Wizz Air and Repsol cited as post-Covid recovery leaders in Bloomberg Intelligence’s inaugural “BI100” list

12 businesses best poised to benefit from the post-Covid recovery, including WIZZ Airlines and China Tourism Group, have been included in Bloomberg Intelligence’s new “100 Investment Ideas to Watch for 2021” (BI100) report. The list identifies 100 global public companies, credits, market strategies and ETFs that BI analysts believe will benefit from significant fundamental catalysts and developments in 2021.

As international markets and institutions are navigating the ongoing pandemic, as well as major political transitions across the globe, the BI100 aims to provide a globally inclusive portfolio and outlook for 2021 to both the business and investor community alike.

In terms of the post-Covid recovery, the 12 businesses are Cathay Pacific, Central Japan Railway, China Tourism Group, Credicorp, Daikin, Deutsche Wohnen, Link REIT, Petrobras, Repsol, SL Green Realty Corp, Tenet Healthcare and Wizz Air.   

According to the BI100, Wizz Air Holdings Plc was the fastest-growing European airline before the pandemic, and once the virus fades, the carrier is positioned to return to growth. The company is unencumbered by unions or significant debt, and it has the lowest-cost profile in BI’s peer group, which should facilitate expansion once demand recovers. In addition:

• The pandemic has punished Repsol SA, but the Spanish oil company stands to benefit in 2021 from gradual recoveries in crude pricing and fuel demand. With its early embrace of sustainability and a goal of reaching net zero carbon emissions by 2050, Repsol has the industry’s most ambitious emissions targets.
• Japan’s air-conditioning giant Daikin could emerge from the pandemic stronger by adapting its products and services to markets changed by Covid-19, namely ventilation. Air cleaners using filtering and virus-neutralization technology may extend a swift revenue recovery into fiscal 2022 after demand was disrupted at the start of outbreaks.
• Progress on Covid vaccines makes midyear profits probable for Peru’s largest financial holding company. Credicorp Ltd. stands to benefit significantly from the most aggressive government stimulus under way in Latin America, and an expected gross domestic product increase in the country of 8-10%.
• Tenet Healthcare Corp. has kept pace with its turnaround despite the chaos of the pandemic. The sizable corps of surgeons the hospital system hired in 2020 is likely to amplify its profitability starting in the second half of 2021, once the next wave of Covid-19 cases is under control.

Bloomberg Intelligence’s Tim Craighead said: “As vaccines are rolled out this year, our scenario analysis points to economic activity recovering in earnest in 2H21 and extending into 2022, backed by support of significant global fiscal and monetary stimulus. During 2021, several companies may be well positioned to take advantage of the post-covid recovery period, and some will be challenged to keep pace in the “new normal” to come.

This year’s new BI100 report represents an expansion from BI’s traditional 50 ‘companies to watch’ annual list. The BI100 specifically analyzes how critical themes such as green recovery, smart healthcare, and digital transformation will be impacted by public health and policy changes. Bloomberg Intelligence’s team of over 350 analysts spent months evaluating and assessing over 2,000 public companies across 135 industries to devise the BI100.