If I had £2k to invest right now, I would be looking to invest it into FTSE 100 shares to build my wealth for the long term. After the stock market crash, there are plenty of bargains out there.
Two top names have just updated the markets as the economy edges out of lockdown. Both have a strong consumer focus, and should cash in when people get out and start spending again. An investor with £2k to invest could split it between them, free of tax through a Stocks and Shares ISA.
The JD Sports Fashion (LSE: JD) share price is flat today, as the sports, fashion and outdoor brands specialist reported weaker footfall after the lockdown. It also called for “rental realism” from landlords in the wake of the pandemic.
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FTSE 100 fashion leader
Today’s financial results run for the year to 1 February. In other words, they belong to a different world altogether. Pre-tax profits rose 3% to £348.5m with revenues up 30% to £6.1bn. The next set of results will not be so good.
JD Sports Fashion has been one of the best performing stocks on the FTSE 100. If you had invested £2k exactly 10 years ago you would have almost £36,000 now. Today’s investors cannot expect a repeat showing from what is now a major blue-chip with a market cap of £6.54bn. However, it is finding growth opportunities by expanding in Europe, the US and Asia-Pacific.
Inevitably, management warned today that Covid-19 would have a “material impact” on this year’s results. It has refused to pay landlords during the lockdown and has demanded reductions and rent holidays.
Executive chairman Peter Cowgill remains optimistic, saying that its “core retail standards and commercial disciplines” will help it regain lost momentum, despite uncertainty over consumer behaviour and footfall.
The JD Sports Fashion share price is recovering from the crash, but still trades more than 20% down on its pre-crash peak. Falling incomes and unemployment will hit future sales and that’s a worry for a stock that still trades at 45 times forecast earnings. You might consider investing £1k of your £2k into this stock, but you can find much bigger bargains today.
Shares in Premier Inn owner Whitbread (LSE: WTB) fell almost 5% this morning after it reported a 79.4% drop in first-quarter UK and international sales, but what did investors expect? The vast majority of its UK and German hotels and restaurants were shut from the end of March.
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More than 270 UK hotels and 24 restaurants have now reopened. All 19 operational hotels are now open in Germany, including 13 that were refurbished and rebranded as Premier Inn during lockdown
Chief executive Allison Brittain reported “good demand for the summer months” in key tourist destinations, although London has underperformed. Last month’s £1bn rights issue will boost its balance sheet and allow it to withstand a long period of low revenues.
The Whitbread share price is still down more than 40% from its January peak and looks a bargain. I think the market is being harsh on a steady long-term FTSE 100 buy-and-hold.
