Earnings Growth of 0.8% Over 5 Years Hasn't Been Enough to Translate Into Positive Returns for Shanghai Industrial Urban Development Group (HKG:563) Shareholders
Earnings Growth of 0.8% Over 5 Years Hasn't Been Enough to Translate Into Positive Returns for Shanghai Industrial Urban Development Group (HKG:563) Shareholders
We think intelligent long term investing is the way to go. But unfortunately, some companies simply don't succeed. For example the Shanghai Industrial Urban Development Group Limited (HKG:563) share price dropped 73% over five years. That's not a lot of fun for true believers.
After losing 15% this past week, it's worth investigating the company's fundamentals to see what we can infer from past performance.
View our latest analysis for Shanghai Industrial Urban Development Group
There is no denying that markets are sometimes efficient, but prices do not always reflect underlying business performance. One imperfect but simple way to consider how the market perception of a company has shifted is to compare the change in the earnings per share (EPS) with the share price movement.
While the share price declined over five years, Shanghai Industrial Urban Development Group actually managed to increase EPS by an average of 4.2% per year. So it doesn't seem like EPS is a great guide to understanding how the market is valuing the stock. Alternatively, growth expectations may have been unreasonable in the past.
Based on these numbers, we'd venture that the market may have been over-optimistic about forecast growth, half a decade ago. Looking to other metrics might better explain the share price change.
We note that the dividend has remained healthy, so that wouldn't really explain the share price drop. While it's not completely obvious why the share price is down, a closer look at the company's history might help explain it.
You can see how earnings and revenue have changed over time in the image below (click on the chart to see the exact values).
SEHK:563 Earnings and Revenue Growth March 15th 2023
Take a more thorough look at Shanghai Industrial Urban Development Group's financial health with this free report on its balance sheet.
What About Dividends?
It is important to consider the total shareholder return, as well as the share price return, for any given stock. The TSR incorporates the value of any spin-offs or discounted capital raisings, along with any dividends, based on the assumption that the dividends are reinvested. So for companies that pay a generous dividend, the TSR is often a lot higher than the share price return. We note that for Shanghai Industrial Urban Development Group the TSR over the last 5 years was -66%, which is better than the share price return mentioned above. This is largely a result of its dividend payments!
A Different Perspective
Shanghai Industrial Urban Development Group shareholders are down 11% for the year (even including dividends), but the market itself is up 9.1%. However, keep in mind that even the best stocks will sometimes underperform the market over a twelve month period. Unfortunately, longer term shareholders are suffering worse, given the loss of 11% doled out over the last five years. We would want clear information suggesting the company will grow, before taking the view that the share price will stabilize. I find it very interesting to look at share price over the long term as a proxy for business performance. But to truly gain insight, we need to consider other information, too. Even so, be aware that Shanghai Industrial Urban Development Group is showing 3 warning signs in our investment analysis , and 1 of those doesn't sit too well with us...
Of course, you might find a fantastic investment by looking elsewhere. So take a peek at this free list of companies we expect will grow earnings.
Please note, the market returns quoted in this article reflect the market weighted average returns of stocks that currently trade on Hong Kong exchanges.
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