Metis Energy (SGX:L02) shareholders are up 19% this past week, but still in the red over the last three years

Metis Energy Limited (SGX:L02) shareholders will doubtless be very grateful to see the share price up 60% in the last quarter. But that cannot eclipse the less-than-impressive returns over the last three years. In fact, the share price is down 47% in the last three years, falling well short of the market return.

While the last three years has been tough for Metis Energy shareholders, this past week has shown signs of promise. So let's look at the longer term fundamentals and see if they've been the driver of the negative returns.

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Metis Energy 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.

In the last three years Metis Energy saw its revenue shrink by 35% per year. That means its revenue trend is very weak compared to other loss making companies. With revenue in decline, the share price decline of 14% per year is hardly undeserved. It would probably be worth asking whether the company can fund itself to profitability. Of course, it is possible for businesses to bounce back from a revenue drop - but we'd want to see that before getting interested.

The company's revenue and earnings (over time) are depicted in the image below (click to see the exact numbers).

Balance sheet strength is crucial. It might be well worthwhile taking a look at our free report on how its financial position has changed over time.

A Different Perspective

Investors in Metis Energy had a tough year, with a total loss of 3.0%, against a market gain of about 25%. However, keep in mind that even the best stocks will sometimes underperform the market over a twelve month period. Unfortunately, longer term shareholders are suffering worse, given the loss of 7% doled out over the last five years. We would want clear information suggesting the company will grow, before taking the view that the share price will stabilize. While it is well worth considering the different impacts that market conditions can have on the share price, there are other factors that are even more important. For instance, we've identified 5 warning signs for Metis Energy (3 are a bit concerning) that you should be aware of.

Of course, you might find a fantastic investment by looking elsewhere. So take a peek at this free list of companies we expect will grow earnings.

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