Needle Moving On Two FTSE Listed Stocks: Just Eat PLC And Ashtead Group PLC

Just Eat PLC (LON: JE.)

Based out of London, the United Kingdom, Just Eat Plc is a consumer services company with operations across the United Kingdom and many other nations such as Mexico, Canada, Ireland, Denmark, Norway, Switzerland, Italy, Spain, Australia and New Zealand.

The company provides an online platform to order food and get doorstep delivery by aggregating with various food chains, cafes, and restaurants to serve food to its customers while enjoying the comfort and convenience of getting it delivered to their doorstep. The users can order food from the nearby restaurants in the region by visiting the website or through installing the mobile application. The order is then accepted by the nearest delivery partner to the customer in the shortest time possible. The users can track their orders in real-time through GPS mechanisms and get notifications from order getting accepted by the restaurant to food preparation to ready for delivery.

The group has a presence in more than 10 countries and more than 25 million active users on its platform. During peak hours, the average number of hours per minute surge to more than 3,000; which is backed by Amazon Web Services (AWS), facilitating the company with scalability and better management of the operations.

The delivery and order management along with the huge amount of data collected while carrying out day to day business activities is managed by three proprietary products of the company, namely, Eat Box, Partner Centre and Driverapp.

The company has managed to aggregate over 90,000 restaurants, and food chains, these restaurants and food chains are benefitted greatly by not just getting 4,000 extra orders per year but also saving on marketing expenses to the tune of £13,000 per year on an average and other exclusive perks such as bulk orders.

JE-Recent developments

On 10^th December 2019, Prosus offered 740 pence per share (revised, in cash) for acquiring the entire issued and to be issued share capital of Just Eat Plc. The offer from Prosus reflects 16 per cent premium on a price of 635.6 pence per share (as on 26^th July 2019).

 JE- Trading update Q3 FY19 period ended 30^th September 2019

The company’s revenue increased by 25 per cent to £248 million, while the orders increased by 16 per cent to 62 million for the third quarter of the fiscal year 2019. The company’s revenue surged by 28 per cent to £717.8 million for the nine-month period ended 30th September 2019. The orders in the UK surged by 8 per cent to 33 million during the period. The Canadian subsidiary of the company, SkipThe Dishes has recorded growth in double digits.

JE-Stock price performance

(Source: Thomson Reuters) Daily Chart as on Dec-11-19, before the LSE market close

On 11th December 2019, while writing at 11:42 AM GMT, Just Eat PLC’s shares were clocking a current market price of GBX 778.00 per share, down by 0.46 per cent from the previous day. The total market capitalisation of the company was hovering around £5.33 billion while writing.

In the last 52 weeks, the shares of Just Eat PLC have touched a new peak of GBX 833.14 on 29th July 2019 and reached the lowest price level of GBX 537.40 on 11th December 2018. The company’s shares were trading at 44.77 per cent higher than the 52-week low price mark and at 6.62 per cent lower mark from the 52-week high as can be seen in the price chart at the current trading level.

While writing, the stock’s traded volume stood at 651,901. The stock’s 5-day daily average traded volume of the company was 2,058,242.40; 30 days daily average traded volume- 1,976,831.20 - and 90-days daily average traded volume – 2,345,384.89. The beta of the company’s stock was recorded at 1.28, which indicates higher volatility with reference to the benchmark index.

In the last three months, the shares of the company have delivered a positive return of 10.08 per cent. The company’s stock surged by 33.20 per cent from the start of the year to till date. The company’s stock has given investors 5.91 per cent of a positive return in the last month.Â

Ashtead Group PLC (LON:AHT)

Headquartered in London (UK), Ashtead Group Plc is an equipment rental company. The group’s business includes renting of construction and industrial equipment in the United States, the United Kingdom and Canada. The company manages to operate more than 500 stores in over 40 states in the United States and over ten stores in Canada.

AHT-Business performance for H1 FY20

(Source: Company’s filings, London Stock Exchange)

On 10^th December 2019, the company released its interim results for the fiscal year 2020. The company has delivered strong trading performance along with rental revenue growth. The rental revenue of the company surged by 13 per cent in the first half of the fiscal year 2020 along with 11 per cent rise in underlying earnings per share, both at constant exchange rates excluding the impact of IFRS 16.

The company’s operating profit stood at £771 million in the first half of the fiscal year 2020 in contrast to £679 million in the first half of the fiscal year 2019. The company’s Pre-taxation profit (excluding the impact of IFRS 16) stood at £690 million in the first half of the fiscal year 2020 in contrast to £705 million in the first half of the fiscal year 2019. The company’s Earnings per share was up by 11 per cent to 111.80 pence in the first half of the fiscal year 2020 in contrast to 98.80 pence in the first half of the fiscal year 2019. The interim dividend of the company was up by 10 per cent to 7.15 pence per share in the first half of the fiscal year 2020 as compared to 6.50 pence per share in the first half of the fiscal year 2019.

The company went from strength to strength in the North American markets and targeted bolt-on acquisitions to supplement growth as per the strategy of the company. The company has invested a further £231 million on bolt-on acquisitions plus £1 billion in capital to add further 50 locations across the Group during this period.

These investments reflect the widening of the product offering, geographic presence and end markets by the company to achieve structural growth, thereby increasing its market share.

The company possesses good financial and operational flexibility to capitalise on structural growth and enhance returns for the shareholders. During the period, the company spent £250 million for the share buyback programme, which was in accordance with the management’s expectations to utilise £500 million on share buybacks in the fiscal year 2020.

While the business has performed well in the North American end markets, the company has strategic plans to implement with respect to business in the United Kingdom in these turbulent times. The company expects the results to be in line with the expectations in the midterm except for the UK and a currency headwind.

AHT-Stock price performance

(Source: Thomson Reuters) Daily Chart as on Dec-11-19, before the LSE market close

On 11th December 2019, while writing at 11:47 AM GMT, Ashtead Group PLC’s shares were clocking a current market price of GBX 2,254 per share, up by 1.53 per cent from the previous day. The total market capitalisation of the company was hovering around £10.09 billion while writing.

In the last 52 weeks, the shares of Ashtead Group PLC have touched a new peak of GBX 2,468.00 on 27th November 2019 and reached the lowest price level of GBX 1,572.50 on 27th December 2018. The company’s shares were trading at 43.34 per cent higher than the 52-week low price mark and at 8.67 per cent lower mark from the 52-week high as can be seen in the price chart at the current trading level.

While writing, the stock’s traded volume stood at 683,294. The stock’s 5-day daily average traded volume of the company was 1,834,698.40; 30 days daily average traded volume- 1,315,394.47 - and 90-days daily average traded volume – 1,337,256.56. The beta of the company’s stock was recorded at 1.32, which indicated higher volatility with reference to the benchmark index.

In the last three months, the shares of the company have delivered a negative return of 1.55 per cent. The company’s stock surged by 35.61 per cent from the start of the year to till date. The company’s stock has given investors 5.89 per cent of negative return in the last month.Â

Just Eat Plc (LON:JE)

United Kingdom-based Just Eat Plc is a high-tech company, which operates as a leading global hybrid marketplace for online food delivery, providing clients with a secure and easy way to order and pay for food from the Restaurant Partners. With brands across 10 plus nations, the international footprint of the company helps it in generating a diversified revenue base.

Ashtead Group PLC (LON:AHT)

Headquartered in London (UK), Ashtead Group Plc is an equipment rental company. The group’s business includes renting of construction and industrial equipment in the United States, the United Kingdom and Canada. The company manages to operate more than 500 stores in over 40 states in the United States and over ten stores in Canada.

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