Are These 5 FTSE 100 Stalwarts Good Value?

LONDON -- Capital appreciation is surely the goal of many investors. One method of achieving that is to buy companies with steady earnings growth. If bought when the shares are cheap, two drivers could move the share price up:

• growth in earnings, and
• an upwards P/E re-rating.

Highly successful fund manager Peter Lynch classified steady growers as stalwarts, which he typically traded for 20% to 50% share-price gains. But, whether buying for gains like that or holding for the longer term, we need to know if reliable earnings growth can continue, and whether the shares are cheap.

Seeking durable growth
Not all companies achieve stable growth as you can see by the aggregate performance of those in London's premier FTSE 100 index, where the compound annual earnings-growth rate has been just 0.7% over the last five years:

Consistent, cash flow-backed growth in profits is a promising characteristic in today's markets so, for this series, I'm examining firms with annual earnings growth between 4% and 20% (you can see all of the companies I've covered so far on this page).

Over the last few weeks, I've looked at Tate & Lyle (LSE: TATE.L), BAE Systems (LSE: BA.L), Bunzl (LSE: BNZL.L), SABMiller (LSE: SAB.L) and Imperial Tobacco Group (LSE: IMT.L). Let's look at how each of them scored against my five earnings growth and valuation criteria (each score in the chart is out of a maximum five):

There is good industry diversification available from this group of stalwarts.

Food additives
Tate & Lyle uses large-scale manufacturing plants fitted with innovative technology to turn raw materials into ingredients that add taste, texture, nutrition, and increased functionality to products used by millions worldwide. Although known by many for its consumer products such as Splenda and Lyle's Golden Syrup, the firm actually generates around 75% of revenue from supplying additives for the food and beverage-manufacturing sector.

Aerospace & defense
Global defense, aerospace, and security company BAE Systems employs around 93,500 people worldwide. Its products and services include air, land, and naval forces requirements such as advanced electronics, security, information technology, and support services. In effect, the company supplies many of the world's fighter planes, radar, attack missiles, warships, and munitions. Right now, the company is trying to engineer a merger with Franco-German group EADS, but it's a move that large shareholders and the British government seem to be resisting.

Distribution
Bunzl has created an efficient distribution chain to get the consumables that businesses use, rather than sell, to where they are needed. It supplies companies with things like food packaging, disposable tableware, and catering equipment, cleaning and hygiene supplies, guest amenities, personal protection equipment, packaging, and healthcare consumables. North America provides 54% of revenue, Europe 21%, U.K. & Ireland 20%, and the rest of the world 5%. Its good business has generated a steadily rising earnings stream that has not been overlooked by investors.

Brewing
SABMiller describes itself as one of the world's leading brewers with more than 200 beer brands and some 70,000 employees in over 75 countries. It also has a growing business in soft drinks and claims to be one of the largest bottlers of Coca-Cola products. Brits might be familiar with the firm's popular Miller Lite and Grolsch brands. The company enjoys strong positions in both emerging and developed markets worldwide. I reckon beer drinking can be almost as addictive as tobacco smoking, so there's likely to be a steady stream of repeat business. If SAB can keep converting those revenue streams to cash flow and profits, it's unlikely to lose its Stalwart credentials any time soon.

Tobacco
Die-hard European smokers stand alongside worldwide puffers to stuff Imperial Tobacco's and governments' coffers. The company is shipping cigarettes to more than 160 countries worldwide. Its cash-generative business is reflected in the healthy looking dividend. If Imperial can keep converting demand into cash, as it has been, the prospects of continued earnings growth seem promising despite the escalating drag of anti-smoking legislation.

Further ideas for capital gains
Those five shares have been among the several steady-earnings-growing stalwarts trading on the London stock exchange and, if growth continues, each has the potential to deliver significant capital appreciation when purchased at sensible prices.

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