12 Stocks of Christmas: Water Intelligence
For my contributions to the 12 Stocks of Christmas, I am choosing four stocks that epitomise Quality, Value, Momentum and Growth for me. Finally, it is the turn of Growth.
On the 11th Day of Christmas, my true love gave to me:
Water Intelligence (LON:WATR)
Water Intelligence is both an operator and a franchisor of minimally invasive leak detection systems for water pipes. Demand for their services has grown strongly in the last five years:
Over the last 10 years, their sales have risen tenfold, making it one of the fastest growers on the UK market. The 5-year sales growth works out to be 24% CAGR. However, despite a high gross margin, there hasn't been any sign of operational gearing. The 5-year CAGR here is still impressive at 22%, and EPS growth is forecast to accelerate, growing 48% year on year:
As you would expect from a franchisor model, growth has been cash-generative:
However, Returns on Equity are below what you’d expect for such a business, leading to questions as to whether this growth has added shareholder value: