Even after rising 28% this past week, Shenzhen Investment (HKG:604) shareholders are still down 47% over the past five years

Over the last month the Shenzhen Investment Limited (HKG:604) has been much stronger than before, rebounding by 33%. But that doesn't change the fact that the returns over the last five years have been less than pleasing. After all, the share price is down 62% in that time, significantly under-performing the market.

While the stock has risen 28% in the past week but long term shareholders are still in the red, let's see what the fundamentals can tell us.

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Shenzhen Investment isn't currently profitable, so most analysts would look to revenue growth to get an idea of how fast the underlying business is growing. When a company doesn't make profits, we'd generally hope 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 Shenzhen Investment reduced its trailing twelve month revenue by 3.3% for each year. While far from catastrophic that is not good. With neither profit nor revenue growth, the loss of 10% per year doesn't really surprise us. The chance of imminent investor enthusiasm for this stock seems slimmer than Louise Brooks. Not that many investors like to invest in companies that are losing money and not growing revenue.

The image below shows how earnings and revenue have tracked over time (if you click on the image you can see greater detail).

This free interactive report on Shenzhen Investment's balance sheet strength is a great place to start, if you want to investigate the stock further.

What About The Total Shareholder Return (TSR)?

We've already covered Shenzhen Investment's share price action, but we should also mention its total shareholder return (TSR). 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. Shenzhen Investment's TSR of was a loss of 47% for the 5 years. That wasn't as bad as its share price return, because it has paid dividends.

A Different Perspective

Shenzhen Investment shareholders gained a total return of 7.5% during the year. But that return falls short of the market. On the bright side, that's still a gain, and it is certainly better than the yearly loss of about 8% endured over half a decade. It could well be that the business is stabilizing. It's always interesting to track share price performance over the longer term. But to understand Shenzhen Investment better, we need to consider many other factors. Consider for instance, the ever-present spectre of investment risk. We've identified 2 warning signs with Shenzhen Investment , and understanding them should be part of your investment process.

But note: Shenzhen Investment may not be the best stock to buy. So take a peek at this free list of interesting companies with past earnings growth (and further growth forecast).

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