its stores were forced to close for prolonged periods during lockdowns that included Easter and Mother’s Day, revenue continued to grow regardless. 

With the vaccine rollout progressing relatively quickly and the UK slowly returning to normality, I would expect any operational disruptions to cease. And with it, I expect even more growth. That’s why I’m tempted to add this company to my portfolio. However there are, as always, some risks.

The business is heavily dependent on its St. Lucian cocoa supply chain. Transporting this cargo across the Atlantic is an expensive and lengthy process that can easily be interrupted by something as unpredictable as the weather. Such disruptions could lead to product shortages, which might push customers elsewhere to get their chocolate fix.

One UK share leading the digital revolution

I think it’s fair to say that the pandemic has created quite a substantial number of operational problems. However, it has also drastically accelerated the adoption of digital transformation and remote working. These technologies are highly dependent on cloud computing, which is excellent news for Iomart (LSE:IOM).

A recent survey by the BBC interviewed 50 of the UK’s biggest employers about their plans to bring workers back to the office. Some 47 of these businesses stated they don’t plan to bring staff back to the office full-time. In other words, it doesn’t look like the current digital transformation is going to end any time soon. And with budgets beginning to open up for further investment, Iomart could be adding more clients to its roster. Needless to say, this looks like a tempting opportunity for my growth portfolio.

But, it’s worth remembering that the cloud computing industry is filled with fierce competition. This UK share has to face up against the likes of Amazon Webservices as well as Microsoft Azure. Needless to say, that’s a tough challenge. Suppose the business can’t deliver the same quality and reliability of service? In that case, it may struggle to retain and attract new customers.

Extreme share price turbulence due to social, economic or political events is nothing new. Yet history shows us that UK share prices always roar back following such crises. This is why the average long-term investor enjoys a handsome (if not guaranteed) average annual return of 8%.

I’ve already invested in Keywords Studios in recent days. Here are three more of what I feel are some of the best stocks to buy too. Like other UK shares I own, if I had a lump sum to invest, I’d buy them with a view to holding them for at least a decade.

On Cloud 9

I believe that the rise of home-working in the wake of last year’s Covid-19 outbreak presents good investment opportunities. And I’d do this by investing in Iomart Group (LSE: IOM). This a UK share that offers cloud computing services through its network of data centres spanning Europe, North America and Asia-Pacific.

A new BBC survey reveals how companies like Iomart could be some of the best stocks to buy to ride the digital revolution. More than 80% of the firms that were surveyed said they would “embrace a mix of home and office working”, the broadcaster said. Employees of these firms would be “encouraged to work from home two to three days a week”, the BBC added. The 50 companies that were questioned employ a total of 1.1m people, a figure that illustrates the huge revenues potential for companies that make remote working possible.

Bear in mind though, Iomart has some very big industry rivals. This means that it faces significant pressures when it comes to both product price and quality. The cloud computing market is expanding rapidly, but this UK share isn’t totally without risk.

One of the best property stocks to buy?

I also believe that Grainger (LSE: GRI) could be another top UK share to buy right now. I certainly believe that the professional landlord is one of the best property stocks to buy as rents in Britain go from strength to strength.

A report by estate agency Savills suggests that average rents will rise 17% during the five years to 2025. It’s a prediction that reflects the expectation that tenant demand should continue outpacing property supply, exacerbated by the large number of buy-to-let landlords leaving the sector due to increasing red tape and higher tax charges.

It’s true that changes to the regulation of the rentals market could hit Grainger’s profits further down the line. But right now, I think it’s a great UK share to buy for the next decade.

I don’t find that surprising. iomart’s services enable people to work from home. And that was one of the few big growth stories of 2020. But, later in the year, iomart shares started to fall back again. The change occurred just before the markets in general started to recover on the back of positive vaccine progress.

The share price slide has accelerated this year, and in the past month we’ve seen an 11% drop. Cumulatively, that’s a 20% fall over the past two years, for what was looking like a long-term growth story.

Are these events related? Did investors buy when the prospects for home working looked strongest? And are they selling now we’re all closer to getting back to conventional work practices? That does seem likely to me.

