Potential Upside For International Cement Group Ltd. (SGX:KUO) Not Without Risk

There wouldn't be many who think International Cement Group Ltd.'s (SGX:KUO) price-to-sales (or "P/S") ratio of 0.4x is worth a mention when the median P/S for the Basic Materials industry in Singapore is similar at about 0.5x. However, investors might be overlooking a clear opportunity or potential setback if there is no rational basis for the P/S.

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See our latest analysis for International Cement Group

What Does International Cement Group's P/S Mean For Shareholders?

It looks like revenue growth has deserted International Cement Group recently, which is not something to boast about. It might be that many expect the uninspiring revenue performance to only match most other companies at best over the coming period, which has kept the P/S from rising. If you like the company, you'd be hoping this isn't the case so that you could potentially pick up some stock while it's not quite in favour.

Although there are no analyst estimates available for International Cement Group, take a look at this free data-rich visualisation to see how the company stacks up on earnings, revenue and cash flow.

How Is International Cement Group's Revenue Growth Trending?

The only time you'd be comfortable seeing a P/S like International Cement Group's is when the company's growth is tracking the industry closely.

Retrospectively, the last year delivered virtually the same number to the company's top line as the year before. Still, the latest three year period has seen an excellent 45% overall rise in revenue, in spite of its uninspiring short-term performance. Therefore, it's fair to say the revenue growth recently has been great for the company, but investors will want to ask why it has slowed to such an extent.

This is in contrast to the rest of the industry, which is expected to grow by 2.4% over the next year, materially lower than the company's recent medium-term annualised growth rates.

With this information, we find it interesting that International Cement Group is trading at a fairly similar P/S compared to the industry. Apparently some shareholders believe the recent performance is at its limits and have been accepting lower selling prices.

What Does International Cement Group's P/S Mean For Investors?

While the price-to-sales ratio shouldn't be the defining factor in whether you buy a stock or not, it's quite a capable barometer of revenue expectations.

We didn't quite envision International Cement Group's P/S sitting in line with the wider industry, considering the revenue growth over the last three-year is higher than the current industry outlook. When we see strong revenue with faster-than-industry growth, we can only assume potential risks are what might be placing pressure on the P/S ratio. At least the risk of a price drop looks to be subdued if recent medium-term revenue trends continue, but investors seem to think future revenue could see some volatility.

And what about other risks? Every company has them, and we've spotted 5 warning signs for International Cement Group (of which 1 is significant!) you should know about.

It's important to make sure you look for a great company, not just the first idea you come across. So if growing profitability aligns with your idea of a great company, take a peek at this free list of interesting companies with strong recent earnings growth (and a low P/E).