MMA Offshore (ASX:MRM) Share Prices Have Dropped 85% In The Last Five Years

We're definitely into long term investing, but some companies are simply bad investments over any time frame. We really hate to see fellow investors lose their hard-earned money. Imagine if you held MMA Offshore Limited (ASX:MRM) for half a decade as the share price tanked 85%. And some of the more recent buyers are probably worried, too, with the stock falling 80% in the last year. Even worse, it's down 41% in about a month, which isn't fun at all.

We really hope anyone holding through that price crash has a diversified portfolio. Even when you lose money, you don't have to lose the lesson.

See our latest analysis for MMA Offshore

MMA Offshore wasn't profitable in the last twelve months, it is unlikely we'll see a strong correlation between its share price and its earnings per share (EPS). Arguably revenue is our next best option. When a company doesn't make profits, we'd generally expect to see good revenue growth. That's because it's hard to be confident a company will be sustainable if revenue growth is negligible, and it never makes a profit.

Over half a decade MMA Offshore reduced its trailing twelve month revenue by 25% for each year. That's definitely a weaker result than most pre-profit companies report. So it's not altogether surprising to see the share price down 13% per year in the same time period. We don't think this is a particularly promising picture. Ironically, that behavior could create an opportunity for the contrarian investor - but only if there are good reasons to predict a brighter future.

You can see how earnings and revenue have changed over time in the image below (click on the chart to see the exact values).

If you are thinking of buying or selling MMA Offshore stock, you should check out this FREE detailed report on its balance sheet.

What about the Total Shareholder Return (TSR)?

We'd be remiss not to mention the difference between MMA Offshore's total shareholder return (TSR) and its share price return. The TSR is a return calculation that accounts for the value of cash dividends (assuming that any dividend received was reinvested) and the calculated value of any discounted capital raisings and spin-offs. Dividends have been really beneficial for MMA Offshore shareholders, and that cash payout explains why its total shareholder loss of 75%, over the last 5 years, isn't as bad as the share price return.

A Different Perspective

MMA Offshore shareholders are down 69% for the year, but the market itself is up 1.8%. Even the share prices of good stocks drop sometimes, but we want to see improvements in the fundamental metrics of a business, before getting too interested. Unfortunately, last year's performance may indicate unresolved challenges, given that it was worse than the annualised loss of 12% over the last half decade. We realise that Baron Rothschild has said investors should "buy when there is blood on the streets", but we caution that investors should first be sure they are buying a high quality business. 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. Take risks, for example - MMA Offshore has 4 warning signs (and 1 which is significant) we think you should know about.

We will like MMA Offshore better if we see some big insider buys. While we wait, check out this free list of growing companies with considerable, recent, insider buying.

Please note, the market returns quoted in this article reflect the market weighted average returns of stocks that currently trade on AU exchanges.

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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. 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.
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