The past five years for International Workplace Group (LON:IWG) investors has not been profitable

Statistically speaking, long term investing is a profitable endeavour. But no-one is immune from buying too high. For example, after five long years the International Workplace Group plc (LON:IWG) share price is a whole 58% lower. That's not a lot of fun for true believers.

Now let's have a look at the company's fundamentals, and see if the long term shareholder return has matched the performance of the underlying business.

Check out our latest analysis for International Workplace Group

Given that International Workplace 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. Shareholders of unprofitable companies usually desire strong revenue growth. As you can imagine, fast revenue growth, when maintained, often leads to fast profit growth.

In the last half decade, International Workplace Group saw its revenue increase by 2.7% per year. That's far from impressive given all the money it is losing. It's likely this weak growth has contributed to an annualised return of 10% for the last five years. We'd want to see proof that future revenue growth is likely to be significantly stronger before getting too interested in International Workplace Group. When a stock falls hard like this, some investors like to add the company to a watchlist (in case the business recovers, longer term).

You can see below how earnings and revenue have changed over time (discover the exact values by clicking on the image).

We consider it positive that insiders have made significant purchases in the last year. Having said that, most people consider earnings and revenue growth trends to be a more meaningful guide to the business. So we recommend checking out this free report showing consensus forecasts

A Different Perspective

It's good to see that International Workplace Group has rewarded shareholders with a total shareholder return of 12% in the last twelve months. That's including the dividend. That certainly beats the loss of about 9% per year over the last half decade. The long term loss makes us cautious, but the short term TSR gain certainly hints at a brighter future. If you want to research this stock further, the data on insider buying is an obvious place to start. You can click here to see who has been buying shares - and the price they paid.

International Workplace Group is not the only stock insiders are buying. So take a peek at this free list of small cap companies at attractive valuations which insiders have been 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.