Intraco Limited (SGX:I06) shareholders would be excited to see that the share price has had a great month, posting a 26% gain and recovering from prior weakness. The last 30 days bring the annual gain to a very sharp 62%.

In spite of the firm bounce in price, it's still not a stretch to say that Intraco's price-to-sales (or "P/S") ratio of 0.2x right now seems quite "middle-of-the-road" compared to the Trade Distributors industry in Singapore, where the median P/S ratio is around 0.4x. Although, it's not wise to simply ignore the P/S without explanation as investors may be disregarding a distinct opportunity or a costly mistake.

What Does Intraco's P/S Mean For Shareholders?

Revenue has risen at a steady rate over the last year for Intraco, which is generally not a bad outcome. Perhaps the expectation moving forward is that the revenue growth will track in line with the wider industry for the near term, which has kept the P/S subdued. If not, then at least existing shareholders probably aren't too pessimistic about the future direction of the share price.

Is There Some Revenue Growth Forecasted For Intraco?

In order to justify its P/S ratio, Intraco would need to produce growth that's similar to the industry.

Retrospectively, the last year delivered a decent 4.5% gain to the company's revenues. However, this wasn't enough as the latest three year period has seen an unpleasant 7.2% overall drop in revenue. 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 6.1% shows it's an unpleasant look.

With this in mind, we find it worrying that Intraco's P/S exceeds that of its industry peers. Apparently many investors in the company are way less bearish than recent times would indicate and aren't willing to let go of their stock right now. Only the boldest would assume these prices are sustainable as a continuation of recent revenue trends is likely to weigh on the share price eventually.

The Key Takeaway

Intraco appears to be back in favour with a solid price jump bringing its P/S back in line with other companies in the industry Typically, we'd caution against reading too much into price-to-sales ratios when settling on investment decisions, though it can reveal plenty about what other market participants think about the company.

Our look at Intraco revealed its shrinking revenues over the medium-term haven't impacted the P/S as much as we anticipated, given the industry is set to grow. When we see revenue heading backwards in the context of growing industry forecasts, it'd make sense to expect a possible share price decline on the horizon, sending the moderate P/S lower. Unless the the circumstances surrounding the recent medium-term improve, it wouldn't be wrong to expect a a difficult period ahead for the company's shareholders.

Before you take the next step, you should know about the 2 warning signs for Intraco (1 shouldn't be ignored!) that we have uncovered.

If these risks are making you reconsider your opinion on Intraco, explore our interactive list of high quality stocks to get an idea of what else is out there.

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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.