It's not a stretch to say that CH Offshore Ltd.'s (SGX:C13) price-to-sales (or "P/S") ratio of 0.9x right now seems quite "middle-of-the-road" for companies in the Energy Services industry in Singapore, where the median P/S ratio is around 0.7x. Although, it's not wise to simply ignore the P/S without explanation as investors may be disregarding a distinct opportunity or a costly mistake.

What Does CH Offshore's P/S Mean For Shareholders?

With revenue growth that's exceedingly strong of late, CH Offshore has been doing very well. It might be that many expect the strong revenue performance to wane, which has kept the share price, and thus the P/S ratio, from rising. If that doesn't eventuate, then existing shareholders have reason to be feeling optimistic about the future direction of the share price.

Want the full picture on earnings, revenue and cash flow for the company? Then our free report on CH Offshore will help you shine a light on its historical performance.

Is There Some Revenue Growth Forecasted For CH Offshore?

There's an inherent assumption that a company should be matching the industry for P/S ratios like CH Offshore's to be considered reasonable.

If we review the last year of revenue growth, the company posted a terrific increase of 72%. The latest three year period has also seen an excellent 118% overall rise in revenue, aided by its short-term performance. Accordingly, shareholders would have definitely welcomed those medium-term rates of revenue growth.

When compared to the industry's one-year growth forecast of 12%, the most recent medium-term revenue trajectory is noticeably more alluring

In light of this, it's curious that CH Offshore's P/S sits in line with the majority of other companies. It may be that most investors are not convinced the company can maintain its recent growth rates.

What Does CH Offshore'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 CH Offshore'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. It'd be fair to assume that potential risks the company faces could be the contributing factor to the lower than expected P/S. It appears some are indeed anticipating revenue instability, because the persistence of these recent medium-term conditions would normally provide a boost to the share price.

There are also other vital risk factors to consider and we've discovered 2 warning signs for CH Offshore (1 doesn't sit too well with us!) that you should be aware of before investing here.

Of course, profitable companies with a history of great earnings growth are generally safer bets. So you may wish to see this free collection of other companies that have reasonable P/E ratios and have grown earnings strongly.