What Our Analysts Like

Nine consecutive years of dividend growth from the UK's dominant pension risk transfer franchise. The algo's DivHealth (71) is dented by IFRS earnings optics, but the RNS trail shows top-end EPS delivery and a record buyback running alongside the dividend — the cash generation is contractual in nature, written years ahead.

Twenty consecutive years of dividend growth — a streak that has survived 2008, COVID, and three years of industry-wide outflows — built on recurring-fee wealth management revenue. The H1 margin dip is real (investment costs under the CEO's growth push), but net flows have now been positive for three straight quarters and the interim was raised again in February; the board's two-decade commitment is exactly the plan-around evidence this list screens for.

A 35+ year dividend streak from an Indonesian palm-oil producer with net cash of £87.5M and an F-Score of 9/9. The algo's DivHealth (67) under-reads it because commodity cyclicality suppresses cover scoring — but the streak has survived multiple palm-oil cycles, which is the better evidence.

The market prices structural print decline; the RNS trail shows 96% of revenues contracted to 2029 (Guardian renewal signed March 2026) and net cash for the first time in years. A declining industry with a duopoly position and contracted revenue is a very different income risk than the headline suggests.

Dividend 96% covered by EPRA earnings, at a NAV discount, with a reversionary yield signalling income upside as leases re-gear. A growth score near the floor keeps it off every quality screen — that's precisely why an income-first reader hasn't heard of it.

Specialist distributor that delivered 15% organic growth and +36% earnings in H1 2026, materially ahead of its own guidance. It always screens premium-rated — the nuance is that the multiple keeps being backed by the actuals, and the $170M CDM acquisition quietly extends it into US defence interconnect.

On track for a 21st consecutive year of profit growth, with two guidance upgrades inside three months and net cash of £206M. Looks like a boring IT reseller; the upgrade trail says AI infrastructure demand is structural, not a one-off cycle.

Third outlook upgrade in 12 months, ROCE 25.6%, and the tell that screens miss: the company discloses average daily net cash (£445M YTD) — a risk-culture signal no other UK contractor offers. Priced like a builder, compounds like a quality industrial.

Record H1: 79,000 net new customers, all-time-high D2C inflows of £3.5bn, and PBT margin guidance lifted above 40%. Platform economics at scale — the only constraint our scoring flags is the valuation, which is the price of the quality.

The counter-cyclical compounder: the UK's largest restructuring firm grows when the economy doesn't (revenue +16% FY2026, ROCE 29%, 52% five-year dividend CAGR, net cash). Screens miss it because insolvency revenue doesn't fit growth templates; at around 13x forward it's among the cheapest quality on this page.

FY26 EBITDA of £14.0M beat guidance, up 47%, with like-for-likes at +3.3% against a market at -0.1%. Nano-cap illiquidity and no dividend keep it off every institutional screen — but the store-only pivot is now proven in audited numbers, not promises.

A specialist inventory- and asset-finance bank whose Friday trading statement guided full-year profit to "materially exceed" market expectations: the lending book is up 25% and return on regulatory equity has stepped from roughly 12% to over 17%. A sub-£100M bank with no analyst following, re-rating on its own numbers — the catalyst is days old.

Record FY2025 results at low-single-digit earnings multiples and below book, with the FCA regulatory overhang now formally resolved. A specialist premium-finance lender with literally no coverage — the catalyst happened and almost nobody was watching.

UK mid-market accountancy roll-up: FY2026 revenue +12% to c.£251M and adjusted EBITDA +12% to c.£46M, net cash improved to £24M despite two acquisitions, with a £500M+ medium-term revenue ambition reiterated. Fresh listings get no analyst attention by default; the results say the quality is already compounding.

Eighth consecutive record year (EBITDA +56%), with two production catalysts landing around Q3 2026 — a new Permian Basin plant and the IO#11 expansion. Iodine has no LSE sector peers, so no analyst has a lens for it; at single-digit EV/EBITDA the niche is the opportunity.

Adjusted net cash of $177.9M covers roughly a third of the market cap, earned at a $936/oz AISC — below guidance. The Nigeria single-country discount obscures how fast the cash is building; Douta (1.7Moz) de-risks the second-mine question.

Debt-free, with net cash of around $62M — roughly a fifth of the market value — and compounding fast: Q1 2026 revenue rose 83% and post-tax profit 139% as Brazilian gold output grew 20% and the Coringa second mine ramped. A debut 5p dividend (paid July) confirms the cash is real; the single-mine-to-two-mine transition is the inflection the balance sheet is funding.

$240M net cash (last reported at FY2025), operating profit +205% that year, free-cash-flow margins above 60%, and a buyback underway. Capital-light payments businesses routinely score poorly on industrial-era balance-sheet metrics — which keeps a company holding a quarter-billion dollars of net cash off conventional safety screens.

FY26 results (June) delivered record adjusted operating profit of £19.0M (+44%) on revenue of £104.8M (+16%), both ahead of upgraded guidance, with £44.0M period-end cash and a completed buyback that retired 10% of the shares. Planet Zoo 2 launches 13 October 2026 as the first of three confirmed titles across FY27-28; the market is still scarred by the 2022-23 misses while the pipeline is the strongest since IPO.

£31.7M of cash covers roughly two-thirds of the market value at a low EV/EBITDA — the deepest bunker on this list, even after a £10M buyback and the dividend. The inflection is closer but not finished (the adjusted EBIT loss narrowed to £0.2M and a credible three-year doubling framework was set out in June) — so this is still the watch-item: the balance sheet pays you to wait, but you are waiting.