Daekyo Co., Ltd.'s (KRX:019680) Low P/S No Reason For Excitement

When close to half the companies operating in the Consumer Services industry in Korea have price-to-sales ratios (or "P/S") above 0.9x, you may consider Daekyo Co., Ltd. (KRX:019680) as an attractive investment with its 0.3x P/S ratio. Nonetheless, we'd need to dig a little deeper to determine if there is a rational basis for the reduced P/S.

Check out our latest analysis for Daekyo

How Daekyo Has Been Performing

Recent times haven't been great for Daekyo as its revenue has been falling quicker than most other companies. The P/S ratio is probably low because investors think this poor revenue performance isn't going to improve at all. You'd much rather the company improve its revenue performance if you still believe in the business. If not, then existing shareholders will probably struggle to get excited about the future direction of the share price.

Keen to find out how analysts think Daekyo's future stacks up against the industry? In that case, our free report is a great place to start.

What Are Revenue Growth Metrics Telling Us About The Low P/S?

The only time you'd be truly comfortable seeing a P/S as low as Daekyo's is when the company's growth is on track to lag the industry.

Retrospectively, the last year delivered a frustrating 4.6% decrease to the company's top line. At least revenue has managed not to go completely backwards from three years ago in aggregate, thanks to the earlier period of growth. So it appears to us that the company has had a mixed result in terms of growing revenue over that time.

Looking ahead now, revenue is anticipated to slump, contracting by 0.6% during the coming year according to the sole analyst following the company. With the industry predicted to deliver 3.8% growth, that's a disappointing outcome.

With this in consideration, we find it intriguing that Daekyo's P/S is closely matching its industry peers. Nonetheless, there's no guarantee the P/S has reached a floor yet with revenue going in reverse. 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 Daekyo's P/S

We'd say the price-to-sales ratio's power isn't primarily as a valuation instrument but rather to gauge current investor sentiment and future expectations.

As we suspected, our examination of Daekyo's analyst forecasts revealed that its outlook for shrinking revenue is contributing to its low P/S. At this stage investors feel the potential for an improvement in revenue isn't great enough to justify a higher P/S ratio. It's hard to see the share price rising strongly in the near future under these circumstances.

There are also other vital risk factors to consider before investing and we've discovered 1 warning sign for Daekyo that you should be aware of.

If strong companies turning a profit tickle your fancy, then you'll want to check out this free list of interesting companies that trade on a low P/E (but have proven they can grow earnings).

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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.