Hiap Hoe's(SGX:5JK) Share Price Is Down 30% Over The Past Three Years.

In order to justify the effort of selecting individual stocks, it's worth striving to beat the returns from a market index fund. But if you try your hand at stock picking, your risk returning less than the market. Unfortunately, that's been the case for longer term Hiap Hoe Limited (SGX:5JK) shareholders, since the share price is down 30% in the last three years, falling well short of the market decline of around 12%. And over the last year the share price fell 24%, so we doubt many shareholders are delighted. There was little comfort for shareholders in the last week as the price declined a further 1.6%.

View our latest analysis for Hiap Hoe

Given that Hiap Hoe 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 fast revenue growth can be easily extrapolated to forecast profits, often of considerable size.

Over the last three years, Hiap Hoe's revenue dropped 14% per year. That's not what investors generally want to see. The stock has disappointed holders over the last three years, falling 9%, annualized. And with no profits, and weak revenue, are you surprised? However, in this kind of situation you can sometimes find opportunity, where sentiment is negative but the company is actually making good progress.

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

You can see how its balance sheet has strengthened (or weakened) over time in this free interactive graphic.

What about the Total Shareholder Return (TSR)?

We've already covered Hiap Hoe's share price action, but we should also mention its total shareholder return (TSR). The TSR attempts to capture the value of dividends (as if they were reinvested) as well as any spin-offs or discounted capital raisings offered to shareholders. Dividends have been really beneficial for Hiap Hoe shareholders, and that cash payout explains why its total shareholder loss of 27%, over the last 3 years, isn't as bad as the share price return.

A Different Perspective

We regret to report that Hiap Hoe shareholders are down 23% for the year. Unfortunately, that's worse than the broader market decline of 10%. However, it could simply be that the share price has been impacted by broader market jitters. It might be worth keeping an eye on the fundamentals, in case there's a good opportunity. Regrettably, last year's performance caps off a bad run, with the shareholders facing a total loss of 0.9% per year over five years. We realise that Baron Rothschild has said investors should "buy when there is blood on the streets", but we caution that investors should first be sure they are buying a high quality business. It's always interesting to track share price performance over the longer term. But to understand Hiap Hoe better, we need to consider many other factors. Case in point: We've spotted 1 warning sign for Hiap Hoe you should be aware of.

But note: Hiap Hoe 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 SG exchanges.

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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. 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.
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