I’m continuing my look at some of our top companies bringing us reports in the coming week, and this time I’m turning my attention to three very different companies from a diversity of sectors:
Precious metal
First up is Fresnillio (LSE: FRES), which will be bringing us first-half results on Tuesday, 4 August. Fresnillo is the world’s largest producer of silver from ore, and a fall in the price of the stuff has helped push the Fresnillo share price down 30% over the past year, to 647p — and the shares are down two thirds since a peak in late 2012.
But with a three-year slide in earnings set to reverse and solid EPS growth on the cards, could Fresnillo be an oversold bargain now?
We’ve already had a first-half production report, which told us of a rise in 10.6% for the six-month period now that production from the firm’s Saucito II silver facility coming online. Gold production for the half rose by 37%, and the company raised its full-year gold production guidance by 6.6%.
Bargain oily?
Wednesday will bring us H1 results from Soco International (LSE: SIA), an oil explorer and producer that has seen its share price slump by 63% in the past 12 months. Final results for 2014 released in March disappointed the market and resulted in a sharp dip in the shares, from which they have not recovered — although the firm generated plenty of cash and paid a decent dividend, low oil prices led to a two-thirds reduction in Soco’s reserves following a reappraisal.
CEO Ed Story sounded upbeat in June’s operations update, but that was with Brent crude selling at around $60-65 a barrel, and it’s headed south again since then to around $52.
Still, the last two years of EPS falls are expected to turn around this year, and, unlike many other troubled oil companies, Soco is sitting healthily on stacks of cash, and it could do very nicely when oil finally picks up again.
Safety in inusrance
Finally, over to insurer Old Mutual (LSE: OML), set to report on its first half on Thursday. Old Mutual has had a few flat years for earnings, but it’s been raising its dividend year after year while still keeping it well covered — and yields have risen from a little over 3% in 2010 to 4.6% last year, with the same yield forecast for 2015.
The first quarter looked good, with net income up 15% on the same quarter a year previously, and assets under management up 10%.
The share price has been steady rather than dramatic, gaining 9% over the past year to 212p, and up 50% in five years. Are the shares good value now? Well, forecasts suggest a P/E of under 11 for this year dropping to under 10 for 2016, and I reckon that could make Old Mutual the bargain of the week.
