Shares in Corporate Travel Management Ltd (ASX: CTD) traded flat today after the group held its AGM and its chief executive reported that the business is making tracks towards another year of strong growth in FY 2018.
Over the past 5 years Corporate Travel shares have thumped the returns of every other stock on the S&P/ASX 200 (Index: ^AJXO) (ASX: XJO) to return more than 600% to shareholders.
Among those shareholders is the CEO and founder of the business Jamie Pherous who still retains a stake of more than 20% having not even sold a share during the group's November 2010 IPO at $1 per share.
Since then the stock has returned more than 2,200% and its senior management team has generally been adding to their holdings over time, with the group today flagging that it expects to deliver underlying EBITDA between $120 million to $125 million in FY 2018.
That compares to EBITDA of just $5.7 million in 2010 and goes to show how share prices will always follow earnings per share higher over time assuming a company manages its balance sheet responsibly.
Outlook
Corporate Travel ticks the growth boxes and given its track record and forecast for EBITDA growth between 22%-27.5% in FY 2018, I think the stock still offers good value to growth-oriented investors.
The forecasts exclude the potential for earnings per share accretive acquisitions or an uptick in client activity that is quite possible given the healthy state of U.S. corporate earnings, Europe's relative recovery, and greater mining investment in Australia.