The financial situation

We’re on for a drop in iomart’s earnings for 2020-21. Analysts do, however, expect longer-term earnings growth and have a rise pencilled in for the following year.

The most recent update from the company came earlier in April. For the full year, iomart expects to report pretty much unchanged revenue — approximately £112m, compared to £112.6m a year previously. Earnings are set to dip, though. The firm says adjusted EBITDA should fall 4.6% to approximately £41.5m. And adjusted pre-tax profit should be down 12% to around £20m.

It spoke of “a drop in non-recurring hardware reselling activities as customers delayed investment decisions“. And that’s put a squeeze on margins. In the current economic circumstances, I’m not surprised. Just about every company I’ve been looking at over the past year has been cutting costs and delaying expenditure.

But cash flow looks strong. The year-end cash position strengthened from £15.5m at 31 March 2020, to approximately £23m. iomart has “maintained its sales team throughout the Covid-19 pandemic in order to position the company optimally once business confidence returns“. And it has not used any furlough support.

Should I buy iomart shares?

So what do I think about investing in iomart at today’s price? I’m torn, as I always am with growth stocks around this stage of their development. I see two downside threats, at least for the next year or two. One is perhaps more obvious, that the economic effects of the pandemic could go on longer than we might think. While any boost for home working is good, companies reining in their spending on infrastructure is not.

I also think we could be seeing a typical cooling off that happens with so many growth stocks. All we need is a slowdown in earnings progress, and many investors will sell, hold back, and wait for growth to reestablish itself.

But looking at the wider picture, I reckon the lockdowns have helped accelerate the trend in remote and flexible working that was always going to happen. And that should be a boon for companies like iomart. It’s on my list of potential long-term buys.

Take iomart Group (LSE: IOM) as an example. This IT services business provides a broad range of cloud-computing solutions that enables people to work from anywhere. And so it stands to make big profits from the growth of flexible working following coronavirus-related lockdowns in 2020 and 2021.

A recent survey of chief information offers by Enterprise Technology Research suggests that the number of remote workers around the globe will more than double in 2021. It indicates that around 34.4% of respondents’ workforces will work remotely this year. That’s up from 16.4% before the pandemic.

Profits to rebound?

There are reasons why the spike in remote working could run out of steam, however. There’s been a rise in cyber crime during Covid-19, a continuation of which could discourage companies from investing in their cloud computing capabilities. Another is the fact that many firms could roll back their flexible working practices if it’s deemed inefficient or if other employee-related issues emerge.

City analysts reckon iomart’s earnings will slip 10% in this fiscal year (ending March 2021). But they reckon annual earnings will rebound 7% in financial 2022. Earnings can exceed this, of course. But they can also fall short, depending on trading conditions. Today this UK share trades on a forward price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 24 times. It’s an elevated reading that could prompt a sharp share price reversal if business performance deteriorates.

Another strong UK share

Another consequence of the pandemic is that animal adoption rates have gone through the roof. Many breeders and animal shelters now have colossal waiting lists as people have sought companionship during the pandemic. That aforementioned growth of homeworking has also boosted pet numbers as people who otherwise wouldn’t have taken on an animal companion have gone for it.

All this bodes well for sellers of pet products and services like Pets At Home (LSE: PETS). This particular UK share is the one-stop-shop for all of a pet’s needs. It provides everything from food to pet litter, toys and kennels, all the way through to supplying veterinary services.

There are a couple of threats hanging over UK animalcare shares like Pets At Home. Firstly, a tough economic recovery could cause shoppers to scale back non-essential purchases for their furry friends. The possible end of Covid-19 lockdowns could also prompt a sharp fall in pet demand from rescue centres and the like.

City brokers reckon Pets at Home’s earnings will drop 7% in the financial year to March 2021. But they expect them to bounce by 39% in fiscal 2022. This leaves the company trading on a very-high forward P/E ratio of 38 times, putting it in the same danger of a share price fall as iomart. I still think this is a top UK share to buy today, though, given the surge in animalcare spending even before Covid-19 kicked off.

