This is the best-performing FTSE 100 stock of the last 40 years

With the FTSE 100 celebrating its 40th year in 2024, it’s high time to talk about its best performers, both now, and (potentially) in the future.

So I’ve found the FTSE 100 company that produced the highest stock market returns between 1984 and 2024.

And as a 40-something writer, I reckon I won’t be able to retire until my early 80s. It will be the 2060s by then.

The government is already suggesting the retirement age will have to rise to age 71 by 2034.

So I also want investments that will perform fantastically well over the next 40 years.

Cream of the crop

In total, since 1984, the FTSE 100 has climbed 673%. This a better return than holding gold, or UK government bonds.

As a long-term investor I want to keep one eye on the future, because markets will always have ups and downs.

From the dotcom crash to the Great Financial Crisis, and then the pandemic. These events seemed like the end of the world. But a stock market recovery always followed

And taking the prize of the best-performing FTSE 100 stock of the last 40 years is the scientific publisher RELX.

It was first admitted to the London Stock Exchange in 1948. Its best known properties are the journals The Lancet, Law360 and ScienceDirect.

If I’d invested £100 in 1984 and reinvested all dividends, I’d have over £35,000 today.

This is a better performance than any other Footsie stock.

Simple facts

Longevity creates success and what we find about the most successful companies is that often, they…

Generate lots of cash
Increase their dividend consistently
Bring in business leaders to drive growth

It now makes £2bn of profit every year. Aside from one blip in 2011, it has improved its dividend every year since 2004.

Picking future winners

I’ll put forward my pick for the stock I own that I think will outperform over the next 40 years too.

£205m market cap Hvivo (LSE:HVO) conducts trials in which volunteers are exposed to viruses in a controlled lab setting. This is controversial. If the human challenge model falls out of favour, this could affect its future.

But using this method, Hvivo’s clients can bring vaccines to market relatively quickly.

In April 2023 the US drug regulator granted Nasdaq-listed SAB Biotherapeutics Fast Track status for its medicine for seasonal flu.

This came after using Hvivo’s data, lab services and human challenge model. And the multi-million pound contract wins keep on coming.

Replacing Cathal Friel as CEO with Dr Yamin Khan was a strong move. Friel is a great sales guy but without the biotech experience necessary to drive a company like this forward.

More recently, it has brought technical specialists onto its board. These include Elaine Sullivan, who was in management at Eli Lilly and Astrazeneca.

The upshot

Hvivo will start paying its first dividends in 2024. It has £37m cash in the bank and clients pay up front for access to its clinics.

It recently moved to a larger facility in Canary Wharf and is targeting £100m in revenue by 2028.

It’s nowhere near the FTSE 100 yet, but I see strong growth, dividends and cash generation making Hvivo one of the UK’s best performers by 2064.

The post This is the best-performing FTSE 100 stock of the last 40 years appeared first on The Motley Fool UK.

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Tom Rodgers has positions in Hvivo Plc. The Motley Fool UK has recommended AstraZeneca Plc, British American Tobacco P.l.c., and RELX. Views expressed on the companies mentioned in this article are those of the writer and therefore may differ from the official recommendations we make in our subscription services such as Share Advisor, Hidden Winners and Pro. Here at The Motley Fool we believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors.