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. But as Peter Lynch said in One Up On Wall Street, 'Long shots almost never pay off.' 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 Lalique Group (VTX:LLQ). 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.
Check out our latest analysis for Lalique Group
How Fast Is Lalique Group Growing?
If you believe that markets are even vaguely efficient, then over the long term you'd expect a company's share price to follow its earnings per share (EPS) outcomes. That makes EPS growth an attractive quality for any company. To the delight of shareholders, Lalique Group has achieved impressive annual EPS growth of 39%, compound, over the last three years. That sort of growth rarely ever lasts long, but it is well worth paying attention to when it happens.
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 good news is that Lalique Group is growing revenues, and EBIT margins improved by 4.9 percentage points to 8.3%, over the last year. Ticking those two boxes is a good sign of growth, in our book.
The chart below shows how the company's bottom and top lines have progressed over time. To see the actual numbers, click on the chart.
Lalique Group isn't a huge company, given its market capitalisation of CHF228m. That makes it extra important to check on its balance sheet strength.
Are Lalique Group Insiders Aligned With All Shareholders?
Theory would suggest that it's an encouraging sign to see high insider ownership of a company, since it ties company performance directly to the financial success of its management. So we're pleased to report that Lalique Group insiders own a meaningful share of the business. To be exact, company insiders hold 68% of the company, so their decisions have a significant impact on their investments. Intuition will tell you this is a good sign because it suggests they will be incentivised to build value for shareholders over the long term. To give you an idea, the value of insiders' holdings in the business are valued at €155m at the current share price. That's nothing to sneeze at!