There is no doubt that the Brexit decision was a surprise to the majority of investors around the world.
Australian investors were some of the first to react to last Friday's shock decision and it wasn't pretty.
The S&P/ASX 200 (Index:^AXJO) (ASX:XJO) had a swing of as much as 4.5% on the day, and although the market seems to have regained some of its composure since then, the main index is still around 3.4% lower from its pre-Brexit levels.
Interestingly, a number of shares have actually been able to trade higher through this recent period of volatility to make new 52-week highs.
Five shares that should be on the radar of investors include:
Burson Group Ltd (ASX: BAP) – Burson is Australia's leading provider of automotive aftermarket parts and services. The business has some attractive defensive qualities and is often regarded as 'recession proof' because people will often have no choice but to repair their cars despite the economic environment. Burson has impressed since listing in 2014 and its recent strong share price performance highlights its attractiveness during times of market volatility.
Somnomed Limited (ASX: SOM) – Somnomed is a $200 million healthcare company that has developed mouthguard like devices to treat sleep related disorders such as sleep apnoea and snoring. While much smaller than ResMed Inc. (CHESS) (ASX: RMD) and Fisher & Paykel Healthcare Corp Ltd (ASX: FPH), the company is showing strong revenue and unit sales growth and is already reasonably well established in North America and Europe. This company is not yet profitable, but a favourable growth outlook means the share price continues to climb.
Farm Pride Foods Ltd (ASX: FRM) – Farm Pride Foods continues to make new highs even though the shares have already gained a whopping 717% over the past 12 months. The company is involved in the production and sale of eggs and has benefited tremendously over recent years from the increased demand for free range and organic eggs. This increased demand has helped Farm Pride Foods to deliver an improved operating performance and, at the same time, improve its balance sheet by paying down its debt.
Appen Ltd (ASX: APX) – Appen shares continue to perform strongly and have now increased by more than 311% since listing in January 2015. This small-cap tech company provides translation and language services to some of the world's largest software developers including Microsoft. Appen's technology is also used in voice recognition applications in things like GPS units, gaming consoles and voice driven internet search engines. Unsurprisingly, the company has delivered very strong earnings growth over the past couple of years and investors are expecting this growth to continue well into the future.
Scentre Group Ltd (ASX:SCG) – Scentre Group is one of the few blue chip shares to have come out of the last few days unscathed and is now trading at all-time highs. It has a portfolio of 40 Westfield shopping centres located throughout Australia and New Zealand and, even with the rise of online shopping, continues to deliver steady growth. Scentre Group may not necessarily be the fastest growing company on the ASX, but investors appreciate the fact that it pays a reliable dividend and can offer protection during times of volatility.
