Investors are often guided by the idea of discovering 'the next big thing', even if that means buying 'story stocks' without any revenue, let alone profit. Unfortunately, these high risk investments often have little probability of ever paying off, and many investors pay a price to learn their lesson. A loss-making company is yet to prove itself with profit, and eventually the inflow of external capital may dry up.

So if this idea of high risk and high reward doesn't suit, you might be more interested in profitable, growing companies, like FRoSTA (FRA:NLM). While profit isn't the sole metric that should be considered when investing, it's worth recognising businesses that can consistently produce it.

See our latest analysis for FRoSTA

How Fast Is FRoSTA Growing?

Generally, companies experiencing growth in earnings per share (EPS) should see similar trends in share price. So it makes sense that experienced investors pay close attention to company EPS when undertaking investment research. Over the last three years, FRoSTA has grown EPS by 11% per year. That's a good rate of growth, if it can be sustained.

It's often helpful to take a look at earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) margins, as well as revenue growth, to get another take on the quality of the company's growth. FRoSTA maintained stable EBIT margins over the last year, all while growing revenue 3.0% to €639m. That's a real positive.

You can take a look at the company's revenue and earnings growth trend, in the chart below. Click on the chart to see the exact numbers.

While it's always good to see growing profits, you should always remember that a weak balance sheet could come back to bite. So check FRoSTA's balance sheet strength, before getting too excited.

Are FRoSTA Insiders Aligned With All Shareholders?

Seeing insiders owning a large portion of the shares on issue is often a good sign. Their incentives will be aligned with the investors and there's less of a probability in a sudden sell-off that would impact the share price. So those who are interested in FRoSTA will be delighted to know that insiders have shown their belief, holding a large proportion of the company's shares. In fact, they own 44% of the shares, making insiders a very influential shareholder group. Shareholders and speculators should be reassured by this kind of alignment, as it suggests the business will be run for the benefit of shareholders. €191m That means they have plenty of their own capital riding on the performance of the business!