FIFA World Cup 2018: Five Stock Market Winners For Your Portfolio

This summer all eyes will be on Russia as the most fiercely contested football event in the world takes place. While the tournament will be staged in multiple cities across mother Russia, the main focus will be on Moscow at the newly constructed Luzhniki Stadium, glowing yellow in the center of the capital. Visitors here will be able to head to the FIFA Fan Fest located at Vorobyovy Gory (Sparrow Hills), between the university building and the Moskva, to cheer on their soccer team.

Millions of people are expected to watch 2018’s FIFA World Cup matches on television, which sees a total 32 teams compete in 64 matches over 5,760 minutes.

In fact, around 3.4 billion people – almost half of the world’s 7.6 billion population – were according to research company GlobalWebIndex expected to watch the FIFA World Cup that kicked off on June 14, as the soccer tournament remains one of the world’s most popular media and sporting events.

The failure of the U.S. to qualify for Russia, the first time since 1986, is seen as a major blow to one of the biggest TV market. However, to put that TV viewing number into perspective, the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil was watched by 3.2 billion. And, over a billion people tuned in to watch Germany crowned champions there after beating Argentina in the final. So, it is a big draw.

But with 32 countries qualified for the World Cup, which was first held in 1930 in Montevideo, Uruguay, and over three million tickets sold, football fans from all over the world have been travelling to Russia for that ultimate FIFA World Cup experience. So, with this in mind here are five stocks that could benefit from this footballing extravaganza as the knock-out stages commence.

International Consolidated Airlines Group

International Airlines Group, listed on the London Stock Exchange (LSE), is in a “strong position” to benefit from this increased passenger traffic according to Ian Forrest, investment research analyst at The Share Centre, an award-winning online broker in the U.K. and LSE member firm.

The group’s subsidiaries include British Airways, Spanish carrier Iberia and Aer Lingus. “An iconic British brand, British Airways is likely to be a popular choice for fans flying their patriotic colors to Russia,” notes Forrest at The Share Centre. The shares are up 4.8% from their low over the past 52 weeks, but down 9.2% from their high (£7.27) over this same period and were trading at around £6.60 this Friday.

Marston’s

Those football fans who do not travel may well go to the pub to watch England matches. Operating over 1,500 pubs in the U.K., Marston’s is hoping to entice football fans to visit its establishments during the World Cup period.

Following a recent knock in sales due to the “Beast from the East” weather, the pub group recently said that trading at its drinks-led taverns had been strong and it expects to deliver growth in revenue and underlying pre-tax profits in 2018. With a dividend yield of 7.5% it will especially appeal to medium to higher risk income-seeking investors. The shares are also down around 20% from their high over the past 52 weeks.

Anheuser-Busch Inbev

Taking another brewing concern, Morgan Stanley currently has an overweight rating on Anheuser-Busch Inbev shares. The company, which owns the Bud Light brand and is the official beer sponsor for the World Cup in Russia and in Qatar in 2022 with Budweiser, saw standout 1.9% volume growth in the one-month period through June 16 according to recent Nielsen data. U.S. beer sales through to the same period were up 3.3% year over year according to Nielsen.

A recent broker note to clients from analyst Olivier Nicolai noted the “biggest improvement” came from ABInBev, which gained share for the first time since 2011.

A popular advertising campaign – “Dilly Dilly” – featuring fictional medieval characters who toast one another – launched last August by Anheuser-Busch Inbev may also be boosting alcohol sales for the firm. The campaign was created by Wieden+Kennedy ad agency and proved something of cultural phenomenon.

Anheuser-Busch InBev S.A. ADRs, which are listed on the New York Stock Exchange, have been trading in a range of $91.70 to $126.50 over the last 52-week period. They currently stand on a Price/Earnings (P/E) ratio of 25.10 with the market capitalization being $203.93 billion.

The stock was trading this Friday (June 29) in after hours at $100.76 a pop. Over the last one month the ADRs have gained 7.86%, but are down 8.35% over the past three months and -9.68% year to date. Of 35 analysts covering the company’s ADRs, the average rating was a Buy.

William Hill

While betting on England at the World Cup can never be seen as a “safe bet”, bookmakers such as William Hill may benefit as fans place their bets. The team is priced had been price early on at around 16/1 pre tournament to win and with billions wagered during the last World Cup, this spending could rise.

“The global appeal of events William Hill covers means they are involved with most major sporting events and investors should acknowledge that with the World Cup taking place in Russia, as well as other events this summer such as the Ryder Cup, the group could benefit,” Forrest said.

That said, the government’s decision to lower the maximum stake on fixed-odds betting machines to £2 (c.$3.60) will hit the group. But on the upside it may also benefit from the recent U.S. Supreme Court decision to allow individual states to regulate sports betting.

ITV

ITV, the British broadcaster, has had a tough few years as a result of lower spending from major corporate advertisers as a result of macro-economic uncertainties and the ongoing shift of consumer viewing habits towards online providers such as Netflix.

“The World Cup has been an exciting tournament so far and if England continues to do well, maybe even making it to the last match of the tournament, the boost in advertising spending and viewership will provide a welcome boost to income [for ITV],” contended Forrest.

In Britain, the BBC, the nation’s public broadcaster, is sharing the rights to this year’s tournament with ITV. The event is protected by so-called “crown jewels” rules, which means that it must air on “free-to-air” networks.

Separately, while Facebook, Twitter and YouTube are not officially permitted to broadcast live games, it is fairly certain that clips and footage from all of the games will appear online.

This, for example, has spurred Copa90, a youth football brand, to strike a partnership deal with Snapchat to deliver exclusive content across the tournament. As such the platform will disseminate over 40 daily editions in English, French, German, Spanish as well as Arabic across the global. But the U.S. is excluded.

 

courtesy : forbes.com
photo : IndoSport

 

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