With a price-to-sales (or "P/S") ratio of 0.3x Siab Holdings Berhad (KLSE:SIAB) may be sending bullish signals at the moment, given that almost half of all the Construction companies in Malaysia have P/S ratios greater than 1x and even P/S higher than 3x are not unusual. However, the P/S might be low for a reason and it requires further investigation to determine if it's justified.

See our latest analysis for Siab Holdings Berhad

How Has Siab Holdings Berhad Performed Recently?

Siab Holdings Berhad has been doing a good job lately as it's been growing revenue at a solid pace. It might be that many expect the respectable revenue performance to degrade substantially, which has repressed the P/S. Those who are bullish on Siab Holdings Berhad will be hoping that this isn't the case, so that they can pick up the stock at a lower valuation.

Want the full picture on earnings, revenue and cash flow for the company? Then our free report on Siab Holdings Berhad will help you shine a light on its historical performance.

How Is Siab Holdings Berhad's Revenue Growth Trending?

The only time you'd be truly comfortable seeing a P/S as low as Siab Holdings Berhad's is when the company's growth is on track to lag the industry.

If we review the last year of revenue growth, the company posted a terrific increase of 22%. However, this wasn't enough as the latest three year period has seen the company endure a nasty 34% drop in revenue in aggregate. Therefore, it's fair to say the revenue growth recently has been undesirable for the company.

Weighing that medium-term revenue trajectory against the broader industry's one-year forecast for expansion of 21% shows it's an unpleasant look.

With this in mind, we understand why Siab Holdings Berhad's P/S is lower than most of its industry peers. Nonetheless, there's no guarantee the P/S has reached a floor yet with revenue going in reverse. Even just maintaining these prices could be difficult to achieve as recent revenue trends are already weighing down the shares.

The Bottom Line On Siab Holdings Berhad's P/S

Generally, our preference is to limit the use of the price-to-sales ratio to establishing what the market thinks about the overall health of a company.

As we suspected, our examination of Siab Holdings Berhad revealed its shrinking revenue over the medium-term is contributing to its low P/S, given the industry is set to grow. At this stage investors feel the potential for an improvement in revenue isn't great enough to justify a higher P/S ratio. If recent medium-term revenue trends continue, it's hard to see the share price moving strongly in either direction in the near future under these circumstances.