The sudden surge in user activity has drastically increased the need for datacentres and server farm capacity to maintain the increased traffic on their cloud platforms.

iomart Group (LSE:IOM) owns and operate datacentres around the world as well as a private fibre optic network. The firm’s infrastructure has allowed it to gain a reputation for secure, high-quality data services for businesses – both public and private.

It’s even attracted several UK government agencies to its network.

The cloud computing stock has a revenue stream deriving from two segments: Cloud Services and Easyspace.

The Cloud Services segment is the larger of the two and generated £99.8m revenue in 2020. It provides customers with a fully managed and bespoke cloud infrastructure as well as dedicated servers. Put simply, clients can integrate and run their platforms seamlessly through iomart without any disruptions while having 24/7 on-site support should a problem occur.

The Easyspace segment provides a range of products – such as domain names and email services – to the small & medium-sized enterprise (SME) market space.

Both the top and bottom line have been consistently increasing year-on-year (YoY).

While an average 10% YoY growth in revenue is certainly not ground-breaking, almost 90% of it has been generated from recurring sources. This has helped keep operational costs low, resulting in a handsome operating margin.

Despite this increased performance and ideal revenue source, the operating margin has somewhat declined since 2016.

However, the cause appears to be rooted from engaging in bolt-on acquisitions as the firm expands. Most recently, the successful integration of Bytemark and LDeX to its portfolio, adding new customers and complementary datacentre locations.

With the bulk of the revenue being generated from within the UK and online operations, the direct effects of Brexit remain negligible. Should the need for an EU trading relationship arise, iomart has an established subsidiary in the Republic of Ireland from where it can trade seamlessly.

There are some risks to be aware of. The cloud computing stock has managed to thwart competitors thanks to its high standing reputation for excellence. If this reputation were to be compromised by something such as a security breach, it would have devastating effects on the trust between the firm and its customers.

Furthermore, while the Cloud Services segment saw organic growth of 6% in 2020 – up from 2% in 2019 – the firm still relies heavily on acquisitive revenue growth.

To date, I believe the management team have proven capable in identifying acquisition targets to create value for shareholders. However, if that were to change, it could introduce several disruptions to the business.

2020 marks the twelfth consecutive year of growth for the cloud computing stock. With organic growth beginning to become the dominant driving force, I think investors can reap enormous long term gains as cloud-based innovations continue to thrive.

Institutional investors agree, as all three of these stocks are at least 50% owned by a mixture of active managers. This shows that professional investors are expecting these companies to rally over the coming years.

iomart Group

iomart Group (LSE: IOM) has two major divisions, Easyspace and Cloud Services. Easyspace provides hosting and domain services to small businesses. Meanwhile, Cloud Services targets larger companies and offers cloud computing services. Easyspace revenue has declined marginally this year, due to the nature of its clients. However, revenue in the larger Cloud Services division continues to grow organically.

It’s one of the UK tech stocks I’d buy because it has a diverse and reliable customer base and the business model ensures recurring revenue. The debt level has also declined in recent years and the business has more than enough liquidity to cover all short-term liabilities. This means that iomart should be able to weather the uncertainty of this year and continue to grow going forward.

Concurrent Technologies 

Concurrent Technologies (LSE: CNC) manufactures essential computer hardware for various industries. The company focuses on high-end products, especially boards. Its customers are based in less cyclical sectors, like defence and aerospace. This should ensure that its revenue remains relatively consistent despite the crisis. The share price has mostly recovered from the lows, but Concurrent is a very solid business, which I believe has a bright future and is still a bargain.

It is the second UK tech stock I’d buy today because it has no long-term debt and a comparatively high level of cash. It also has relatively high margins and should continue to see long-term organic growth. The stock has also performed excellently in the past few years and should continue on this trajectory.

SDL

SDL (LSE: SDL) produces language translation tech and has four major divisions. The specifics of each division are not necessary; all you need to know is that the company has suffered little from the current crisis but the stock has still lost value. The company had no hit to revenue in the first quarter and has implemented a cost-saving plan to accommodate any second-quarter loss.

