Does Österreichische Post AG’s (VIE:POST) Past Performance Indicate A Stronger Future?
For long-term investors, assessing earnings trend over time and against industry benchmarks is more beneficial than examining a single earnings announcement at a point in time. Investors may find my commentary, albeit very high-level and brief, on Österreichische Post AG (VIE:POST) useful as an attempt to give more color around how Österreichische Post is currently performing. Check out our latest analysis for Österreichische Post
Could POST beat the long-term trend and outperform its industry?
POST’s trailing twelve-month earnings (from 31 March 2018) of €166.60m has increased by 7.83% compared to the previous year. Furthermore, this one-year growth rate has exceeded its 5-year annual growth average of 1.35%, indicating the rate at which POST is growing has accelerated. What’s the driver of this growth? Let’s take a look at whether it is merely due to an industry uplift, or if Österreichische Post has seen some company-specific growth.
Over the past couple of years, Österreichische Post grew bottom-line, while its top-line fell, by successfully managing its costs. This has caused to a margin expansion and profitability over time. Inspecting growth from a sector-level, the AT logistics industry has been growing, albeit, at a muted single-digit rate of 2.80% over the past twelve months, and 5.65% over the past five years. This means any recent headwind the industry is enduring, the impact on Österreichische Post has been softer relative to its peers.
In terms of returns from investment, Österreichische Post has invested its equity funds well leading to a 22.30% return on equity (ROE), above the sensible minimum of 20%. Furthermore, its return on assets (ROA) of 9.03% exceeds the AT Logistics industry of 4.84%, indicating Österreichische Post has used its assets more efficiently. However, its return on capital (ROC), which also accounts for Österreichische Post’s debt level, has declined over the past 3 years from 20.36% to 17.74%.
What does this mean?
Österreichische Post’s track record can be a valuable insight into its earnings performance, but it certainly doesn’t tell the whole story. While Österreichische Post has a good historical track record with positive growth and profitability, there’s no certainty that this will extrapolate into the future. I recommend you continue to research Österreichische Post to get a more holistic view of the stock by looking at:
Future Outlook: What are well-informed industry analysts predicting for POST’s future growth? Take a look at our free research report of analyst consensus for POST’s outlook.
Financial Health: Is POST’s operations financially sustainable? Balance sheets can be hard to analyze, which is why we’ve done it for you. Check out our financial health checks here.
Other High-Performing Stocks: Are there other stocks that provide better prospects with proven track records? Explore our free list of these great stocks here.
NB: Figures in this article are calculated using data from the trailing twelve months from 31 March 2018. This may not be consistent with full year annual report figures.
To help readers see pass the short term volatility of the financial market, we aim to bring you a long-term focused research analysis purely driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis does not factor in the latest price sensitive company announcements.
The author is an independent contributor and at the time of publication had no position in the stocks mentioned.
