The excitement of investing in a company that can reverse its fortunes is a big draw for some speculators, so even companies that have no revenue, no profit, and a record of falling short, can manage to find investors. Unfortunately, these high risk investments often have little probability of ever paying off, and many investors pay a price to learn their lesson. A loss-making company is yet to prove itself with profit, and eventually the inflow of external capital may dry up.

So if this idea of high risk and high reward doesn't suit, you might be more interested in profitable, growing companies, like Hafary Holdings (SGX:5VS). Now this is not to say that the company presents the best investment opportunity around, but profitability is a key component to success in business.

See our latest analysis for Hafary Holdings

Hafary Holdings' Improving Profits

In the last three years Hafary Holdings' earnings per share took off; so much so that it's a bit disingenuous to use these figures to try and deduce long term estimates. So it would be better to isolate the growth rate over the last year for our analysis. In impressive fashion, Hafary Holdings' EPS grew from S$0.039 to S$0.081, over the previous 12 months. Year on year growth of 106% is certainly a sight to behold. Shareholders will be hopeful that this is a sign of the company reaching an inflection point.

Careful consideration of revenue growth and earnings before interest and taxation (EBIT) margins can help inform a view on the sustainability of the recent profit growth. The music to the ears of Hafary Holdings shareholders is that EBIT margins have grown from 15% to 24% in the last 12 months and revenues are on an upwards trend as well. That's great to see, on both counts.

In the chart below, you can see how the company has grown earnings and revenue, over time. To see the actual numbers, click on the chart.

Since Hafary Holdings is no giant, with a market capitalisation of S$140m, you should definitely check its cash and debt before getting too excited about its prospects.

Are Hafary Holdings Insiders Aligned With All Shareholders?

Many consider high insider ownership to be a strong sign of alignment between the leaders of a company and the ordinary shareholders. So we're pleased to report that Hafary Holdings insiders own a meaningful share of the business. In fact, they own 41% of the shares, making insiders a very influential shareholder group. Those who are comforted by solid insider ownership like this should be happy, as it implies that those running the business are genuinely motivated to create shareholder value. With that sort of holding, insiders have about S$57m riding on the stock, at current prices. That should be more than enough to keep them focussed on creating shareholder value!