SDL is a UK tech stock I’d buy because of its low level of debt, high cash balance, and solid business model. The company has very few clients in highly damaged industries like retail and travel and, as a result, should continue to grow. The share price is still 18% down from its highs earlier in the year, making this a great opportunity to buy a bargain UK tech stock.

All three of these UK tech stocks that I’d buy should weather the current economic problems and continue to grow. I believe that they could offer great returns for brave investors.

Watch closely

To make it onto my Stocks and Shares ISA watchlist, growth stocks have to tick a lot of boxes. This strict set of rules means I don’t make a fool of myself (not the good, Motley kind of Fool) by buying some awful rubbish that loses buckets and turns an outperforming portfolio into a horror show.

I need companies that lead their field, with manageable debt, high profits-to-market cap, that aren’t reliant on a single product, in a sector I understand, whose management makes the right moves, whose profits, earnings per share and sales are rising, and that still have room to grow.

Colour of money

The two FTSE 250 growth stocks I want for my Stocks and Shares ISA have a combined market cap of just £530m, light years away from the billion-pound boring-but-reliable dividend giants I normally favour.

Foreign exchange broker Argentex (LSE:ARGX) is a recent AIM float. It provides currency conversions for large corporate and institutional clients. It only joined the market in June, but digging back through the Argentex LLP financial statements filed with Companies House, I can see it has been profitable every year since it was founded in 2011. From 2017 to 2019 revenue grew from £10.6m to £21.9m, with operating profits more than doubling from £4.1m to £9.4m. The broker also added 243 corporate clients to its roster between 2018 and 2019 with £10.8bn in gross currency traded, up from £7.9bn the previous year.

Forex brokers require stringent regulatory compliance, including the EU directives PSD2 and MiFID2, and Argentex has invested wisely to make itself a leader in this field. Crossbench peer and former head of the CBI Lord Digby Jones is chairman, which gives me confidence the business is being run correctly. It has competition in the form of Travelex owner and another AIM newcomer Finablr, but Argentex is growing much more quickly.

Shares on a tear

Cloud computing provider Iomart (LSE:IOM) owns and operates 12 UK datacentres connected by its own dark fibre network, as well as operating a growing number of server farms in Europe, the US, Japan and Australia. I used to work in telecoms so I know a bit about this sector: if you switched off when the words ‘cloud computing’ appeared, then perhaps this stock isn’t for you. But I think Iomart has plenty of space to grow.

Pre-tax profits and earnings per share are rising and 10 years of consecutive dividend growth has always had more than 2.5 times earnings cover.

Management has refreshed the board recently and has invested in buying out the competition, including datacentre providers Bytemark and LDeX. This strategy, says Chairman Ian Steele, proves Iomart’s “ambition to deliver the same long-term pace of growth achieved over the last five years which saw the business double in size.”

Stocks and Shares ISA investors have had the opportunity to add AIM-listed growth stocks to their portfolio since the government relaxed the rules in 2013. I don’t tend to buy that many, but I’m watching these two very closely for the right time to strike.

I’m also going to take a look at a different kind of internet stock. The company concerned has 10-bagged over the last 10 years and is ahead of Purplebricks by 45% so far in 2018.

Should we ignore mounting losses?

My colleague Graham Chester reviewed Purplebricks’ half-year trading update recently. I agree with his view that we don’t yet have enough information to know whether the firm will hit its growth targets this year.

What I do know is that the near-term outlook for the firm seems to be worsening. One year ago, analysts expected the firm to report earnings of 2.3p per share on sales of £169m in 2018/19. Today, forecasts indicate a loss of 10.8p per share on sales of £173m.

It’s a similar story in 2019/20. Forecasts for earnings of 10.4p per share have been replaced with an expected loss of 4.6p per share.

One reason for these downgrades is that the group’s international expansion has been ramped up. In the short term, this means that profits from the UK business are being swallowed up by operations overseas.

Is PURP a genuine disrupter?

If the group’s global expansion is successful, this business could become a genuine disrupter, like Amazon.

Personally, I don’t think this is likely. Purplebricks’ business model seems more like evolution than revolution to me. Its sales and property listings still depend on a small army of estate agents (630 in the UK). The only difference I can see is that they don’t have offices.

