❷ Reece

Reece remains the gold standard in terms of quality and its share price is up 37% since we last highlighted the company in this column a year ago. It remains the case that without a dollar of additional capital over the past 16 years, this hot water and plumbing business grew profits from $38m in 2000 to $166m. Since 2000 growth in total equity has come solely from retained profits and returns on equity have been maintained. Earnings per share of $1.68 in 2015 were forecast a year ago to grow to $2.17 by 2018. That estimate is now $2.27 and has been raised amid a continuing renovation boom for hot water and bathroom supplies.