Revenues Working Against Selected Textiles S.A.'s (ATH:EPIL) Share Price

Selected Textiles S.A.'s (ATH:EPIL) price-to-sales (or "P/S") ratio of 0.2x might make it look like a buy right now compared to the Luxury industry in Greece, where around half of the companies have P/S ratios above 1.4x and even P/S above 5x are quite common. Nonetheless, we'd need to dig a little deeper to determine if there is a rational basis for the reduced P/S.

See our latest analysis for Selected Textiles

What Does Selected Textiles' Recent Performance Look Like?

For example, consider that Selected Textiles' financial performance has been poor lately as its revenue has been in decline. One possibility is that the P/S is low because investors think the company won't do enough to avoid underperforming the broader industry in the near future. However, if this doesn't eventuate then existing shareholders may be feeling optimistic about the future direction of the share price.

Want the full picture on earnings, revenue and cash flow for the company? Then our free report on Selected Textiles will help you shine a light on its historical performance.

Is There Any Revenue Growth Forecasted For Selected Textiles?

There's an inherent assumption that a company should underperform the industry for P/S ratios like Selected Textiles' to be considered reasonable.

Retrospectively, the last year delivered a frustrating 25% decrease to the company's top line. As a result, revenue from three years ago have also fallen 12% overall. Accordingly, shareholders would have felt downbeat about the medium-term rates of revenue growth.

Comparing that to the industry, which is predicted to deliver 6.3% growth in the next 12 months, the company's downward momentum based on recent medium-term revenue results is a sobering picture.

With this information, we are not surprised that Selected Textiles is trading at a P/S lower than the industry. However, we think shrinking revenues are unlikely to lead to a stable P/S over the longer term, which could set up shareholders for future disappointment. There's potential for the P/S to fall to even lower levels if the company doesn't improve its top-line growth.

The Bottom Line On Selected Textiles' P/S

Generally, our preference is to limit the use of the price-to-sales ratio to establishing what the market thinks about the overall health of a company.

Our examination of Selected Textiles confirms that the company's shrinking revenue over the past medium-term is a key factor in its low price-to-sales ratio, given the industry is projected to grow. At this stage investors feel the potential for an improvement in revenue isn't great enough to justify a higher P/S ratio. If recent medium-term revenue trends continue, it's hard to see the share price moving strongly in either direction in the near future under these circumstances.

Having said that, be aware Selected Textiles is showing 4 warning signs in our investment analysis, you should know about.

If companies with solid past earnings growth is up your alley, you may wish to see this free collection of other companies with strong earnings growth and low P/E ratios.

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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.