Although the firm’s fixed-fee model is different to a traditional commission rate, I believe mainstream agents will be able to adapt their pricing to become more competitive if they need to.

Purplebricks may well cause estate agents’ profit margins to fall. But I don’t think it’s a truly disruptive business. For this reason, I view the shares as expensive and risky.

One internet stock I admire

Picking the right internet businesses to back isn’t easy. The gap between success and failure is often quite small.

However, one tech stock that has delivered growing profits and dividends over many years is web hosting and cloud services provider Iomart Group (LSE: IOM). The share price of this AIM-listed firm has risen by 990% over the last 10 years, from 32p to 350p.

More recently, sales have risen from £56m in 2014 to £98m last year. Adjusted pre-tax profit has risen from £14.6m in 2014 to £24m in 2018.  

Tuesday’s half-year results suggest this progress is continuing. Sales rose by 8% to £50.9m during the six months to 30 September, while adjusted pre-tax profit rose by 7% to £12.4m. Shareholders will receive an interim dividend of 2.45p per share, an 8% increase on the same period last year.

Why I’d buy

Iomart has generated a return on capital employed of 15% over the last 12 months. That means that for each £1,000 invested in the business, it generated an operating profit of £150.

This is consistent with previous years. It tells me that this is a good quality business that’s generated real returns for shareholders.

The stock currently trades on 17 times forecast earnings with a 2.2% yield. That’s not cheap, but I think it’s worth considering as a long-term buy.

Adjusted pre-tax profit for the year is now expected to be $11.5m, about 20% below last year’s figure of $14.6m.

This company produces hardware and software for TV set-top boxes, such as those used by cable TV operators. Management had previously expected that 2018 would deliver “sustainable profitable growth”. So what’s gone wrong?

Trump triggers EM wobble

Amino says that orders have been delayed during the second half of the year due to economic instability in “certain emerging markets”. The company says this uncertainty has been made worse by President Trump’s planned trade tariffs. Rising component prices are also expected to hit profits.

This downbeat assessment is a marked contrast to the more upbeat tone taken in the firm’s half-year results on 17 July, less than three months ago. Back then, the company said it was “successfully mitigating pricing pressure on components” and confirmed that “more than 75% of full-year revenues” were already secured.

The group’s financial year ends on 30 November, in less than two months’ time. I’m disappointed by this late change of guidance. I can only assume that several major orders have been delayed at the last minute.

A bargain buy?

One of Amino’s particular attractions is strong cash generation. This has fuelled dividend growth that’s seen the payout rise by 90% since 2013.

The company says this should continue in 2018, with a dividend increase of “no less than 10%”. Cash flow is said to remain strong and net cash is expected to be above the last-reported level of $15m at the end of November.

However, this payout is only expected to be “maintained” over the next two years, which suggests to me that management isn’t very confident about the outlook for 2019 and 2020.

After today’s fall, I estimate that the shares trade on about 10.5 times forecast earnings with a 5% yield. That’s probably about right for now, in my view. Given the company’s cash balance and previously good record, I’d rate the stock as a hold until we know more.

A superior choice?

One business I am more confident about is cloud computing company Iomart Group (LSE: IOM). It operates a number of well-known UK web hosting companies. It’s one of the larger players in this sector in the UK.

The group’s track record of growth is impressive. The shares have 10-bagged over the last 10 years and are up by 40% since I last covered them in 2017.

Sales have risen by 75% to £97.7m since 2014, while profits have climbed 60% to £12.3m over the same period.

This growth could continue

Iomart has expanded through a mix of organic growth and acquisitions. Debt levels are low and management recently confirmed that trading so far this year has been in line with expectations.

Broker consensus forecasts suggest that adjusted earnings will rise by 10% to 19.9p per share this year. This puts the stock on a forecast P/E of 20.7, with a prospective yield of 1.9%.

This isn’t cheap, but this company operates in a fast-growing sector and has an impressive track record of growth. For long-term investors, I think the shares could still be a profitable buy at this level.