Diploma is one of those class acts where the shares always seem expensive but the price keeps going up. The stock market welcomed yesterday’s annual results, sending the shares up 8 per cent, or 256p, to a 21st-century high of £34.60. That’s 61 times earnings for the year to September 30 and, even if it repeats the same growth rate this financial year, the 2022 figure will be a breathtaking 42 times. The dividend yield is a tiny 1.2 per cent.
As with Electrocomponents and a few other quoted companies, Diploma is unknown to most people because it sells to businesses. It has three divisions: controls, seals and life sciences. Controls sells specialised wiring, cable, connectors, fasteners, adhesives and control devices for use in high-tech
