So, maybe you have been thinking about entering the sharemarket for some time but aren't sure where to start, or maybe you are just looking for some good quality ASX shares to add to your existing portfolio…
Here are 2 ASX blue-chip shares that I would put at the top of my list. Both companies are great buy-and-hold shares for the long term and in my opinion both offer fairly good value to purchase right now.
Telstra Corporation Ltd (ASX: TLS)
Tesltra has been undergoing some recent short-term pain as it restructures its strategy into a leaner company, so it can remain in a dominant number one market position. This was necessary following the introduction of Australia's National Broadband Network (NBN) by the Australian government. This meant that Telstra no longer owned the national fixed line network for broadband and voice, which had historically translated into high profits and revenues for Telstra. However, once this restructuring is complete, Telstra will be able to more effectively compete with the growing competition in the fixed broadband market.
Telstra recently revealed that it's on track to strip out a total of $2.5 billion in costs by 2022. It also stated that it is on track with its earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation and free cash flow guidance in FY20, which is positive news for shareholders. Also, Telstra's current 16 cents per share dividend now appears to be sustainable from its free cash flows. Telstra's leadership position and world class network in mobile communications positions it well to fully leverage the potential opportunities of 5G technology. The technology has the potential to offer even faster broadband speeds than NBN, providing Telstra with a real opportunity to also gain new mobile broadband subscribers from dissatisfied NBN customers.
Telstra has already conducted trials on its 5G network with speeds that are 7 times the current speed of the 4G network and faster than nearly all existing NBN customers. Areas that Telstra could tap into include things like driverless cars, smart connected homes and other Internet-of-Things (IoT) applications used in a wide range of industries, including agriculture and manufacturing.
Telstra also has an attractive price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 20.7, which is much lower than the 2 next largest ASX-listed telcos Vocus Group Ltd (ASX: VOC) (53) and TPG Telecom Ltd (ASX: TPM) (55).
CSL Limited (ASX: CSL)
CSL has grown from strength to strength over the past 2 decades, evolving from a modest federal government department to now sit as the second-largest company on the ASX. The company has become a global market leader in blood plasma research and disease treatment, reaching more than 60 countries.
A key factor underpinning its strong growth has been its high investment in research and development to create new products, and the fact that CSL's earnings base is essentially shielded from any business cycle downturn.
Over the last 3 years, its earnings growth has averaged 16.5% annually.
CSL is well positioned to continue to deliver strong earnings growth over the next 5 to 10 years, driven by a strong new product development pipeline, a continued fast-growing plasma collection network, and a steadily increasing global demand for immunoglobulin products. CSL has invested more than US$3 billion in research and development over the last 5 years. This creates a pipeline of new and innovative products that provides additional revenue streams and creates an even larger moat to protect against market competition.
CSL's P/E ratio of 47 is also lower than 1 of its major ASX healthcare competitors ResMed Inc (ASX: RMD) (56), and just slightly higher than Cochlear Limited (ASX: COH) (46).
