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Investors are often guided by the idea of discovering 'the next big thing', even if that means buying 'story stocks' without any revenue, let alone profit. But the reality is that when a company loses money each year, for long enough, its investors will usually take their share of those losses. A loss-making company is yet to prove itself with profit, and eventually the inflow of external capital may dry up.
Despite being in the age of tech-stock blue-sky investing, many investors still adopt a more traditional strategy; buying shares in profitable companies like Fraport (ETR:FRA). While this doesn't necessarily speak to whether it's undervalued, the profitability of the business is enough to warrant some appreciation - especially if its growing.
See our latest analysis for Fraport
Fraport's Improving Profits
Over the last three years, Fraport has grown earnings per share (EPS) at as impressive rate from a relatively low point, resulting in a three year percentage growth rate that isn't particularly indicative of expected future performance. As a result, we'll zoom in on growth over the last year, instead. In impressive fashion, Fraport's EPS grew from €2.36 to €4.67, over the previous 12 months. It's a rarity to see 98% year-on-year growth like that.
It's often helpful to take a look at earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) margins, as well as revenue growth, to get another take on the quality of the company's growth. While we note Fraport achieved similar EBIT margins to last year, revenue grew by a solid 21% to €4.2b. That's encouraging news for the company!
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.
Fortunately, we've got access to analyst forecasts of Fraport's future profits. You can do your own forecasts without looking, or you can take a peek at what the professionals are predicting.
Are Fraport Insiders Aligned With All Shareholders?
It's a good habit to check into a company's remuneration policies to ensure that the CEO and management team aren't putting their own interests before that of the shareholder with excessive salary packages. For companies with market capitalisations between €3.7b and €11b, like Fraport, the median CEO pay is around €3.1m.
The Fraport CEO received €1.7m in compensation for the year ending December 2023. That seems pretty reasonable, especially given it's below the median for similar sized companies. While the level of CEO compensation shouldn't be the biggest factor in how the company is viewed, modest remuneration is a positive, because it suggests that the board keeps shareholder interests in mind. It can also be a sign of a culture of integrity, in a broader sense.