Investors in Hotel Chocolat Group (LON:HOTC) from three years ago are still down 59%, even after 11% gain this past week

While not a mind-blowing move, it is good to see that the Hotel Chocolat Group plc (LON:HOTC) share price has gained 26% in the last three months. Meanwhile over the last three years the stock has dropped hard. Regrettably, the share price slid 59% in that period. So it is really good to see an improvement. Perhaps the company has turned over a new leaf.

Although the past week has been more reassuring for shareholders, they're still in the red over the last three years, so let's see if the underlying business has been responsible for the decline.

View our latest analysis for Hotel Chocolat Group

Given that Hotel Chocolat Group didn't make a profit in the last twelve months, we'll focus on revenue growth to form a quick view of its business development. 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.

In the last three years, Hotel Chocolat Group saw its revenue grow by 16% per year, compound. That's a fairly respectable growth rate. So some shareholders would be frustrated with the compound loss of 17% per year. The market must have had really high expectations to be disappointed with this progress. It would be well worth taking a closer look at the company, to determine growth trends (and balance sheet strength).

The company's revenue and earnings (over time) are depicted in the image below (click to see the exact numbers).

We're pleased to report that the CEO is remunerated more modestly than most CEOs at similarly capitalized companies. It's always worth keeping an eye on CEO pay, but a more important question is whether the company will grow earnings throughout the years. So we recommend checking out this free report showing consensus forecasts

A Different Perspective

It's good to see that Hotel Chocolat Group has rewarded shareholders with a total shareholder return of 22% in the last twelve months. There's no doubt those recent returns are much better than the TSR loss of 8% per year over five years. The long term loss makes us cautious, but the short term TSR gain certainly hints at a brighter future. Shareholders might want to examine this detailed historical graph of past earnings, revenue and cash flow.

We will like Hotel Chocolat Group 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 British exchanges.

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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.